Abishek Porel: Age, IPL Stats, 170* and ₹4 Crore Retention

Who is Abishek Porel?

Abishek Porel is a Bengal wicketkeeper-batter who plays IPL cricket for Delhi Capitals. He bats left-handed, can open or appear lower in the order and adds wicketkeeping cover. His professional record also includes East Zone, India C and India A. He has not played senior international cricket for India; India A is a representative level rather than a senior cap.

His name appears as Abishek on the current IPL, Delhi Capitals and Cricbuzz pages. Some older announcements used Abhishek, but the matching birth date, role and teams show that those records refer to the same player rather than a second Delhi wicketkeeper.

Abishek or Abhishek Porel: correct spelling

The current IPL, Delhi Capitals and Cricbuzz player pages publish his name as Abishek Porel. The IPL's 2023 replacement announcement and several older reports used Abhishek. The current league and team spelling is the clearest choice, while the older spelling remains a useful identity alias.

Abhishek Sharma is a different India and Sunrisers Hyderabad batter, while Ishan Porel is a Bengal fast bowler and Abishek's first cousin. Their playing records are separate. Porel remains uncapped at senior international level and has no recognised bowling innings in his IPL record.

Abishek Porel age, birthplace and role

Porel was born on 17 October 2002 in Chandannagar, Hooghly district, West Bengal, and was 23 on 23 August 2026. Current IPL and Delhi Capitals profiles agree on his birth date and left-handed batting. The IPL lists him as a wicketkeeper-batter, although Delhi's own directory sometimes shortens the role to batter.

Wicketkeeping helped create his early pathway, but Delhi have also used him as a specialist batter or Impact Player. He therefore should not be described as the wicketkeeper in every appearance. His IPL career table contains no bowling innings.

Chandannagar childhood and family cricket link

Porel grew up in Chandannagar and travelled regularly to Kolkata for training and matches. Telegraph reporting identifies his parents as Somnath and Anima and describes the long local-train journey that accompanied his age-group development. These are public career-background facts, not permission to publish addresses or private financial details.

Bengal fast bowler Ishan Porel is his first cousin. Abishek has said that watching Ishan represent Bengal at Under-14 and Under-16 level increased his own interest. Ishan took him to the National Sporting Club in Chandannagar, where Abishek began working with a childhood coach. Their family connection should not merge their separate playing records.

Coaches associated with his progression include Pradip Mondal, Bibhas Das and former India opener Devang Gandhi. Porel's early route ran through club and age-group cricket rather than an instant franchise selection.

Bengal age-group runs and senior debut

A major age-group season included more than 700 Cooch Behar Trophy runs in four matches. One official scorecard records Porel captaining and keeping for Bengal while making 104 against Hyderabad. The combination of volume, keeping and leadership moved him toward the senior Bengal group.

He made his first-class debut for Bengal during the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy. Reporting from the period notes an unbeaten 53 in an early match against Baroda. He later played in the 2022-23 Ranji final, scoring 50 against Saurashtra. Bengal lost that final, so the innings belongs to a runners-up campaign rather than a title.

The checked first-class snapshot contains 32 matches, 50 innings and 1,408 runs at 31.29. He has one century, 12 fifties and a highest score of 114. His career strike rate is 66.98.

India C, Duleep Trophy and India A pathway

BCCI selected Porel as wicketkeeper in India C's Duleep Trophy group in 2024. Official scorecards record his participation, including an unbeaten second-innings contribution against India D and a later match against India A. He also made 82 for India B against India D later in the competition cycle.

Those performances helped keep him inside India A discussions and representative squads. India A is a senior developmental team, not the senior India international side. Schema and biography text must preserve the letter suffix so no Test, ODI or T20I cap is created accidentally.

Porel's representative selections show that his domestic case extends beyond IPL cameos. They also exposed him to different batting positions and stronger domestic attacks. As of 23 August 2026, he had not made a senior Test, ODI or T20I appearance for India.

Record 170 not out in List A cricket

Porel opened Bengal's 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign with 170 not out from 130 balls against Delhi. Bengal chased 273 and won by six wickets. Telegraph reporting identified the score as the highest individual List A innings by a Bengal batter at that time.

The innings is his List A best and demonstrates a longer one-day gear beyond short IPL bursts. Through the completed 2025-26 domestic season, his List A record contained 23 matches, 21 innings and 833 runs at 43.84, with two centuries, five fifties and 170 not out as the high score.

A later preliminary quarter-final against Haryana brought a smaller contribution and Bengal were dismissed for 226. Including both the record and the knockout failure avoids reducing an entire one-day season to one headline innings.

