As the IPL 2017 season is springing towards its climax, the jury is out on which player justified his value and which player hasn’t. Every team has its own set of superstars who have led from the front with sensational innings and exceptionally good bowling spells.
But, cricket is a team game and behind the big stars, is a concerted effort put in by several others, some of them stars in their own right and yet, kept away from the limelight because there are only so many players the media can discuss and the commentators and TV anchors can rave about.
Foreign stars like Ben Stokes, Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan and Steve Smith have done their bit for their franchises. Here, we look at five players who have quietly gone about their jobs, making important contributions right through without really being hailed as sensational. It could be because of their general presence and demeanour or a possible overshadowing by other bigger players in the team. They certainly deserve their due!
#1 Rahul Tripathi
The 26-year old unhailed player from Maharashtra won’t be eligible for the Emerging Player award. He is not someone the shutterbugs will catch the very first time. Tripathi is quiet, humble and almost star-struck himself, in whatever we have seen during interviews of him. Nevertheless, he has managed to give Pune Rising Supergiants sensational starts despite the fact that Ajinkya Rahane has been a virtual non-performer this season.
Tripathi is second only to his skipper Smith with 360 runs in 11 innings at an impressive strike-rate of 151.89. His average is 32.72, more than respectable for someone who has a 150+ strike-rate. With two half-centuries, Tripathi has managed 39 fours and 16 sixes showing his amazing range.
#2 Pawan Negi
Negi has been one of the best all-rounders this season. But, so poor has the season been for RCB that many have failed to take notice of his performances, despite that fact that he literally won a match for Shane Watson by bowling the final over early in the season. Negi has 131 runs with the bat and 13 wickets with the ball. But that is not the most impressive part of his story this year.
The southpaw, who after commanding an astronomical price at one time, before tasting a big fall, has an economy rate of 6.19, the lowest for anyone with more than 5 wickets this season.
His bowling average is an impressive 14.38 and his strike-rate is 13.9. Negi missed out on a couple of matches early in the season before proving his worth lower down the order, with the bat as well.
#3 Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh could be forgiven for being disappointed about the Champions Trophy squad. Away from active cricket for a while, he showed how age has not dented his skillset. In fact, he is one of the very few IPL veterans who has added proper value to his team this year.
Playing for the strongest side this season, Harbhajan managed just 8 wickets but that hardly shows his value to his team.
Bhajji has bowled 41 overs in 11 games with best figures of 3/22, but it is his economy rate of 6.48 that is stunning. One has to take into account the fact that Harbhajan plays a lot of his matches at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on a good batting track and extremely small boundaries.
Harbhajan’s control has ensured that the wicket-takers in the team like Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah, prosper.
#2 Manish Pandey
For an Indian national in the Champions Trophy Squad, Manish Pandey is a paradox as far as publicity is concerned. The first Indian IPL centurion and one of the youngest to score a century in IPL has quietly been accumulating runs for KKR away from the limelight that has been taken by KKR’s top 4 – Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir.
In 12 innings, Pandey has scored 396 runs with an impressive strike-rate of 128.57, playing mostly in the middle overs. More than the strike-rate it is his stupendous average of 49.5 that shows how good a finisher he has been for KKR this year.
Two innings have stood out in particular – his 81* off 47 balls against MI at their fortress, Wankhede, and then 69* off 49 against Daredevils in their own den.
#1 Manoj Tiwary
Tiwari, initially ignored, and playing way down the order has proven his value time and time again, from all positions for the Rising Pune Supergiants. A 60 in a losing cause, where he almost took his team home despite needing 25 to win off the last over against Delhi Daredevils demonstrated his class. An unbeaten 44* against RCB was another classy knock.
Overall, Tiwari has amassed 259 runs in 11 innings, thrice unbeaten. With an average of 32.37, Tiwari has managed a strike-rate of 143.88 with 26 fours and 9 sixes. Most of his runs have come during tough times, their weight worth in gold.
Tiwari has also shown his versatility proving he can score the quick runs in the end and also consolidate the innings batting up the order.
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