5 biggest one season wonders in IPL

It is said that lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. While sometimes this consensus is challenged by the surfacing of events that provide evidence of the bolt hitting the same zone more than twice, the fact remains that lightning ‘almost’ never hits the same place twice.

Some players are like these lightning spots where the bolt hits only once. In other words, some players come, light up the whole sporting fraternity with their blazing appearance and then fade into oblivion for the rest of their careers.

It is no different in the IPL as this tournament has had some one-season wonders of its own. Among quite a few, here are the five best one-season wonders in the IPL…

#5 Saurabh Tiwary

Saurabh Tiwary in action for the Mumbai Indians.

Remember the guy from Ranchi with long hair? Nope, I am not talking about MS Dhoni. Rather, it is Saurabh Tiwary who is the man in question here.

One could almost say that he was the left-handed version of the Indian ODI team captain. The long hair, brute strength and super quick running between the wickets was reminiscent of his fellow Ranchi cricketer.

And it seemed like his career would skyrocket like his state-mate as he wreaked havoc against opposition bowling attacks while playing for the Mumbai Indians in the 2010 version of IPL.

He played 16 matches that year, scoring 419 runs at a strike-rate of 135.59 and an average of close to 30. Ever since that season, however, he faded into the abyss after Royal Challengers bought him for a mammoth 1.6 crore rupees. Indeed, he couldn’t churn out 200 or more runs in a season ever since that season with Mumbai.

# 4 Manpreet Gony

Manpreet Gony in action for Chennai Super Kings.

Almost everyone thought he would be the next big thing in Indian cricket — and, to be fair to them, he did show a lot of potential in the inaugural season of IPL.

Playing under MS Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings, he became their prime bowler who could play a stroke or two with the bat as well. In his first season—and his only standout one—he took 17 wickets in 16 games at an average of 26.05 and a strike-rate of 1 wicket per 3.3 overs.

Much more was expected in the next season, but he failed to provide the goods and became one of the most easily readable bowlers as his economy shot up to 10.11 and 11.50 in the next two seasons. He hasn’t featured in the IPL since 2013—just goes to show how hard he fell from grace.

#3 Sreenath Aravind

Sreenath Aravind in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore

A promising bowler from Karnataka, Sreenath Aravind was sought after by Royal Challengers Bangalore. The tricky left-arm pace bowler became the face of their bowling attack. That season, most batsmen didn’t know how to handle him as he bamboozled batsmen on his way to an astonishing haul of 21 wickets in just 13 games.

His economy rate was a little on the high end, but he made up for it by taking crucial wickets.

Next year, however, his proneness to leak away far too many runs allowed him just one game for RCB, where he bowled three overs and conceded 48 runs. That performance sent him to the bench and eventually to the forgotten grounds, before he popped up again in 2015, where he took eight wickets in 5 games, giving us hope that he might just be more than a one-season wonder.

#2 Swapnil Asnodkar

Swapnil Asnodkar in action for the Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals were renowned for unearthing hidden local gems right from the start. From the discovery of the young Sanju Samson to the christening of the seasoned veteran Praveen Tambe, Rajasthan Royals have been responsible for providing the unpredictable in the IPL.

One such player was Swapnil Asnodkar.

In the first edition of IPL, he was one of the star performers that led Rajasthan to glory. Nicknamed the ‘Goa Cannon’ by his then captain Shane Warne himself, he scored 311 runs in just nine games of in the inaugural season of the IPL. His heroics played a significant role in Rajasthan's title-winning campaign.

However, it went downhill after that. 11 games in the next three years and barely scoring more than 100 sent him into the abyss.

#1 Paul Valthaty

Paul Valthaty in action for the Kings XI Punjab

And the ultimate one-season wonder in the IPL was none other than Paul Valthaty. The man just took the world by storm with his breakthrough season in the IPL. It was not his skill to hit hard, but rather his ability to play a big innings in almost every game that made him a star overnight.

In 14 games of IPL 2011, Valthaty made 463 runs at an average of 35.61 and a strike rate of 136.98. He scored a century and two 50s in the tournament and numerous blazing starts that gave Punjab many big scores.

However, his fall was quicker than his rise as it seemed like the player who desecrated so many bowlers forgot how to bat altogether. In the subsequent season, he scored a mere 30 runs in 6 games at an average of 5. After that, he played another game in IPL 2013, scoring 6 in an innings before becoming invisible to the world.

So much promise shown, yet so little delivered.