IPL 2018: The injured XI of the tournament

14 days, a number of closely-fought matches, a number of one-sided affairs, few memorable performances, few performances which will be forgotten soon, the eleventh season of the Indian Premier League is galloping along with its own pace.

And, then along the way, there have been players who have tripped, stumbled, and have been ruled out of the competition owing to injury concerns.

While franchises have been able to rope in replacements, these players will most definitely be ruing at their fates for not being able to turn up this season.

Here in this slider, we build a team of eleven players who have been injured or have been ruled out from the playing eleven!

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Openers

Shikhar Dhawan

Sunrisers Hyderabad have been jolted with an injury to their gun player in Shikhar Dhawan as the southpaw has not been able to take part in the last two games for his franchise owing to his elbow injury.

This has impeded the batting of SRH greatly and the management would want him back in the mix as soon as possible.

David Warner

Although David Warner is not injured, he has not been able to turn up this season owing to a ban slapped on him by Cricket Australia due to the ball-tampering charges.

Warner has been a clutch player for SRH and although Kane Williamson has taken over the mantle of captaincy with intent, Warner the batsman is being missed.

Top order

Kedar Jadhav

Kedar Jadhav hobbled along and then won Chennai Super Kings the first match against the Mumbai Indians, but such was the extent of his injury that he had to be pulled out from the scheme of things.

Marcus Stoinis

The Australian all-rounder was retained by Kings XI Punjab at the auctions but has not been able to take part in the matches owing to an injury.

This has taken away the balance from Kings XI, as the all-rounder has the ability to bat not only in the top order but can also bowl his quota of four overs on a regular basis.

Steve Smith

Much like David Warner, Steve Smith has been barred from the IPL due to the fine slapped on them by Cricket Australia.

Smith would have led Rajasthan Royals, but now he is doing community service in Australia, which is a crying shame for both IPL and cricket as a whole.

All-rounders

Mitchell Santner

The Kiwi will undergo a knee surgery and was forced to miss the Indian Premier League. He was snapped up by the Chennai Super Kings in the auctions.

New Zealand Cricket said Santner felt some discomfort while playing and scans showed a "bone defect" had deteriorated which has ruled him out for nine months.

Axar Patel

Another left-arm spinning all-rounder, Axar Patel has been nursing a thigh injury and despite being the only player retained by Kings XI Punjab, he has not been able to take part in their matches.

His inclusion will come as a boost for Ashwin, as he offers four solid overs and then has the ability to tonk the ball lower down the order.

Bowlers

Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins was ruled out of the Indian Premier League with a back issue, after the first match. He was bought by the Mumbai Indians.

Cummins has had a long history of back issues following his debut in the Australian Test team and this injury flared up after he played 13 consecutive Tests for Australia.

Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc was ruled out of the 2018 Indian Premier League due to a right leg injury.

This came as a big blow to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) which acquired him for a whopping Rs 9.4 crore at this year’s auction. They roped in Tom Curran as his replacement.

Nathan Coulter-Nile

Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a big jolt when Nathan Coulter-Nile was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.

Coulter-Nile, who claimed 15 wickets from eights games for Kolkata Knight Riders last season, was a vital cog for RCB this season, but his absence has left a massive hole.

He was replaced by Corey Anderson.

Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Kamlesh Nagarkoti was one of India's brightest sparks in their victorious Under-19 World Cup, which prompted Kolkata Knight Riders to cough up INR 3.2 crore on him during the IPL player auction.

However, an injury to his foot ruled him out of the competition and Prasidh Krishna, the Karnataka seamer, was called up as his replacement.