Indian Premier League has always been a hotbed of exciting talents who found themselves being monitored by the national selectors that have also opened up the doors for them to play for India. Though it isn’t an easy task for those cricketers to perform relentlessly on a consistent basis, spasmodic glimpses of their brilliance still keep the flame ignited in the selectors.
Such was the case of a few one-season-wonders in IPL who were deemed to be the next big thing but failed dramatically to turn the tide around in their favour and with growing impatience in the face of the gigantic amounts splurged, these stars burned out much faster than the world would have comprehended.
We will look at a band of eleven such cricketers who did go on to scratch the surface of greatness but in their attempt to penetrate the tough hulk, they were disintegrated.
Openers:
Swapnil Asnodkar and Manvinder Bisla (wk)
As 2008 saw Rajasthan Royals lifting the trophy in the tournament’s maiden edition, people applauded Shane Warne, Sohail Tanvir and Yusuf Pathan for their rollicking heroics.
However, the man who played an unsung warrior was Swapnil Asnodkar. Scoring 311 runs from 9 games at a decent average of 34.55 made him the favourite to open the innings for Royals.
With expectations building on this lad, he crumbled in the following edition of the tournament as all he could manage was 98 runs from 9 games that eventually saw him being axed from the outfit with no further opportunities coming his way.
Bisla, on the contrary, wasn’t exactly a one-season wonder as he managed to play for six seasons, somewhat disseminating his performances across the span of the fray. However, his breakthrough year will always be 2012, the year that saw him garnering 213 runs from 7 games. The most important knock from the wicketkeeper-batsman came in the most important occasion as his 89 helped KKR to lift their maiden IPL trophy.
3. Paul Valthaty
A rip-roaring batsman who mercilessly skinned the bowlers with some phenomenal batting up in the order, Valthaty was a mystery man in the ranks of Punjab. He garnered 463 runs from 14 games in 2011 that saw him clubbing an unbeaten 120. Unfortunately, injuries rattled his career upside down and shortly he fizzled away to oblivion.
4. Tirumalasetti Suman
This guy was also not a one-season wonder but his brilliance was uniformly pervaded across two consecutive seasons before burning out to pressure. In 2009, he managed to rack up 237 from 12 games those were a vital cog which helped Deccan Chargers lift their solitary IPL and he followed it up with 307 from 14 games which featured a brilliant 78, underlining his hard-hitting ability. However, that was all that this young man could come up with. The following seasons eventually threw him out of favour.
5. Saurabh Tiwary (c)
The long-haired fellow, emulating Dhoni in style, failed to match the Indian skipper in his on-field heroics. It was in 2010 that he surprised everyone with some phenomenal hard-hitting that kept on derailing the bowlers repeatedly. He managed to amass 419 runs from 16 games at an average of almost 30 that saw him becoming a favourite amongst the team. Haplessly, his excellence dried up shortly and his occasional appearances in IPL thereafter weren’t much that one could brag about.
- Luke Pombersach
Touted as a T-20 specialist, the Australian batsman created ripples after his maiden season for Kings XI Punjab. Racking up 152 runs from 5 innings that saw this southpaw scoring a brilliantly crafted unbeaten 79, showcased it to the world that why he was labelled as one of the best of the format.
Much to his dismay, his opening season was everything that he had and the following seasons produced nothing but agony for the Australian hard-hitter as he played his final season in 2013.
- Sohail Tanvir
Before BCCI applied the embargo on Pakistani players, Salman Butt and Umar Gul created all the right sounds for KKR in the maiden season of IPL. However, the Pakistani player who preceded them all was Sohail Tanvir. Known for his bizarre bowling action, he scalped 22 wickets from the 11 games that he played which featured a brilliant 6 for 14 as his best figures. To add to his brilliance Tanvir pulled off an economy rate of just 6.46 which is considered to be godly. He also played a crucial role in the final with the bat that saw Royals clinching a thriller. However, that was it for the Pakistani players as BCCI issued a regulation which didn’t allow the Pakistani t play further in IPL.
- Kamran Khan
The mystery bowler who forced the first-ever super over in Indian Premier League failed to produce any further comeback and fizzled away to oblivion. Known for his crazy bowling action, Kamran Khan scalped Saurav Ganguly in the dying embers of a game as the KKR captain threatened to take away the match from Royals. Royals pulled off a thrilling win in the Super Over as Yusuf Pathan surpassed Gayle’s 16 effortlessly. However, the mystery man sparked crazy scenes all around as he managed to pick up 6 wickets from 5 games that included big names. However, after being put under the scanner for his bowling action, he was asked to modify it and that created all the harm for the left-handed fast bowler.
- Praveen Tambe
In 2014, a certain name from Rajasthan Royals once again hogged the limelight as he managed to claim 15 wickets from 13 games which also starred a hattrick. A veteran spinner created massive ripples as he kept on outwitting the batsmen with some brilliant movement of the ball. Unfortunately, his mystery was soon worked out and the following seasons saw him being hammered mercilessly all around the park.
- Iqbal Abdullah
Being an imperative moniker in the 2008 U-19 Indian squad that helped India to lift the World Cup under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, Abdullah stunned the batsmen in the opening edition of the IPL with some amazing statistics. He was a bowling all-rounder and could chip in with crucial runs towards the end of the innings. Unfortunately, he couldn’t build his momentum any further as his Bangalore glory days cut short his career, taking out the number of chances that he could have had for himself.
- Manpreet Gony
The man whose career imploded after domestic life took over the reins of his headspace, Manpreet Gony was an absolute knockout in the opening edition of IPL. He picked up 17 wickets from the 16 games that he played, bowling at a decent rate of 7.38 per over which underline his bowling flair. Unfortunately, grappling with anger issues and family problems, Gony started ebbing away from cricket and his performances entered into a receding tailspin, from which he never recovered.
