IPL 2020: Top 3 super subs who helped teams with their fielding

Getting selected by an IPL franchise is hard. After showing promise in the domestic circuit, attracting the attention of franchise buyers, and finally getting picked up, it's a frustrating experience if you are not able to make it to the playing eleven. Though the environment of the dressing room plays a key role in the grooming of young players, the young crop also need to contribute to the team through their performances.

As teams are primarily focused on their batting and bowling prowess, rarely are players selected on the basis of their fielding performance, despite the fact that a dynamic fielder can save you ten runs on a good day. Given the level of competition in international and league cricket, those ten runs could be the difference between victory and loss.

The current edition of the IPL has sparked a new trend, however. Teams are permitted to name a 12th man for the squad who can play as a substitute fielder in case one of the original eleven undergoes an injury scare or a fatigue related issue.

Franchises this year have keenly exploited this loophole to squeeze in that one amazing fielder into the outfield, who could be an impactful substitute for that one ageing player in the squad. Save boundaries by his acrobatics, effect direct hits through bullet-throws, and hold on to tough chances on the boundary rope.

In this article, we go through three such players who have regularly impacted their team's performances through their stupendous fielding efforts.

Rinku Singh (KKR)

Rinku Singh has got a lot to offer for his team

Though he had an uneventful lone game in the haphazard campaign of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Rinku Singh is a familiar face in the stadium when KKR is the fielding side. Apart from having a safe pair of hands, Rinku Singh is also athletic on the field, saving runs inside the thirty-yard circle as well as on the boundary ropes.

Given the fact that the team is teeming with local and international talent, Rinku will not find it easy to get another look-in into the playing eleven. However, teams are assured to see more of this 22-year-old if the Knight Riders make an entry into the IPL 2020 playoffs.

Anukul Roy (MI)

Anukul is more known for his fielding exploits than his left-arm spin in IPL

With his childish face and a peculiar man-bun, Anukul Roy is a familiar face in the Mumbai squad. He just 21 years old and, is the second left-arm spinner in the team after Krunal Pandya. Which means that Anukul not having gotten a single game this year is not a surprise.

However, Anukul has regularly featured in matches as the substitute fielder. Regardless of whether it was Ishan Kishan's shoulder injury or Rohit Sharma's hamstring pull, Anukul was the go-to-man for the management to take their place on the field.

His most memorable moment of this year's tournament would be the splendid diving catch he took to dismiss Mahipal Lomror against Rajasthan Royals. He ran all the way from short cover to mid-off and followed it with a full-length dive, completing a "superman" catch. He also followed it up with a similar catch to dismiss Nicholas Pooran in the first super over of Mumbai's double super-over thriller against Kings XI Punjab.

Jagadeesha Suchith (KXIP)

Though he was a frontline spinner for Mumbai, Suchith finds his niche as the "super-sub" in Punjab

The case of Suchith is somewhat different. He is not young like the other two, nearing 27, and has had a season with Mumbai Indians in which he featured in almost all the games as the left-arm spinner before the rise of Krunal Pandya.

However, once Mumbai found their first choice in Krunal, Suchith fell out of favor and was eventually released. With the twin leggies, Murugan Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi under the legendary Kumble, Suchith has not had the opportunity to break into the playing XI with Punjab either.

However, that has not stopped him from stamping his signature on IPL 2020. In fact, his breathtaking running catch running from long-off to the boundary rope to dismiss Manish Pandey was the turning point in Sunrisers Hyderabad's unbelievable choke while chasing 127. That might have been the most important catch in the tournament, as the batting team folded out from 100-3 to being bowled out for 114, handing a pivotal victory to the Kings.

Suchith continued his acrobatics into their following fixture against Rajasthan Royals too, hitting the bulls-eye with a bullet throw from point. Though this did not result in another Kings XI comeback, it was possibly the only way to dismiss Sanju Samson, who was in full flow.