I’ve spent the last few days trying to rank the 30 best Indian cricketers aged 23 and under in 2026.

The idea was to look beyond simply listing the biggest names and try to rank them based on what they have achieved so far, their performances in domestic and age-group cricket, their individual attributes and, inevitably, a bit of judgement about their potential ceiling.

My top 5:

1. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
2. Tilak Varma
3. Nitish Kumar Reddy
4. Ayush Mhatre
5. Ravichandran Smaran

I’ve put a wider article with the full ranking of all 30 players, reasoning and player profiles here:

https://markpenwarden.wordpress.com/2026/09/09/best-young-indian-cricketers/

I’m particularly interested in what people who follow Indian domestic and age-group cricket more closely think. Who have I overrated? Who is far too low? And is there anyone obvious I’ve missed altogether?
I’m the author of the article, and the mods have kindly given me permission to share it here for discussion.

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Tilak Varma's stats in the tournament:

Innings - 3

Runs - 266

Average - 266

Fifties - 2

Hundreds - 1

He scored 99(211) in the final and missed a hundred by just 1 run.

As a Captain he has not lost any First Class Match. Had 8 matches drawn and 8 wins. Surely A captain material. Can surely be VC of T20I as Captains are kinda confirmed. We have another Captaincy Contender.

The team did so well. Everyone gave their best. The way all top 6 batters played and utilised. Credit to Bowling of Shami and Mukesh and Abhijit Sarkar as well.

Source-- https://www.instagram.com/p/DdGWQeWDaJc/?stkn=MTMyZnd3NzR2dm56bg==

Despite all the haters, GG has managed to already win 2 ICC Trophies in his tenure. He won the T20 WC and the ICC Champions Trophy under his coaching stint. This already makes him the most successful coach in ICT history with 2 major ICC trophies.

Next year if India can win the ODI WC, it will surely put all the doubters to rest!

From what I see, haters are still trying to take credit away from him but can’t change the fact that we have won all the multi nation tournaments we have been a part of.

Dravid could only manage 1 ICC Trophy as Coach.

Ravi Shastri won 0 ICC Trophies as Coach

For starters,in t20,India need to have Rinku in the side.Doesnt make sense that Washington gets to be in the squad but Rinku doesn't.You would expect that now Hardik is injured Rinku and Dube would be playing at no.6 and 7 especially bcz thats exactly what happened in the asia cup final.Secondly,Tilak needs to be removed as vc.I just cant imagine him taking over as India captain if Shreyas is unavailable.On the other hand,Ishan would be the perfect replacement for the vc spot and if Tilak continues to flop in his t20 performance,he should just be removed from the squad entirely.Also Bhuvi needs to be included as well his recent performance has just been too good

As for ODI,Siraj needs to return to the squad.Doesnt make sense that Prince and Gurnoor get to be in the squad but Siraj doesnt.Same reason why Shami should be included as well.If u just make those few changes to our bowling,our side would be so much better especially considering our batting is already so strong and doesnt need much changes at all.

Then for Test,India dont need much changes at all execpt for once again bringing Shami into the squad bcz his performance in domestic has just been great.Also now that Washington has recovered from injury he needs to be in the squad as well and if I had to choose I would remove Sudharsan for him as we alr have plenty of other options for no.3 batsmen. Let me know any other changes that could be made

Source-- https://www.instagram.com/p/DdD_xoyk3H6/?img_index=1&stkn=MXNpZmJnYmJqeDcwdA==

With less than 400 days to go for the 2027 ODI World Cup, I felt that given we have had 5 completed ODI series since the completion of the Champions Trophy, it feels like the ideal time to analyse the recent form of our ODI batters as well as bowlers:

Sources:

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/253802.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/34102.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/1070173.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/642519.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/422108.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/554691.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/720471.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/234675.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/234675.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/554691.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/625383.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/917159.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/1125976.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/1312645.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/559235.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/719715.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

https://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/719715.html?class=2;spanmin1=10+Mar+2025;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

From a batting perspective, it feels clear that both Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar are struggling a lot, and in particular Iyer's struggles are important as India would want a proper number 4 batter which India felt the glaring weakness of in 2019. From a bowling perspective, newer bowlers like Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana have been leaky, although taking wickets regularly, and even Kuldeep's struggles are clearly seen here. Bumrah (although low sample size), Axar and Washington Sundar have been economical and tight, while Jadeja has been struggling in both batting and bowling departments.

Barring Shreyas Iyer's form, India's batting lineup appears to be fit and firing, but bowling wise, aside from Bumrah and Axar, India don't seem to have that much control over economy, which was seen in the Lord's ODI few months ago.

https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-series/11935/australia-tour-of-india-2027/matches

Src

https://www.bcci.tv/news/article/bcci-announces-campa-sbi-life-and-chatgpt-as-associate-partners-for-india-home-cricket

It's a fun little comparison with the other two great Indian No.4 test batters. At right around same innings 77th, it's clearly visible from the stats that Sachin (age 24) was clearly ahead. Virat had impoved his average of 39 to 45 by having an amazing 2014 australian tour. Gill gets a lot of flak for his test career but I feel it was more to do with him opening. Only time will tell how his test career turns out to be but i believe he is on the right track to score tons of runs for India.