Indian Premier League has been a boiling cauldron of exciting new talents who persevered beyond known boundaries to prove themselves in the long run. A few managed to cop the national call up, thanks to their persistence and a few very special outings from the youngsters.
On the contrary, there are a few players who have established themselves as big names of the sport but will probably not be the first pick for their respective teams, due to the restrictions of the quota imposed on foreign players or given their age which will be a major cause of concern for the management. However, they will always be doing well as a back-up and going by their stature, they can still pull out a couple of bunnies of their hat if needed.
We will look at five high-profile cricketers who might not be automatic picks for the starting eleven.
1. Dale Steyn – Royal Challengers Bangalore
Despite being one of the very best that cricket had to offer five to six years back, Steyn is nothing more than a ghost of his former stellar self. He used to terrorise batsmen in his heydays which is now just a myth.
Though he can generate some good amount of pace, clocking at 140 plus kays on a regular basis, the Protean fast bowler has lost his accuracy of line and length over the span of the last three to four years. To add to his woes, injury-plagued years has caused him major setbacks, dethroning him from the perch.
With the star-studded bowling line up that RCB has at their disposal, especially fast bowlers like Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj, Steyn will be their contingency plan if things go south.
2. Harbhajan Singh – Chennai Super Kings
He was definitely one of India’s finest spin bowlers and his partnership with Kumble reaped handsome dividends for quite a glittering decade in Indian bowling. He also proved himself to be an effective option in the Indian Premier League, where he captained Mumbai Indians once.
His stint with Chennai is also of a significant impression as the Indian offie at times can also swing his bat wildly to gather important runs in the end.
However, the 40-year old will definitely not be the first pick as he will contest with Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner. This will be the Turbanator’s retirement plan.
3. Ajinkya Rahane – Delhi Capitals
The spine of Rajasthan Royals has been finally traded to Delhi Capitals as the management decided to get some fresh air of captaincy for themselves.
However, given the fact that Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan have been in fiery form for the Capitals, especially in the opening stand, Rahane will have to wait a good deal of time before he can find a place in the starting eleven.
4. Aaron Finch – Royal Challengers Bangalore
This imposing Australian opener has struggled miserably in the Indian cricketing fiesta, switching allegiance from one team to the other, in pursuit of decent form.
However, his latest franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore is already teeming with foreign talents and replacing them to make a crack in the opening will not really be an easy task for Finch.
Atop that, his hard-hitting has always been constricted in IPL, which sets him off the chart for all the good reasons.
5. Mohammad Nabi – Sunrisers Hyderabad
Given his blistering run for Afghanistan over the last few years, Nabi has hogged the limelight with some brilliant knocks with the bat and also some mercurial spin bowling.
Hyderabad already has a slew of fine foreigners in Billy Stanlake, Rashid Khan, Kane Williamson, David Warner and Johnny Bairstow to choose from.
Nabi will always be the second fiddle to these big names and will take a considerable amount of time before he finds an opening spot for himself.
