IPL 2018: 5 Indian cricketers who will be missed this year

The IPL has provided opportunities to several Indian cricketers over the years and it has served as a door to the Indian national team. Many players got their national call-ups based on their IPL performances.

Several budding youngsters got the much-needed exposure of playing alongside, against the star overseas players and sharing the dressing room with the legends of the game. From unearthing the rare talents to proper nurturing of those talents, the IPL has contributed much to the Indian cricket.

Some Indian cricketers have been part of the league since its inception, while some had a very short IPL career. Let us now see those Indian players who have played the IPL in the past seasons but won't be playing in the eleventh edition of the tournament this summer.

#1 Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma was one of the hottest properties of the IPL during the inaugural edition in 2008. A decade later, his fortunes changed, and he found no buyers at the auctions. Ishant has played nine seasons in the IPL so far and has represented five different franchises- the Kolkata Knight Riders, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rising Pune Supergiant and Kings XI Punjab.

The Delhiite has played 76 IPL matches in which he has 59 wickets at an economy of 8.17, with his best figures being 5/12. In the first few editions, he was at his best. But his form dwindled as the seasons progressed.

Nevertheless, the franchises showed interest in Ishant as they relied on his experience. The tall pacer who has never won the IPL title in his career, went unsold in this year’s auctions with a base price of INR 75 lakh.

#2 Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar also made valuable contributions with the bat

The right arm medium pacer from Meerut bowled the first ever delivery in the IPL history to the former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly in 2008 at Bengaluru. Praveen Kumar represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first three editions of the IPL.In 2010, he took a hattrick while playing for the RCB against the Rajasthan Royals at Chinnaswamy stadium, which happened to be the only hattrick of the third season.

Thereby, he became the seventh bowler to take a hattrick in the IPL. Praveen played for the Kings XI Punjab franchise from 2011-2013 and then moved to Mumbai Indians in 2014 as a replacement to the injured Indian pacer Zaheer Khan. The Sunrisers Hyderabad bought Praveen Kumar for the 2015 edition after he had been released by the Mumbai Indians prior to the eighth season auctions.

He played just one season for the Hyderabad franchise before representing the new entrants Gujarat Lions in the 2016 and 2017 editions. Praveen has also made valuable contributions with the bat, down the order. In 119 IPL matches, he has scored 344 runs at a strike-rate of 109.20, with his highest score being 34. In bowling, he has taken 90 wickets at an economy of 7.72, with his best figures being 3/18. The Uttar Pradesh player went unsold in this year’s IPL auctions in January, with a base price of INR 50 lakh.

#3 Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan was not at his best, particularly in the last three editions

The Vadodara all-rounder was the Match of the match in India’s victorious 2007 ICC T20 World Cup final in Johannesburg against Pakistan, with figures of 3/16 in four overs. Pathan is one of the very few players to have played for six different franchises in ten years- Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions.

Pathan is one of the best all-rounders in the IPL and his stats affirm that. In 103 matches, he has scored 1139 runs at a strike-rate of 120.40, with his highest score being 60. Pathan has an equally good bowling stats with 80 wickets at an economy of 7.77, with his best figures being 3/24. Pathan was not at his best, particularly in the last three editions and that made him go unsold in this year’s auctions with a base price of INR 50 lakh.

#4) Pragyan Ojha

Pragyan Ojha is the only spinner to win the Purple Cap in the ten-year history of IPL.

Pragyan Ojha, who performed exceedingly well in the first six seasons, was one of the most consistent bowlers in the IPL. The talented slow left-arm spinner from Odisha has played for two franchises in his eight-year-long IPL career. He donned the now defunct Deccan Chargers jersey from 2008-2011 and represented the Mumbai Indians from 2012-2015.

Ojha won his first IPL title with the Deccan Chargers under Adam Gilchrist in 2009 and in 2010 he won the Purple cap, as he was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets in sixteen games. The interesting fact is that he is the only spinner to win the Purple Cap in the ten-year history of IPL. He also won two titles with the Mumbai Indians - in 2013 and 2015 under Rohit Sharma.

In 92 matches, Ojha has taken 89 wickets at an economy of 7.36, with the best figures of 3/11. Ojha, who played in the first eight editions of the IPL, did not find any buyers from the ninth edition. Unfortunately, he went unsold in this year’s auctions as well, with a base price of INR 50 lakhs.

#5 Varun Aaron

Varun Aaron was Virat’ Kohli's go-to bowler

The Jharkhand pacer was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in the first three editions of the IPL. But he did not get a chance to don the Kolkata jersey even once and warmed the bench for three seasons. In 2011, he was bought by the Delhi Daredevils and eventually made his IPL debut in the fourth edition. Aaron played three seasons for the Daredevils (2011-2013), before moving to the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore for the seventh edition in 2014.

At RCB, Varun Aaron was Virat’s go-to bowler and he repaid his captain’s faith by taking 16 wickets in ten games in the seventh season. Due to the injuries and poor form, he could not perform well in the next two editions and was eventually released by the RCB for the 2017 season. The right-arm bowler was part of the RCB squad that finished as the runners-up to a spirited Sunrisers Hyderabad unit in 2016.

In the 2017 auctions, Varun Aaron was bought by the Kings XI Punjab for INR 2.8 crore. In 42 IPL matches, he has taken 38 wickets at an economy of 8.66, with his best figures being 3/16. With a base price of INR 50 lakh, he found no buyers in the 2018 IPL auctions.