IPL 2018: 5 foreign players who might warm benches for the entire season

Indian Premier League has been transformative for some cricketers while injudicious for others, the opportunity being the frame of reference. It all comes down to the pattern of team selection, where the squad limit goes as high as 25 out of which only 11 can tread the boards.

The state of affair is indeed severe for the overseas participants as only 4 of them are permitted to engage in the play. On account of all the above, the scenario emanates with certainty in which the players don't even get to sniff the 22 yards strip for the entire season, deservingly or undeservingly.

Here is a look at those who might fall under this bracket in the forthcoming season.

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#5 Moeen Ali (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

He played his last T20I for England over a year ago

The English all-rounder was roped in by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹ 1.7 crores in the IPL player auctions 2018 with the courtesy of which Moeen Ali is set to be a part of the cash-rich league for the first time. However, the conundrum is whether he'll get an on-field appearance for RCB or not.

The Bangalore-based franchise has a decent overseas mix-up in their arsenal. Indian spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Murugan Ashwin, and Pawan Negi give them many-sidedness.

The point is that they would want their foreign supply to reinforce their pace-attack and batting line-up having the dearth of Indian experience barring skipper Virat Kohli, Umesh Yadav and even Mandeep Singh for that matter.

Therefore, Moeen Ali's chances to make it to the final eleven looks bleak.

#4 Dushmantha Chameera (Rajasthan Royals)

His IPL signing came as a surprise

Dushmantha Chameera earned his first ever IPL contract for ₹ 50 lacs with the returning franchise Rajasthan Royals. The Sri Lankan fast bowler would have to go through a rat race to make it to the RR side which already has Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jofra Archer, Ben Laughlin, Ben Stokes as other options.

At the back of an ordinary T20 record with no eye-catching performances, the 26-year-old is most likely to remain on the sidelines for the entire season.

#3 Akila Dananjaya (Mumbai Indians)

Set to join his compatriot MI mentor Mahela Jayawardene

Only two Sri Lankans are going to be a part of this year's IPL and both of them, unfortunately, made it to the inauspicious list. The second one of those, Akila Dananjaya, was bagged by Mumbai Indians at his base price of ₹ 50 lacs.

Mumbai Indians' overseas quota seems to be booked already with the likes of the right-to-matched Kieron Pollard, Evin Lewis, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, JP Duminy, and even Ben Cutting.

Furthermore, MI spin attack looks well settled with Indian names shared by Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, and Tajinder Dhillon, making it gloomy for Akila to get a go this season.

#2 Chris Jordan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Chris Jordan played the last season's eliminator for SRH

Sunrisers have done exceedingly well in the IPL player auctions, by signing a precise blend of Indian and overseas cricketers. Having been a bowling-heavy unit since inception, a few of them have struggled to find a spot with the presence of retained Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, and Rashid Khan.

Chris Jordan, who was re-signed by SRH for ₹ 1 crore, has been in and out of their setup down to this day. The signing of in-form overseas players like Billy Stanlake, Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite and Indian young talented pacers like Basil Thampi, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan would perhaps be hovering as dark clouds on Jordan's inclusion throughout the upcoming season.

In addition to that, having an overseas captain further diminishes the chances as the foreign quota goes down to only three available spots.

#1 Mitchell Santner (Chennai Super Kings)

Only New Zealander in CSK setup

Chennai Super Kings showed every sign of being overenthusiastic at the auctions, having burst their squad with spinners of every genre. Maybe they favoured their home conditions a touch too far.

One out of the crowd was Mitchell Santner, bought at his base price of ₹ 50 lacs.

Unfortunately, the existence of the retained Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, and Imran Tahir will make it almost impossible for the New Zealander to don the yellow jersey and he might sit through only a spectator for the duration of the entire 2018 season.