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5 Big-Ticket Players Warming the Bench This IPL Season

Forty-one games into IPL 2019, these cricketers have mostly been stuck in the dugout so far.

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IPL (IGNORE)
4 min read
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Forty-one matches in, and the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League has so far been another season of exciting cricket, already featuring six centuries, a hat-trick and even one Super Over.

There have been several matches that have been won/lost by a whisker in which several cricketers – Indian and international, stars and uncapped – have produced match-winning performances.

However, there have also been several players including many top names, on the other side of the spectrum – the ones who have mostly been spending time in the dugout so far this season.

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1. Yuvraj Singh (MI)

Forty-one games into IPL 2019, these cricketers have mostly been stuck in the dugout so far.

The 2019 Indian Premier League served as a far-fetched, last straw in Yuvraj Singh’s quest of making India’s World Cup squad. And Mumbai Indians even gave him the best chance at it, sending him in to bat at number 4.

To the great delight of his fans, the 37-year-old smashed a half-century in Mumbai’s campaign opener. But the 53 against Delhi Capitals was followed by scores of 23 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, 18 against Kings XI Punjab and 4 against Chennai Super Kings.

The receding number of runs eventually resulted in the 2011 World Cup-winner being dropped from Mumbai’s playing eleven, and Yuvi is yet to find a way back in.

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2. Karun Nair (KXIP)

Forty-one games into IPL 2019, these cricketers have mostly been stuck in the dugout so far.

Another player who has been kept away from the crease for the majority of this season is Kings XI Punjab’s Karun Nair.

Ahead of IPL 2019, the Karnataka batsman had scored just 245 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament including one half-century in 11 T20 innings. Nair has played just one game in the season so far, coming in as an injury replacement for Mayank Agarwal against Mumbai Indians on 10 April. A score of 5 in that match at the Wankhede stadium didn’t help his cause either.

The 27-year-old batsman, who is yet to make his T20 International debut, has also been out of favour from the national team – last playing for India in a Test series in 2017. In the scenario that Chris Gayle and David Miller have to leave early for World Cup preps, Nair could get a chance in the latter part of the season.

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3. Shakib Al Hasan (SRH)

Forty-one games into IPL 2019, these cricketers have mostly been stuck in the dugout so far.

He’s an experienced campaigner, has scored over 1,400 runs and picked over 80 wickets in T20Is, and even did well for his franchise last year, but Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been forced to spend the ongoing IPL season on the bench.

The 32-year-old was part of SRH’s playing eleven for their first game of the season, but lost his place in the team with the return of captain Kane Williamson. Besides, with Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi handling the spin department and openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow adding up as the other two foreign players, left no space for Shakib in the Sunrisers’ line-up.

He made a comeback in the playing eleven for SRH’s tenth league game. And now with Bairstow leaving for national duty and Williamson absent due to personal reasons, may get a couple of more games before heading back home for Bangladesh’s World Cup preparation.

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4. Murali Vijay (CSK)

Forty-one games into IPL 2019, these cricketers have mostly been stuck in the dugout so far.

When you’re part of a squad as successful as Chennai Super Kings, making your way from the dugout into the playing XI can be hard. And for Murali Vijay – who played just one game in CSK’s season-winning campaign last year – it is harder.

The 35-year-old opening batsman, who last played for India in the shorter format in 2015, is yet to make his debut in the ongoing IPL season despite having scored a century and two half-centuries in four T20 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy.

But since Faf du Plessis will have to report to the South African camp before the season ends, Vijay might just get promoted from the bench to the CSK’s top-order.

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5. Martin Guptill (SRH)

Forty-one games into IPL 2019, these cricketers have mostly been stuck in the dugout so far.

Another Sunrisers Hyderabad cricketer besides Shakib who’s facing the wrath of IPL’s four-foreign-players-in-a-side rule is New Zealand’s opening batsman Martin Guptill.

He went unsold in the IPL 2018 auction, and was bagged by Sunrisers Hyderabad for his base price of Rs 1 crore. But 10 group games into their campaign, and he is yet to feature in the playing eleven.

Again, with the top-order missing Bairstow followed by Warner – who will return home after the weekend to meet Australia’s 1 May deadline – Guptill may find a place in the starting line-up soon.

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Topics:  IPL 2019   IPL Specials 

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