Karn Sharma

After Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, legspinner Karn Sharma became the third cricketer to hit the headlines from the small western Uttar Pradesh town of Meerut when he bagged a Rs 3.75 crore from Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2014 IPL auction. It was the highest amount earned by a domestic uncapped player in the auction, and was reward for a solid season with Sunrisers in 2013, when he grabbed 11 wickets in 13 matches at an economy rate of 6.60. He formed a potent combination with India legspinner Amit Mishra as Sunrisers beat expectations to reach the semi-finals in their first season.

He has been around in the domestic circuit since 2007 representing Railways, but it was only during the 2012-13 season that he really made heads turn. He won the BCCI award for the Best Under-25 cricketer after taking 21 wickets at 19.04 in three Ranji matches that season. It included an eight-wicket innings haul against defending champions Rajasthan, which remains a highlight of his first-class career.

He repeated his solid IPL showing in 2014, with 15 wickets at 25.06, before showing a glimpse of his batting skills against South Africa A when India A toured Australia - given limited opportunities there, he got India A across the line in a nail-biting chase with 39 off 16 at No. 9. Not long after, he was rewarded with an India call-up, making the limited-overs squad for the tour to England and debuting for the country in a T20 international. Later in the year, after consistently claiming wickets against touring teams for India A, he got a maiden Test call-up: for the tour to Australia. ESPNcricinfo staff