5 players who shouldn't get a contract for IPL 7

“Yatra pratibha avsara prapnotihi.” (Where talent meets opportunity)

The words inscribed on the IPL trophy do ring true each year, offering a huge platform for unheralded talents to come to the fore and take the Indian and World cricketing scene by storm. Sanju Samson, Manan Vohra and others before have kept this romantic side of the IPL alive ever since its inception.

Then again, there are players that you see taking to the field, getting paid millions and yet somehow they don’t fit in. Some have already peaked, while others just don’t have the technique, guile or the skills to apply themselves in front of the national audience. Their performances have left most flabbergasted and bewildered about the merits upon which their selection took place. The head scratching often ends with people mouthing some vernaculars.

Here is a list of five players who don’t deserve another contract in the IPL:

Ajit Agarkar

As much as it hurts me to include Agarkar at the top of the list, the once talented all-rounder has far exceeded his expiry date. The Mumbai captain has been having another nightmare of a season for the Delhi Daredevils and has never really taken well to the shorter version of the game.

He has already lost more than a yard of pace and seems to have lost a skill or two with the ball. Unlike a certain Rajat Bhatia, Agarkar doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes and has ended up as mince-meat for most batsmen to feast on. Going at over 9 per over for the past two seasons with a paltry haul of 3 wickets to his name in that time, there certainly seems no reason for giving the Mumbai lad another go.

Pradeep Sangwan

When Kolkata bought Sangwan in the second mega IPL auctions, the Knight Riders hierarchy thought they had got their hands on another young prospect whom they could nurture, especially with Wasim Akram at the helm. In the three years that have passed since then, Sangwan carved out a reputation of being a laughing stock whose level of competency has come into question with each delivery he has bowled.

In his last two years, Sangwan has managed to prod his head into the team list on two occasions. In the 6 overs he was afforded, the Delhi lad has managed to concede 76 runs at an average of 12.67 runs per over while claiming a solitary victim.

Sreevats Goswami

The second member of the 2008 U-19 World Cup winning team to be on this list. Thought to be another prodigious talent, the wristy left hander was gobbled up by the Royal Challengers along with Virat Kohli. While the likes of Kohli, Saurabh Tiwary and Jadeja have gone on to fetch prices in millions, Goswami has been a wanderer in his IPL stint.

After scoring a half-century early on in his RCB career, the left-hander-cum-wicket-keeper’s IPL career has fallen flat on his face. A stint back home with the Knight Riders didn’t quite work out and the revolving door saw him quickly shifted off to the Rajasthan Royals. However, he has never lived to his billing and has failed to cement a place at all places he has been. Yet to get a look-in in this year’s IPL, the southpaw doesn’t provide much with a strike rate of 96 and only a solitary 50 in the 23 games played.

Paul Valthaty

“Lightning does not strike twice”. If you are looking for somebody for whom the idiom rings true, look no further than Mr Paul Valthaty. The Kings XI batsman shot into the limelight with a blistering 120 off 63 balls against the Chennai Super Kings. Since then, the lad from Mumbai has looked abject in most innings he has played. His presence on the field doesn’t portray a figure who could have achieved such a feat as he looks totally out his comfort zone facing up to bowlers with a much higher pedigree than what he is used to in the domestic circuit. Then again, his exploits in the domestic scene are nothing much to rave about either.

Sunny Sohal

Many RCB fans aren’t yet aware of the presence of this talent in the ranks of their beloved team. Sohal is yet another batsman who doesn’t seem fit for the big time of the IPL. The only thing of note coming from the willow of the current RCB batsmen was an innings of 62 in his five years in the league. Yet somehow, the Royal Challengers were convinced to give him a contract even after he posted an average of 18.40 during his time with the Chargers. Sohal hasn’t been able to push into the reckoning even though Bangalore have struggled to find an Indian batsman who could at least provide a sheet anchor’s role in the middle or up top. Waste of a contract and resources which could have been used elsewhere.