IPL 2020: 5 players who might be playing their final season

With March now upon us, the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is now knocking at the door. One of the biggest sporting events of the year, the IPL has grown in viewership every year since its inception, amassing an incredible 411 million viewers last year on Star India alone.

In recent years, the IPL has established itself as an opportunity for youngsters to shine. Meanwhile, it has also become a place for veteran cricketers to put their careers to rest, whether for injury issues like Brett Lee, performance issues like Yuvraj Singh, or as a last hurrah, like Matthew Hayden or Virender Sehwag.

In this list, we will look 5 such veterans who could hang up their boots and play their last IPL season this year.

#5 Saurabh Tiwary | Mumbai Indians

A strong batsman with a big frame, Saurabh Tiwary was destined for greatness after playing an integral role in India's win of the 2008 U19 Cricket World Cup. Dubbed the 'left-handed version of MS Dhoni', Tiwary made his mark in the IPL playing for the Mumbai Indians, even winning the Under-23 player of the tournament in 2010 for his superb batting.

With an international career spanning just 3 ODI games, Tiwary has had limited success in international cricket. As such, his career dwindled after 2010, and he never reached his potential. Because of this, many are surprised to find out that Tiwary is still only 30 years old.

Also see – IPL 2020 Team

However, Tiwary has only played one IPL game since 2017, and if that is any indication, it is hard to see the batsman get any playtime. This is especially true, as Mumbai Indians have purchased young up-and-coming batsman Anmolpreet Singh for ₹80 lakhs.

With any playtime unlikely for him this season, the upcoming tournament could very well mark the end of his IPL career, despite his young age.

Note: Views are that of the author and not Sportskeeda's

#4 Parthiv Patel | Royal Challengers Bangalore

Parthiv Patel has had an unlucky career, overshadowed by MS Dhoni

Parthiv Patel has had a very unlucky international career. Making his debut in 2002 at the age of 17 years and 153 days, Patel performed well in first few games for India. However, following the emergence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Patel's time as India's first choice keeper quickly came to an end.

However, the wicket-keeper ended up with a respectable international career in the end, playing 25 Test matches at an average of 31.13, and 38 ODIs at an average of 23.74.

While he still starts for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the Gujarat skipper has made some interesting remarks about his career, stating that he is at the stage of his career where he just wants to "go out and have fun". He has also taken up roles as a commentator and analyst at Star India.

At 34, the wicket-keeper's prime is certainly behind him. Considering that he has already taken on roles as a cricket commentator, if he underperforms, the upcoming IPL season may be Parthiv Patel's final one.

#3 Ambati Rayudu | Chennai Super Kings

Ambati Rayudu has both retired and unretired in the past year

The past few years have been quite strange for Ambati Rayudu - having performed incredibly well in the 2018 edition of the IPL, scoring 602 runs from 16 games, at a strike rate of 149.75, Rayudu was rightfully selected in the India's ODI side starting in mid-2018. He then established himself in the national team, staking his claim on the coveted number 4 position on the batting order.

However, his place in the ODI team was then taken by Vijay Shankar, whose selection he publicly mocked in a tweet afterwards, which caused him to be dropped from the 2019 World Cup Squad. After this, he retired from all formats of the game, but unretired shortly afterwards, playing once again for his domestic team Hyderabad.

Having been retained by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Ambati Rayudu will look to match his success in the 2018 season, after his display of poor form last year, where he scored 282 runs from 17 games, at a strike rate of 93.06.

Turning 35 this year, if Rayudu does not improve his form for CSK this year, this may very well be his last year playing in the IPL as he retires for a second time.

#2 Harbhajan Singh | Chennai Super Kings

Harbhajan Singh has had a long and successful IPL career

With 108 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20 internationals under his belt, there is no doubt that Harbhajan Singh has had an incredibly successful career spanning well over 20 years.

In the IPL, Singh was first part of the Mumbai Indians, playing for them between 2008 to 2017, and winning three IPL trophies in the process.

Starting from the 2018 season, the all-rounder then started to play for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He had a mediocre first season in Chepauk, picking up just 7 wickets from 13 games at an average of 38.57. His second season with CSK was better, picking up 16 wickets from 11 games at an average of 19.50.

Recently, he has branched out of playing cricket, taking up Hindi commentating stints, and recently making his acting debut.

With Bhajji turning 40 this year, he may call it quits on his cricketing career after this year's upcoming IPL tournament - having has allegedly expressed his intentions to retire from all formats of the game after the upcoming IPL.

#1 Shane Watson | Chennai Super Kings

Shane Watson has been a main feature for CSK in the past few years

Shane Watson is without a doubt T20 cricket royalty. Having held the world #1 position for a record 150 weeks in the T20I all-rounder rankings, the all-rounder has played for 9 T20 cricket teams all around the world, all to varying degrees of success.

In recent years, Watson has turned back the clock by scoring 953 runs from 32 matches in his past two years in the IPL, at an average of over 32 runs, playing a key role for the Chennai Super Kings. He also single-handedly won Chennai the 2018 IPL title, by scoring an unbeaten 117 in their successful chase of 178 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final.

However, turning 39 this year, the Aussie all-rounder has already retired from domestic cricket in Australia, playing in his final Big Bash League last year. With Watson already having retired from domestic cricket last year, it is very likely that this year may see Shane Watson playing in the IPL for the very last time.