The IPL 2023 has crossed its halfway stage. There have been a number of brilliant individual performances from overseas and Indians, capped and uncapped. However, there have been a few overseas stars who haven’t gotten an opportunity yet.
Despite the IPL extending to a 10-team tournament, giving more players opportunities to showcase their skillset and talent, a couple of big-name Australian players are yet to find place in the XI for their respective franchises. Australian players are highly respected by the franchise owners, so a few of them not getting a game so far is a bit surprising.
Here are 2 big Australians who haven’t played a single match so far in IPL 2023:
Matthew Wade
Matthew Wade was part of the Gujarat Titans‘ middle order that won the IPL trophy last season. However, his returned weren’t impressive enough, so GT bought Kane Williamson in the auction. Williamson, however, suffered a leg injury in the first match of Indian Premier League 2023, while fielding vs CSK, and was ruled out of the tournament. Wade would have wondered that he will get the opportunity to play after Williamson got injured, but GT opted to increase their bowling depth by including Josh Little in the line-up and added the likes of Vijay Shankar and Abhinav Manohar in the batting.
This has done wonders for GT and they are going strong, sitting at the top of the table 8 matches while Wade has had to be on the bench. Unless injuries to other overseas player, like Miller, Wade is likely to be on the bench in the coming weeks.
Daniel Sams
Daniel Sams was released by Mumbai Indians after impressing in the last phase of IPL 2022. In the Indian Premier League 2023 mini-auction, Lucknow Super Giants roped him in for INR 75 lakh. However, Sams, a left-arm seam-bowling all-rounder, hasn’t gotten a single opportunity yet for LSG in 2023 as his compatriot Marcus Stonis, the most experienced and a batting all-rounder, has played ahead of Sams.
