Since its inception, the Indian Premier League has always strived to unearth Indian domestic talent. The cash-rich league has managed to transform the scenario of domestic cricket in India as it has given domestic players the opportunity to express themselves on the bigger stage.
On the contrary, IPL hasn’t been too kind to many domestic stars. Some of them have had to warm the benches for a considerable amount of time. Despite some good performances in the domestic competitions, those players found it difficult to make it to the playing eleven.
The story hasn’t been any different in the IPL 2016 too. Some of the fantastic domestic performers have hardly got a chance (some played only a game) to prove themselves. We have tried to select 5 of them based on their domestic performances.
Here are five such examples:
Irfan Pathan
The talented Baroda all-rounder was the highest wicket taker in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015/16, the domestic T20 tournament. He picked up 17 wickets in the 10 games he played and in the IPL auction he was picked by Rising Pune Supergiants.
However, to everyone’s surprise, the veteran all-rounder has played only a single game in the IPL 2016. To make matters worse, he bowled only a single over in the game he played and conceded only 7 runs.
His team RPSG hasn’t been doing that well this season and they might try someone like Pathan who is an experienced campaigner.
Unmukt Chand
The talented Delhi batsman performed consistently for Delhi in the domestic limited-overs tournaments. He was the highest scorer for his state team Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015-16, the domestic ODI tournament.
The right-hander also did well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015/16 as he scored 276 runs in the 9 games he played. He was the second highest run-getter for Delhi in that tournament.
The 23-year-old lad is a part of the Mumbai Indians squad in the IPL 2016 and he would have expected to show his potential in the cash-rich league too. However, to his disappointment, he hasn’t yet played a game for his franchise in this year’s tournament.
Though his stats in the IPL are far from impressive(300 runs in 20 matches at an average of 15.78), yet he is someone who can be given the chance based on his recent performances.
Mandeep Singh
A talented young cricketer from Punjab, caught everyone’s attention this season when he became the highest run-getter in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015-16. He amassed 394 runs in the 7 games he played.
Mandeep has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit. He was the second highest run scorer for Punjab with 616 runs in the Ranji Trophy 2013-14 season.
The 24-year-old was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2015 and he is a part of the franchise this year as well. However, the talented young man has played only one game this season.
Mandeep had a decent IPL 2015 for RCB and he was expected to do well for them this season too. However, the young lad has failed to find a spot in the playing eleven.
Anureet Singh
The 28-year-old fast bowler, who plays for Railways in the Ranji Trophy, was a standout performer for his side in the Ranji Trophy. The pacer took 36 wickets in just 7 games at an astonishing average of 18.22
Anureet who is a part of the Kings XI Punjab side in the IPL 2016 had a decent season for them last year as he picked up 15 wickets in 14 games.
However, he hasn’t played a game this season as the likes of Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma are picked ahead of him.
Nathu Singh
The 20-year-old young pace bowler was a super performer for his state side Rajasthan in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015/16. He picked up 14 wickets at an astonishing average of 8.57 in the 6 games he played.
The young fast bowler from Rajasthan burst into the limelight with figures of 7 for 87 on debut against Delhi in Ranji Trophy 2015-16. Legends like Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir were heavily impressed with the young man’s talent as well.
He created more headlines when he was snapped up by Mumbai Indians in this year’s IPL auction for an astronomical figure of INR 3.2 crores (32 times his base price).
However, the speedster is yet to play a game in the ongoing IPL 2016.
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