IPL 2018: 4 international players who warmed the benches throughout the season

The IPL with its motto, ‘Where talent meets opportunity’ is known to be the first break in the careers of many young, budding cricketers. This season too, some young players who were not heard of by the cricket fans before stole the limelight.

This edition also saw some experienced international players not getting a single opportunity to showcase their skills.

They say when things are not going your way, it is best to change till you find the right combination. It was not wise on the part of the franchises to not try out these experienced players when the team was struggling badly. The experience of these international players would have really come in handy for the franchises in their quest of reviving their IPL campaigns

Here is a look at four capped players who did not get a single game in the IPL 2018.

Note: Players who joined the teams in the middle of the season as replacements but were available for selection for more than 10 games have been considered.

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#4 Adam Milne

Adam Milne was brought in as the replacement for Pat Cummins

The Kiwi pacer was called in as a replacement for Pat Cummins by the Mumbai Indians in the second week of the IPL.

Unfortunately, he had to sit on the bench entire season watching his fellow Mumbai Indians pacers make some terrible mistakes with the ball. Adam Milne would have fit perfectly in the lackluster-looking MI pace attack.

When Mitchell McClenaghan, Mustafizur Rahman and Jasprit Bumrah were looking off-color during the middle part of the season, Mumbai could have taken a chance with Milne. However, that was not to be and Mumbai may have missed a trick there.

Milne has played 40 ODIS and 19 T20Is for New Zealand and represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past as well.

#3 Gurkeerat Singh Mann

Gurkeerat Singh Mann was a player that the DD could have tried.

Gurkeerat Singh Mann was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils for 75 lakhs in the eleventh edition of the IPL. A hitter down the order who is known for his handy part-time off-spin, Gurkeerat warmed the bench throughout IPL 11.

In the past, Gurkeerat has played for the Kings XI Punjab. His IPL numbers read 342 runs from 30 games striking at 126. Mann has picked 5 wickets in the IPL and a cheap economy of around 7 as well.

It is very surprising, considering that the Delhi Daredevils did not try him when they were having a terrible season. Maybe, Gurkeerat’s skills would have come in handy in reviving Delhi’s fortunes! He could have played the role of lower order hitter well for the Daredevils. Gurkeerat has played 3 ODIS for India and his last international appearance came in January 2016.

#3 Saurabh Tiwary

Tiwary was unlucky to not get a game for the Mumbai Indians.

Saurabh Tiwary was bought by the Mumbai Indians for 80 lakhs at the 2018 IPL auction. Tiwary has been a seasoned campaigner in the IPL and has been effective whenever he has played for the Mumbai Indians.

Surprisingly, he was not given a single chance by the Mumbai Indians in the eleventh edition of the IPL. He is a muscular hitter who is known to strike it big. In 81 IPL games, Tiwary has 1276 runs to his name at an average of 28. Considering that the Mumbai Indians batting line-up failed in most games, Tiwary should have got the nod over others.

Back in 2010, he played 3 ODIS for India but was not picked after that. He should consider himself unfortunate for not making it to the playing XI even once as he had all the credentials of a good IPL batsman.

#1 Jayant Yadav

Jayant Yadav has also scored a test hundred for India against England.

The Haryana off-spinner is the only player to be retained using the RTM card and not play a single game in the entire season. Jayant was kept by the Delhi Daredevils for 75 lakhs at the auction.

In the previous years, Jayant has played 10 games for the Daredevils picking only 4 wickets. Off-spinners have always enjoyed success in the IPL and hence it was worth for the DD to give Jayant a chance. One of the reasons DD did not do so could be that Jayant is a very orthodox bowler who does not have a lot of variations.

He would have helped the Daredevils to keep the runs down in the middle overs and form a bowling partnership with Amit Mishra. Jayant Yadav has played 4 Tests and a lone ODI for India during the 2016-17 season and was quite successful in his short international career.