The Indian Premier League (IPL) is well renowned worldwide for giving opportunities to young and talented players to showcase their skills against some
of the biggest names in T20 cricket. ‘The Best Emerging Player’ is an award that has a lot of eyeballs from fans and media alike, wanting to find out who the next big superstar is.
There are, however, certain criteria a player has to meet in order to be in contention for winning the prestigious accolade. A player must have played fewer than five Tests, 20 ODIs, and 25 IPL matches at the start of the season and must not have previously won the award.
A host of future superstars have won the IPL Emerging Award in the past. These include the likes of Rohit Sharma, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, to name a few.
Here are the five contenders for the 2026 Emerging Player of the Season award
5. Prashant Veer - Chennai Super Kings
Prashant Veer comes into the 2026 Indian Premier League with a huge burden of expectations. The 20-year-old uncapped spinner was signed by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for INR 14.20 crore in the most recent mini auction.
The left-arm spinner has a great chance of winning the Emerging Player Award in his debut season as he will be expected to play a huge role towards CSK’s success. Representing Uttar Pradesh, Veer played seven games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to take nine wickets at a healthy economy rate of 6.76. He also scored 112 runs at a strike rate of 170.
With Ravindra Jadeja transferred to Rajasthan Royals, Veer will be expected to fill in the gap and lead CSK’s spin department at the 2026 IPL.
4. Ashok Sharma - Gujarat Titans
A lot of eyeballs in this year’s IPL would be on Ashok Sharma. Having not got an opportunity to make his IPL debut with Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, Gujarat Titans took a punt and bought him for 90 lakhs.
Playing for Rajasthan in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Ashok finished the tournament as the joint-leading wicket-taker. He took 22 scalps from 15.63 from 10 games, with his best figures of 4-16 coming against Uttarakhand.
Ashok also recently represented India A in two warm-up games ahead of the United States' and Namibia’s T20 World Cup campaigns, where he took three wickets, including a spell of 2 for 8 against the latter in Bengaluru.
3. Mangesh Yadav - Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Following an extensive bidding war between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Mangesh Yadav joined the star-studded squad of the defending champions for 5.20 crores.
Yadav caught the eye of various IPL squads following his exploits in the 2025 Madhya Pradesh Premier League, where he ended as the leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps from just six games. Bowling at an average of just 12, the 23-year-old took three four-wicket hauls for the Gwalior Cheetahs.
Yadav will have a lot of backing from the senior RCB players, having played alongside skipper Rajat Patidar and new signing Venkatesh Iyer for Madhya Pradesh in the domestic circuit. He is currently one to watch out for in the coming months.
2. Kartik Sharma - Chennai Super Kings
A second Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player to feature on this list. Similar to Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma was also picked up by the five-time champions for INR 14.20 crore. The 19-year-old represented Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he scored 133 runs at a strike rate of 160.
CSK had a disappointing season last time around, but with the acquisition of the likes of Kartik and Veer, they will want better results. The dynamic of the side has moved from experienced players to promising youngsters, as their squad is already bolstered by the likes of Dewald Brevis and Ayush Mhatre.
1. Vaibhav Suryavanshi - Rajasthan Royals
Vaibhav Suryavanshi is destined to win the 2026 IPL’s Emerging Player award solely based on his batting prowess he has shown for India U-19 and for Rajasthan Royals (RR) last season.
Playing just seven games during the 2025 IPL season, Sooryavanshi caught the imagination of the entire cricketing world when he scored 101 against the Gujarat Titans in Jaipur, which was the second-fastest century in IPL history.
He ended the 2025 edition with 252 runs at an unbelievable strike rate of 206.55. He also smashed 175 off just 80 balls in the final of the U19 World Cup against England to only increase his stocks ahead of the all-important 2026 edition of the cash-rich tournament.