Delhi Capitals replacement signing in 2023

Delhi Capitals signed Porel before IPL 2023 as the injury replacement for Rishabh Pant. The official league announcement paired that move with Mumbai Indians signing Sandeep Warrier for Jasprit Bumrah. Porel arrived as a young Bengal wicketkeeper, not as a direct claim that he would reproduce Pant's captaincy or batting record.

He made his IPL debut against Gujarat Titans on 4 April 2023. Across four appearances he scored 33 runs, with a strike rate of 106.45. The sample was limited, but his debut season provided franchise exposure and kept him in Delhi's development group.

The replacement signing brought Porel into the Delhi squad, while the Gujarat Titans match created his first IPL appearance. Keeping those moments separate explains why his association with Delhi began before his playing record did.

Breakout IPL 2024 season

Porel's role expanded in IPL 2024. He played 14 matches and scored 327 runs at an average of 32.70 and strike rate of 159.51. He made two fifties, hit 36 fours and 13 sixes and recorded a career-best 65 against Rajasthan Royals.

Delhi used him at different points in the innings, including as an Impact Player. An early 32 from 10 balls demonstrated his finishing burst, while later opening assignments required more deliveries. The versatility was valuable, although role changes make a single average or strike rate insufficient to describe every innings.

The 327-run return transformed him from a replacement prospect into a retention candidate. It remains his highest IPL season total through 2026 and the only season in which his strike rate finished above 150.

₹4 crore retention and IPL 2025 season

Delhi retained Porel as an uncapped player for ₹4 crore before IPL 2025. The official retention document records the deduction and places him with Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Tristan Stubbs in Delhi's retained core. The amount was a large rise from his original replacement-stage contract.

He played 13 matches in 2025 and scored 301 runs at 25.08 and a strike rate of 146.83. The season included one fifty, 28 fours and 12 sixes. He came close with 49 against Rajasthan and made 51 against Lucknow, but did not match his 2024 average.

Retention value reflects a franchise decision, not a guarantee of playing every future match. Delhi carried the same ₹4 crore deduction into the 2026 squad list. The documented figure is limited to his IPL contract and is not evidence of his other income or assets.

Abishek Porel in IPL 2026

Porel made four IPL appearances in 2026: 30 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 5 against Punjab Kings, 51 against Rajasthan Royals and 22 against Kolkata Knight Riders. The scores total 108 runs. His fifty against Rajasthan came from 31 balls during a successful chase.

He finished the season with 22 from 18 balls as Delhi beat Kolkata by 40 runs on 24 May. Limited selection meant his season aggregate was smaller than in 2024 or 2025. A squad page may list him throughout the campaign, but only those four scorecards count as appearances.

The four innings took his career to 35 IPL matches and 769 runs and supplied his fourth league fifty. He had not scored an IPL century or made a senior international debut by the end of the season.

Abishek Porel IPL stats and records

Through 24 May 2026, Porel had played 35 IPL matches and batted in 33 innings. He scored 769 runs from 529 balls at an average of 25.63 and strike rate of 145.37. His highest score is 65, with four fifties, 80 fours, 28 sixes and three not-outs.

Season totals reconcile to the career number: 33 runs in 2023, 327 in 2024, 301 in 2025 and 108 in 2026. The sum is 769. Delhi Capitals' current player page publishes the same career total, with 35 matches, four fifties and a high score of 65.

His IPL record contains no bowling innings. Delhi's current table lists nine catches and no stumpings across his 35 appearances, reflecting seasons in which he alternated between wicketkeeper, specialist batter and Impact Player roles.

What did Delhi's ₹4 crore retention mean?

Delhi Capitals retained Porel before the 2025 mega auction, and the official retention document recorded a ₹4 crore deduction. Delhi's 2026 auction page and playing-squad document continue to list him at ₹4 crore. The amount is a franchise contract value, not a complete statement of his annual income.

The retention followed his 327-run 2024 season and kept an uncapped Indian wicketkeeper-batter inside Delhi's core. Public documents do not disclose taxes, agent fees, domestic match income, endorsements or investments, so no broader earnings or net-worth figure is added.

What Abishek Porel's records show

Porel's progression runs from Chandannagar age-group cricket to Bengal, representative domestic teams and four IPL seasons with Delhi. The 327-run 2024 campaign showed high-tempo T20 potential, while 170 not out against Delhi demonstrated the capacity to build a long one-day innings.

He remains uncapped by senior India and played four IPL games in 2026. Those limits matter alongside the ₹4 crore retention and 769 career league runs. The older Abhishek spelling refers to the same Bengal wicketkeeper-batter, not to cousin Ishan Porel or Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Abhishek Sharma.