Baba Aparajith

A batting allrounder, B Aparajith made his Ranji Trophy debut for Tamil Nadu at the age of 17, before being introduced on a larger platform in 2012 during the Under-19 World Cup in Australia. He played a pivotal role in India Under-19s' title triumph, scoring 171 runs and taking five wickets to add to Man-of-the-Match awards in the quarter-final against Pakistan U-19s and the semi-final against New Zealand U-19s.

Aparajith, a product of age-group cricket in Tamil Nadu, honed his skills under the tutelage of coach S Balaji, alongside his twin brother B Indrajith and allrounder Vijay Shankar. A technically correct batsman, Aparajith relishes the cover drive and has grown to become one of the batting leaders of a young Tamil Nadu team, following M Vijay's ascent as India's regular Test opener and S Badrinath's move to Vidarbha after the 2013-14 season.

Aparajith hit his maiden double-century, for South Zone against West Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2013-14. He followed it with another double, this time for Tamil Nadu against Services, in the same season. Aparajith has also been a regular member of the India A sides since his Under-19 success, and his maiden first-class five-wicket haul came against Australia A in Chennai in 2015. His offbreaks have been used sparingly by Tamil Nadu, given the state side's wealth of spin options.

Aparajith played apprentice to a strong middle order at Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2013 and was bought by the franchise in the 2014 player auction for INR 10 lakh. He was bought by Rising Pune Supergiants in the 2016 player auction for the same amount.
ESPNcricinfo staff