Indian Premier League has always gifted the world a crop of exciting cricketers who were wrapped in a shroud of obscurity, lacking platforms to deliver. Despite illustrious names emerging out of this wondrous cash-rich league, a few names always stayed under the wraps.
These names were extremely emphatic in helping their respective teams to claw their way up higher in the rungs of the ladder, but they never really hogged their share of limelight which ought to have propelled their cricketing career.
We will look at 5 such cricketers who were extremely underrated in the echelons of Indian Premier League but did dish out solid performances to keep their respective franchises afloat.
1. Piyush Chawla
Hailing all the way from Gujrat, Piyush Chawla has always played a pivotal role in navigating through the complicated mazes of cricketing conventions only to come out successful in every single edition of IPL.
Failing to make it big at the international stage, the audience lost faith in him. However, the franchises realised how crucial he was to the side and opted him a start in most of the occasions.
Featuring in a record 157 games, Chawla managed to scalp 150 wickets at a decent economy rate of 7.82 per over.
He was also crucial with the bat in his hand as he could string some useful boundaries towards the end of the innings.
Haplessly, he could never come out as the premium spinner in the squad, given the stature of the marquee bowlers who were always towering him with their names instead of their performances.
He also evolved as one of the most successful spinning partners of Sunil Narine for KKR in their years of ruthless conquest.
Always a second-fiddle, his consistency always attested to his underrated brilliance.
2. Subramaniam Badrinath
A man who was all set to kiss greatness with a calm head over his shoulders, Subramaniam Badrinath lost his way in the middle against two opponents, destiny and time.
Destined to be one of the finest cricketers who could have conjured inhuman magic to lift India through the ranks couldn’t force his way into a star-studded team’s middle order that read the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. This was his defeat against time.
Now destiny bit him hard when the Indian selectors couldn’t offer him further opportunities despite sparks of intermittent brilliance in his limited approaches. Domestic cricket was always his sole salvation.
Being one of the most illustrious names in Ranji Trophy and List A cricket, IPL shortly came knocking for him and Chennai Super Kings did well to draft their own lad into a star-packed squad.
Playing out a staggering 95 matches, Badrinath garnered 1441 runs at an average of 30.66 which saw him crafting several match-defining knocks in the face of unprecedented adversaries.
With 11 half-centuries in his repertoire, he was also a fine fielder with probably one of the safest pair of hands in the colours of Chennai who was always a man behind the illustrious appellations of the game.
It was once again his brutal consistency that impressed the franchise to keep him in their ranks despite his ebbing form.
- Robin Uthappa
An extremely underrated cricketer in the echelons of Indian Premier League, Uthappa has now played in the fray right since its inception. Slowly garnering numbers under the wraps of mediocrity, this hard-hitting batsman has managed to amass 4411 runs from 177 matches averaging at a steady 28 and raging at a strike rate of 130.
Despite being cast to the secondary set of players who doesn’t create many ripples in the auctions, he continues to perform silently in the colours that he has donned on until date.
To add to his batting flair, his wicket-keeping dexterity has also hogged notable limelight with 84 catches and 32 stumpings that bring him within closing distance of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s IPL figures.
Still a pariah in the auctions, mainly due to the fact that he has already entered the twilight of his career, Uthappa has made peace with his current status as that doesn’t bother him too much.
- Amit Mishra
One of the most prolific leg-spinners in the ranks of Indian cricket, Amit Mishra’s career has gone through several highs and lows. Despite a fluctuating career, Mishra still continues to be a vital cog in the aspirations of Delhi Capitals.
Mishra gunned to prominence with his haul of 21 wickets in the 2013 season that cemented his position in the Delhi side. From 147 matches, Mishra has scalped 157 wickets with his career-best figures of 5 for 17. Most importantly, Mishra’s economy rate is of 7.35 which still continues to be one of the best throughout Indian Premier League’s features.
He has also managed to register three 4-wicket hauls and 1 five-wicket haul in his glittering career in the IPL. Unfortunately for the leggie, he has always been shrouded in a veil of mediocrity given his limited usage by the captains.
- Yusuf Abdullah
One of the most unfortunate names in this list is Yusuf Abdullah. The South Africa-born cricketer was an instant sensation as he managed to rack up 15 wickets from 11 matches in the glamorous cricketing extravaganza.
His fast bowling came with a degree of an enigma that batsmen found hard to interpret. Abdullah’s fall came faster than his rise to the top as it didn’t take the batsmen long to crack his code and they played him out effortlessly thereafter.
Merely reduced to the sidelines now, his prospects of any comeback look bleak in the international circuit. His introduction to the Premier League came after a shocking accident to Jerome Taylor. Abdullah rocked the cricketing roster with some tremendous bowing which saw him claiming the second-highest wickets for his team.
However, that was probably it for the Proteas fast bowler as he lost his plot shortly thereafter and was even axed from the national side.
