IPL 2019 SRH vs RCB: Who is Prayas Ray Barman? The youngest ever to play IPL

Prayas Ray Barman is a 16-year-old spinner who was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping Rs 1.5 crore at the IPL auction in Jaipur.

The young lad, who hails from Bengal, is a bowling all-rounder. He bowls leg-spin and is handy with the bat.

Can’t wait to watch our teen prodigy, Prayas Ray Barman, to spin his magic in #VIVOIPL 2019  #SpotlightSunday #PlayBold pic.twitter.com/ZEwu11bcuf

— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) March 17, 2019

Prayas who hails from Durgapur, grew up in New Delhi where his father, a general physician, works.  His began his cricketing journey at the Ram Pal Cricket Academy in Gargi College in South Delhi.

But his actual growth as a cricketer took place at his native place. He joined Durgapur Cricket Centre under Shibnath Ray. His style grabbed people’s attention and he was made to represent in the Ambar Roy Sub-Junior Under-14 cricket tournament.

He was later picked up for the Bengal U-16 team. He also became Bengal’s top wicket-taker in his debut season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Prayas had an impressive debut against Jammu and Kashmir. He bagged 4/20 and ended up with picking 11 wickets in nine games at an economy rate of 4.45.

Our new sensation, Prayas Ray Barman hopes to make his debut in #VIVOIPL 2019.
Here’s watching this 16 year old with bated breath! #PlayBold pic.twitter.com/3YndGQrn0n

— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) March 5, 2019

Being 6’1 tall frame, Prayas loves to be quick in the air and accurate. He says it is something that was the trademark of Indian spin great Anil Kumble.

Barman is making his RCB debut on 31 March against SunRisers Hyderabad and will play along players like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

RCB also brought in uncapped Shivam Dube for Rs 5 crore, and Varun Chakravarthy for Rs 8.4 crore at the 2019 IPL Player Auction.