5 international stars who warmed the bench throughout IPL 2016

The IPL can be a great leveller. Here, superstars are often humbled given the restrictions that no team can play more than 4 foreign players in their playing XI. Most teams have a massive foreign contingent to make sure the captains have options for all conditions, on all sorts of pitches and for backup required. From time to time, star players do not find a spot in the playing XI considering the overseas quota is also filled up.

This year witnessed many players who are stars in their own right for their national teams but had to warm the bench for the greater part of the season. While players like Colin Munro, Brad Hogg, Eoin Morgan and Kane Williamson played more than a few matches, on and off, some players rarely got a chance to show their skills.

The list of players who warmed the bench for most part of the season has some big names on it. We take a look at five of those. Apart from those, there were others like Jerome Taylor, David Wiese and Shaun Tait who could hardly do much during the season.

#1 Dale Steyn (Gujarat Lions)

Arguably, one of the greatest fast bowlers ever and undoubtedly, the best fast bowler of his generation, Steyn spent almost the entire season on the bench for Gujarat Lions. Suresh Raina, the skipper, and the team think-tank went with firepower in the batting department, regularly picking up Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Dwayne Smith.

Dwayne Bravo as an all-rounder was the fourth pick. Steyn, bought by Gujarat Lions for an impressive 2.3 crore rupees after a bidding war with Rising Pune Supergiants, got just one game – against his former team Sunrisers Hyderabad. Steyn bowled just 2 overs conceding 17 runs with SRH winning the match by 10 wickets. That could probably be one of the worst campaigns for Steyn, who didn’t get an opportunity to impress for IPL’s best team during the league stage.

#2 Trent Boult (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Sunrisers Hyderabad, eventual IPL Champions had the tournament’s best bowling attack in all stages, from power-play to death overs. With Mustafizur Rahman, bought for 1.2 crore rupees doing so well for them and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, ending up with the Purple Cap, it is understandable why Trent Boult, probably one of New Zealand’s best fast bowlers at the moment, got just one game despite being one of the players retained.

Boult had in the previous season kept Steyn out of the team for most parts. But he got a taste of his own medicine, despite bagging a lucrative retention deal worth 3.8 crore rupees. Boult’s only chance came in Qualifier 2 against the Gujarat Lions when Rahman had to sit out because of an injury. He started really well, but eventually ended up with mediocre numbers of 1-39 in 4 overs.

It didn’t help him that Barinder Sran stepped up to a great extent ensuring Sunrisers had a solid trio of fast bowlers allowing them to use their foreign contingent to solidify their weaker batting. David Warner, Moises Henriques, Mustafizur and Ben Cutting/Kane Williamson/Eoin Morgan usually figured as their four foreign players.

#3 Corey Anderson (Mumbai Indians)

One of New Zealand’s budding all-rounders and a star of New Zealand’s 2015 ODI World Cup campaign, Anderson was retained with a big payday of $1.1 million NZD (INR 4.95 crores) by Mumbai Indians. However, Anderson didn’t get a single game even though Mumbai Indians hardly got much out of Keiron Pollard. Even Martin Guptill, Anderson’s teammate got a few games towards the end of the season.

It has been one of the most bizarre and baffling omissions this year considering MI repeatedly failed with the bat many a time and had an extended bad start to their season. They lacked a genuine all-rounder, something Anderson could have helped with given his big hitting prowess and knack of wicket-taking. He remained one of the most expensive players to warm the bench this season after suffering an injury-forced exit in the previous season.

In 2014, it was Anderson’s exploits which sent MI storming into the Top 4 after a tense chase against Rajasthan Royals. The decision seemed all the more baffling given MI’s think-tank comprised of experienced legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Shane Bond.

#4 Albie Morkel (Rising Pune Supergiants)

Albie Morkel, once a regular for the CSK side under MS Dhoni scored 16 runs with the bat in 2 games and bowled 5 overs to pick 2 wickets with the ball for the Rising Pune Supergiants team which ended the season ranked seventh this year. Pune’s season was completely derailed as they lost their best foreign players including Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen and Mitchell Marsh.

Despite that, Morkel found it hard to get off the bench even as Pune chopped and changed players all through the season never really wearing a settled look. In the last few matches, Usman Khawaja, leg-spinning sensation Adam Zampa, Australian George Bailey and Sri Lankan all-rounder Thissara Perera were the four foreign players to find a slot in the side.

#5 Mitchell Johnson (Kings XI Punjab)

Johnson, one of the most feared bowlers of his time, retired recently from Test cricket. Fans who hoped to watch him hustle batsmen at the IPL were disappointed as Johnson, retained by Kings XI Punjab for his 2014 auction price of $1.34 million played just 3 games. It was just a shadow of the Johnson who showed sensational form playing for Mumbai Indians prior to that.

In all, Johnson bowled 11 overs in 3 games, getting just 2 wickets at 53 apiece with an economy of 9.63, sad numbers from one of the premier fast bowlers of the best Test side in the world. Kings XI Punjab ended up with the Wooden Spoon, though their bowling can hardly be blamed for it. Although Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma did really well, their batsmen including the likes of David Miller, hardly fired during the season.