IPL 2020: 5 deserving players who didn’t get a single match

Defending champions of 2019, the Mumbai Indians emphatically registered their 5th IPL title this year in the UAE. It was the season of several ups and downs as we got to witness some scintillating performances. This season’s league stage was also the most competitive and grilling one. In such cut-throat competition, the IPL unearthed some superstars, as is the case every year. But some emerging talents, as well as seasoned campaigners, didn’t get a single opportunity to showcase their skills.

Here are five deserving cricketers who missed out in this year’s IPL:

Chris Lynn – Mumbai Indians

Perhaps the biggest name who didn’t feature in a single game this time was Chris Lynn. As a regular member of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Lynn had been doing exceedingly well in the previous seasons. He is one of the most brutal hitters and on his day, is capable of indescribable carnage.

In 2018, Lynn scored 491 runs while in 2019, he ended up amassing 405 runs. And it was a shocker when KKR didn’t retain or buy him back for IPL 2020. However, he was picked up by one of the most star-studded franchises, Mumbai Indians in the last auction for INR 2 crore and was seen as the biggest steal of the auction. But it was clear that Lynn wouldn’t find a place in the playing xi straightway and would be more of a backup to someone like Quinton de Kock. Unfortunately for Lynn, MI had a dream season winning their 5th title and they did it without Lynn’s services. De Kock and all other overseas players performed consistently and there was no position where the Australian could stake a claim.

Sandeep Lamichanne – Delhi Capitals

In 2018, Sandeep Lamichanne became the first cricketer from Nepal to be picked up in the IPL. He was chosen by Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils) and it seemed like the slow Feroz Shah Kotla pitch was the perfect home for him. He did well in the handful of games that he played, picking five wickets and following it up with eight in 2019.

But in 2020, the experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was traded to the Capitals. Hence, one spinner’s spot was straightway occupied by him. With Delhi opting for an overseas-heavy pace attack comprising Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, they preferred to go with Indian spinners like Amit Mishra and Praveen Dubey. As a result, Sandeep didn’t get an eye-in at all. With Delhi doing well this year and reaching the finals, the management resisted the urge to change too many things. Even as Mishra was ruled out due to injury, the handy Axar Patel more than made up for their loss.

Oshane Thomas – Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals may have finished at the bottom of the table this year, but they played some excellent cricket in patches. Those excellent performances came mostly from the overseas contingent of Rajasthan. They probably had the strongest overseas players in the XI – with the likes of Steven Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler occupying the four positions.

With these heavyweights, it was almost impossible for any other overseas player to find a spot, unless due to injury or unavailability. And Tom Curran did get a few games. Even David Miller and Andrew Tye were lucky enough to get a game. Unfortunately, West Indies pacer Oshane Thomas wasn’t. While the big fella got five wickets last season, he didn’t get a chance under the sun this year. He would be disappointed since his pace and bounce had troubled a number of batsmen last year.

Billy Stanlake – Sunrisers Hyderabad

Another pacer who missed out this year was Aussie fast bowler Billy Stanlake. Stanlake was seen playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2017-2018 but has been missing in action in the last couple of years. It was expected that he may come into the line-up due to an injury to SRH’s strike bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But that wasn’t to be. Jason Holder, who adds more meat with the bat, was preferred over the 6 feet 8-inch bowler. Stanlake doesn’t have a great T20 record but he may have been super successful on the pitches of UAE. However, he did not fit in the scheme of things for SRH and had to warm the bench again.

Ishan Porel – Kings XI Punjab

One young Indian bowler who was supposed to have a breakout season was Ishan Porel. But as it turned out, he ended up missing the entire tournament. Picked up by Kings XI Punjab, Porel was a part of the successful 2018 U19 World Cup and had been in good form in the preceding Ranji Trophy. The youngster has the ability to generate pace in excess of 140km/h and was being looked at as the third pacer for KXIP.

But as it turned out, due to the lack of impact of Sheldon Cottrell, KXIP dropped him and opted to bring in another young Indian bowler, Arshdeep Singh to add the left-arm variety. While Arshdeep didn’t set the IPL on fire, he did a praiseworthy job game after game. With KXIP getting in a winning combination, they didn’t change their line-up much in the second half. Hence, we missed out on getting a glimpse of young Porel on the biggest stage.