Which two Indian players will make a splash in 2026? Robin Uthappa told those names

By Samira Vishwas On Jan 3, 2026

Uthappa has selected India’s T20 top-order batsman Tilak Verma and women’s cricket team opener Pratika Raval as the two players who can make a splash with their work in 2026. Speaking on Jio Hotstar’s ‘Follow the Blues’, Uthappa said, “Pratika Raval. She got injured during the World Cup and she will be back in good form. Looking forward to her coming and breaking some records, performing very well. In men’s cricket, Tilak Verma, my most special player, this player will do something amazing this year.”

Let us tell you that Tilak has played some brilliant innings for the Indian team in the shortest format. Apart from scoring two consecutive centuries against South Africa in November 2024, Tilak scored a calm and composed fifty against Pakistan in the 2025 Asia Cup final to lead the Men in Blue to the prestigious title. 23-year-old Tilak has played 40 T20Is, in which he has scored 1182 runs at an average of 49.25 and strike rate of 143.98.

He has confirmed his place in the top order in the Indian team captained by Suryakumar Yadav. This batsman from Hyderabad will play an important role as India wants to become the first team to win consecutive T20 World Cup titles this year. Along with this, Tilak will hope that he gets to play some more ODI matches in 2026. He has played five ODIs so far, the last of which was against South Africa last month.

Pratika, on the other hand, has performed consistently well in ODI cricket since making her international debut in December 2024. In 24 ODIs, he has scored 1110 runs at an average of 50.45 and a strike rate of 82.83. This right-handed batsman already has seven fifties and two centuries to his name. During the Women’s ODI World Cup last year, the 25-year-old played a key role for India and scored 308 runs at an average of 51.33 in six innings before suffering an injury that kept her out of the knockout matches.