IPL: 4 players who might never play IPL again

The Indian Premier League has turned many cricketers into legends over the years. The renowned ODI and, Test specialists adjusted well to maintain the same reputation in the extravagant league as well. Many greats, even participated in the league post their international retirement & performed flawlessly.

It has been transformative for some cricketers while injudicious for others, the performance being the frame of reference.

The T20 extravaganza has been an integral part of Indian cricket for more than 11 years. In all of these years, we have witnessed highs and lows of various cricketers, both Indian and overseas. A blend of Indian uncapped, Indian International cricketers, retired cricketers, established overseas cricketers collaborate to form an IPL side.

Age is the part of life and poor form might add up to make it threatening for a sportsman's career. Many IPL legends like Lasith Malinga, Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, Mike Hussey, have been at the receiving end of this factor.

Here is the list of four such cricketers, who might have played their last IPL game & would never be the part of the richest T20 league again.

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#4 Harbhajan Sing

Harbhajan has 134 IPL wickets to his name

The legendary Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh, might get under the scanner of Chennai Super Kings' team management when they would strategize for IPL 2019. It's not only the matter of the recently concluded 2018 edition, but the 'Turbanator' has been off-color from the past few years.

Playing for CSK for the first time, Bhajji scalped only 7 wickets in 13 games at an expensive economy rate of 8.48. Furthermore, his last two outings for Mumbai Indians were forgettable too, picking 17 wickets in 25 matches, which might have been the reason why MI let him go in the 2018 player auctions.

A career of 149 IPL matches might just take a permanent time off with many of us not even realizing it.

#3 Imran Tahir

Tahir has played 38 matches in his short IPL career

The South African veteran, turning 40 next year, might have played his last IPL game already. Imran Tahir, who started his IPL career quite late, hasn't got many opportunities in the T20 extravaganza, playing only 38 matches across five editions.

The leg-spinner has gone past his prime and his future in the IPL looks bleak, with so many Indian and overseas young guns chipping in quite effectively. Tahir managed to play only six matches, where he leaked at over nine runs per over.

#2 Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir is one of the most successful openers in IPL

After plenty of success with Kolkata Knight Riders, Gautam Gambhir struck the bottom low of his IPL career in 2018. It was one of the shocking occasions when the southpaw stepped down as the Delhi Daredevils captain, after a poor start to the season, having written numerous success stories with KKR.

Thereafter, he lost his place in the side for the rest of the season. With a bunch of young talented Indian cricketers in Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Prithvi Shaw, it seems like the Delhi opener might never don the IPL jersey again.

In the recently concluded season, Gauti scored just 85 runs from 6 games and that includes his innings of 55 in DD's opening game.

#1 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj has played for 5 different franchises in his IPL career

Yuvraj Singh had a disastrous IPL this time around, scoring only 65 runs from 8 games with a strike rate of just 89. Going by the facts, the left-handed batsman from Punjab hasn't scored even 400 runs in any of the IPL editions.

Having lost his ability to hit the spinners through the line and the distance, Yuvi has only managed to add more pressure on himself and the team in the crucial middle overs. He can no more accelerate through that phase and has somehow failed to find the momentum on various occasions.

It won't be a surprise if Kings XI Punjab call it a day for their so-called Punjabi son.