IPL 2020: 3 IPL regulars who will be missed this season

The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) season is all set to kick-off on March 29 with defending champion Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings in a Super Sunday clash at the Wankhede Stadium. The auction for season thirteen which was held on December 19th last year, as usual, witnessed several domestic as well as overseas players acquiring lucrative contracts. From the 18-year old Yashasvi Jaiswal to the world's number one ranked Test bowler Pat Cummins, 332 shortlisted players (domestic as well as overseas) went under the hammer in Kolkata.

While a few proven players like Chris Lynn, Tom Banton, James Neesham, and David Miller were bought at their base prices, several big guns went unsold much to the surprise of the entire cricketing fraternity. While there are many exciting debutants to watch out for this season, quite a few players including the 2019 World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan and Glenn Maxwell will be hoping for a dream comeback to the IPL having missed out from the previous editions.

Meanwhile, three experienced IPL regulars who have been a part of the league since its inception or over the past several seasons won't be seen in action this time due to various reasons. On that note, let us look at those three players who were a part of their respective franchises in 2019 IPL but will be missed this season.

#3 Shakib Al Hasan

In a shocking development back in October 2019, the ICC suspended Shakib Al Hasan from all cricket for two years, with one year of that sentence suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code. The governing body charged him under Article 2.4.4, for failure to report two approaches to engage in corrupt conduct - during the tri-series involving Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in 2018, and during the SRH vs KXIP game on April 26, 2018.

As he will be free to resume international cricket on October 29, 2020, subject to satisfying the conditions in respect of the suspended part of the sanction, SRH released the Bangladesh player ahead of 2020 IPL auction. One of the best all-rounders across formats, the 32-year old who began his IPL career with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011, joined the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018 after his seven-year stint with Gautam Gambhir's men. After a memorable 2018 IPL where he amassed 239 runs apart from picking up 14 wickets, he had a forgettable outing (9 runs, 2 wickets) last year having made just three appearances throughout 2019 IPL.

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Nevertheless, the former Bangladesh skipper who emerged as the third highest run-getter at 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup having amassed 606 runs in just eight innings was expected to continue his impressive run in the upcoming IPL for the Sunrisers. However, the vastly experienced campaigner who has 746 runs and 59 wickets in 63 IPL matches will not be seen in action this season due to the ban imposed by the ICC.

#Note: All statistics as of March 7, 2020

#2 Yusuf Pathan

The man-of-the-match of 2008 IPL final, Yusuf Pathan will be regarded as one of the finest players in the history of IPL given his all-round credentials. After spending first three seasons at Rajasthan Royals, the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup winner moved to Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of season four. The Vadodara-born all-rounder who won two titles (2012 and 2014) during his seven-year stint with the Kolkata-based outfit established himself as one of the vital cogs of the KKR set-up.

The 37-year old who was consistent with the bat throughout his stay at the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise was released by them ahead of 2018 IPL auction owing to a poor outing in season ten in which he managed just 143 runs in 15 matches. After joining Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 1.9 crores, Pathan couldn't make much of an impact having amassed 260 runs and 40 runs in 2018 and 2019 IPL respectively. The vastly experienced player who represents Baroda in the domestic circuit has played 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is for the Men in Blue. The dashing all-rounder who has scored 3204 IPL runs apart from picking up 42 wickets in 174 matches will be missed in the upcoming IPL edition.

#1 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh (left) celebrating his half-century against Delhi Capitals with Mitchell McClenaghan

India's 2007 ICC T20 World Cup and 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup-winning hero, Yuvraj Singh who broke the hearts of every Indian cricket fan across the globe by announcing his retirement from the game on June 10th last year will not be seen in action in 2020 IPL. One of India's finest all-rounders, who began his IPL career with Kings XI Punjab in 2008 has also represented the now-defunct Pune Warriors India, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mumbai Indians. The 37-year old played eleven out of the twelve IPL seasons (missed 2012 IPL citing medical condition) and has won two IPL titles - in 2016 with Sunrisers Hyderabad and 2019 with Mumbai Indians.

The anticipation level would be high whenever the auctioneer announces his name at the auction, such was his popularity among the entire IPL fraternity. The southpaw who still holds the record for the most expensive buy in the history of IPL auctions as the Delhi Daredevils' (now Delhi Capitals) shelled out whopping INR 16 crores to buy him at 2015 IPL auction has scored 2750 runs apart from picking up 36 wickets in 132 IPL matches. Certainly, IPL won't be the same without Yuvi who mesmerized the fans with his monstrous sixes off Yuzvendra Chahal's bowling at the Chinnaswamy Stadium even in his last season.