IPL 2020: 5 Star players who might not feature in the playing XI in the first week

The much-awaited 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is ready to start from Saturday, September 19. The biggest rivalries in the history of IPL, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) are going to fight to start the tournament on a winning note at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. As the tournament is moved to the UAE, all the teams might be changing their gameplans according to the conditions and nature of pitches, which are generally spin-friendly. The team managements will be trying their best to opt for the apt XI from their squads and hence, we may find some star players warming the bench in the dugout. Almost each and every team, participating in this season, did a decent job in the auction to strengthen their backups. Many a times we see those players in action only if the main players are unavailable to selection due to injury or any other reason. So, let’s look at 5 star players who are likely to be benched in the first week of IPL 2020: – 1. Chris Lynn (MI) Chris Lynn. (Photo: IANS) The Australian was bought by Mumbai Indians at his base price of INR 2 crores in the auction. Although he scored 405 runs at an average of 31.15 and with a strike rate of 139.65 including 4 half centuries in 2019, he was released by his former team KKR as he was costing a large amount of INR 9.5 crores. The four-time champions bought the dashing opener as a backup, adding to their well-set opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock. There is no way that the Mumbai-based franchise will opt Lynn over Quinton as the Protea wicket keeper scored 529 runs with a strike rate of 135 in the last season and also gives the left-hand right-hand batting option to Mumbai at the top. Lynn, who is coming from a terrible CPL, scorong just 138 runs in his 9 innings with a poor strike-rate rate of 107.8 is expected to warm the bench throughout this IPL unless an injury concern or a new combination tried by the Mumbai-based franchise. In his 41 games in the IPL, Lynn scored 1280 runs at a strike rate of 140.65 with 10 half centuries to his name. 2. Kane Williamson (SRH) Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Kane Williamson in action. (Photo by IANS) The Orange cap winner of the 2018 IPL season, former captain of the Sunrisers franchise is expected to be benched for most part of the IPL. Due to the four-foreign policy in the IPL and considering the experience of Nabi on the UAE pitches, the Afghanistan allrounder is expected to feature in the XI ahead of Kane at least in the first week of the IPL. The franchise handed also over the captaincy duties to David Warner ahead of the season. With Warner and Bairstow at the top, SRH are having plenty of middle order options in the form of Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Virat Singh, Priam Garg and Abdul Samad. So, in place of Kane, the Orange Army can opt for playing two overseas all-rounders in their XI. Nabi had a decent CPL 2020 with both bat and ball and played a vital role for St Lucia Zouks in reaching the final. Whereas the New Zealand skipper, who played his last match before the pandemic, scored 19 runs in which his side saw a loss against Australia. 3. Parthiv Patel (RCB) Parthiv Patel. (Photo: IANS) The Gujarat cricketer was the main wicket-keeper for the Bangalore-based franchise last year and played all the 14 matches. The left-handed batter scored 373 runs at a rate of 140 and used to provide good starts to the team, opening the batting with Virat Kohli. But he is expected to be left out from the playing XI at least for the first few games as the team management is looking to hand over the wicket-keeping duties to AB de Villiers, who had enacted the role playing for the Brisbane Heat during the 2019-20 Big Bash League (BBL). The team also has Josh Philippe, who was the third-highest run-getter in the last BBL. The youngster can also don the wicket-keeping gloves if needed. By leaving Patel out from the XI, Devdutt Padikkal is expected to open batting for RCB along with Australian limited overs skipper Aaron Finch. 4. Ajinkya Rahane (DC) Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo Source: Twitter) The former captain of Rajasthan Royals was traded to Delhi Capitals ahead of the IPL 2020 auction. The Mumbaikar is expected to be left out from the starting XI as the Delhi-based franchise already have Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw to open the batting. The duo had done a fairly good job in the last season, playing a vital role in the team reaching the playoffs. In the last season where he played for the Jaipur-based franchise, Rahane scored 393 runs at an average of 32.75 and with a strike rate of 137.89 which includes a century and a half-century. Despite his consistent performances for the team, the franchise traded him as they already have plenty of opening options. RR also traded in Mayank Markande and Rahul Tewatia into their side to strengthen their spin-attack. Their head coach Ricky Ponting is expected to back Shaw for most part of the season and brining in Rahane might disrupt the left-hand right-hand combination at the top. Hence Rahane is expected to sit in the dugout unless a injury happens to the current openers. 5. Josh Hazlewood (CSK) Josh Hazlewood. (Photo Source: Twitter) Josh Hazlewood, who is known for his consistent pace, swing and bouncers, was bought by the Chennai-based franchise in the IPL player auction ahead of the 2020 season. Josh, who hasn’t made his IPL debut till now is expected to wait long to play an IPL game. He was picked as a backup foreign pacer to the South African Lungi Ngidi and considering the spin tracks in UAE, it will be a touch for him make into the eleven, bearing in mind the spin-friendly tracks in the UAE. Josh, who is coming from England’s tour, played only one T20I for his international side in the three-match series and picked up a wicket at an economy of 5.80. However, he played an important role in the ODI series with 5 wickets in his 3 games with an economy of just 4.03. ~Written by Uday Gurugubelli

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IPL 2020: 5 Star players who might not feature in the playing XI in the first week

Despite having class and consistency in their favour, some players may have to warm the benches.

5. Josh Hazlewood (CSK)

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