IPL 2021: Team-wise one overseas player who might be benched

All the eight IPL franchises have a bunch of talented overseas players in their squad who can add a lot of value to the team if given a chance in the Playing XI during the 14th edition of the T20 Extravaganza. However, as per the rules laid out by the IPL governing council, a team can include only 4 overseas players in their Playing XI during a match.

This means that despite having the required skillset and talent under their belt, a lot of foreign players will have to warm the bench and will not get a chance to ply their trade in the IPL 2020. While the franchises might rotate their foreign players across the games, there will be few unlucky ones too who might not get even a single game to exhibit their talent. Hence, let’s take a look at-

Team-wise one overseas player who might be benched in IPL 2021

RCB – Kane Richardson

Australia’s right-arm fast-medium bowler Kane Richardson is all set to represent Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021 after giving the 13th edition of the league, hosted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a miss. While Kane can add value to RCB’s bowling unit, he falls prey to the four foreigners policy of IPL.

AB de Villers, Kyle Jamieson, and Glenn Maxwell will be the three confirmed overseas players in the Playing XI with a tough fight between Adam Zampa, Daniel Christian, Daniel Sams, and Josh Philippe. In addition, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, and Kyle are expected to be three frontline pacers for the RCb team, who are scheduled to play in Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Mumbai.

Coming to Richardson’s T20I figures, the pacer has 29 wickets under his belt while representing Australia in 26 T20 Internationals at an economy of 7.92 and an average of 24.3. He has also featured in 14 IPL games picking 18 scalps at an economy of 8.38.

MI – Chris Lynn 

Over the years, the swashbuckling opening batsman Chris Lynn has established himself as one of the most renowned and accomplished batsmen in Australia’s domestic circuit. Lynn had a brilliant run in the just-concluded 2021 edition of Big Bash League (BBL) as he scored runs at an average of 33 and strike-rate of 159.

However, despite the stunning numbers, the well-built, hard-hitting batsman from Australia is expected to warm the bench for the whole of IPL 2021 just like the 13th edition. The defending-champions Mumbai Indians (MI) had picked Lynn during IPL 2020 auctions but he failed to make it to the Playing XI of team even a single game.

The batsman is expected to have the same fate in 2021 too as Mumbai has a competent and settled top-order in the form of Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, and Suryakumar Yadav and they won’t be looking forward to making any key changes in their playing XI.

CSK – Josh Hazlewood

Australia’s veteran right-arm quick Josh Hazelwood was picked by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the IPL 2020 auction for INR 2 crore. The pacer has successfully established himself as one of the best Test bowlers of the modern ear with a whopping 212 wickets to his name in 55 Tests. He had recently performed well in the One Day Internationals and has a decent record of 88 wickets in 54 ODIs.

However, thus far in his career, he has failed to make an impact in the shortest format of the game. He has played just 9 T20 Internationals for Australia picking 9 wickets. Coming to the Indian Premier League (IPL), he had made his debut in 2020 for the Super Kings but could find a place in the Playing XI for just 3 games.

In 3 games, the 30-year-old picked just 1 wicket while maintaining an average of 64. Also, CSK is more likely to go ahead with all-rounder option Sam Curran who had done exceedingly well for the team both with the bat and ball in IPL 2021.

DC – Chris Woakes

England’s right-arm fast-bowler, who can contribute with the willow too in the lower-order, Chris Woakes definitely makes a case for himself to be included in the Playing XI of an IPL side. However, the chances of Woakes featuring in the Playing XI of Delhi Capitals (DC) for even a single game looks extremely slim. 

Woakes was picked by DC during IPL 2020 auction, however, the pacer had pulled out his name from the tournament last year which had resulted in Anrich Nortje being included as his replacement. The inclusion of Anrich in the squad proved as a masterstroke for Delhi as he along with other South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada formed a formidable pace duo and managed to give nightmares to any opposition. 

Thus, the Capitals won’t be keen on making any changes to their match-defining pace duo of Nortje and Rabada. This means that there are hardly any chances of Woakes playing a game for DC in IPL 2021. 

PBKS – Fabian Allen 

Going into the IPL 2021 auctions, Punjab Kings (formerly known as Kings XI Punjab) made some seller inclusions into their squad. One among them was Jamaican all-rounder Fabian Allan. PBKS picked him during the auctions for his base price of INR 75 lakhs. While it was a stunning deal from Punjab’s point of view, it will be difficult for Fabian to find a place for himself in the Playing XI.

Allen is a well-established all-rounder for the West Indies in the shortest format of the game. Thus far, he has featured in 32 T20 scoring 449 runs at an average of 24.9 and a stunning strike rate of 159.2. He has also picked 17 wickets at an economy of 7.85 and an average of 32.9.

However, Punjab has a lot of overseas options in their squad and this can prompt them to leave Fabian Allen from Playing XI. Jhye Richardson, Nicholas Pooran, and Chris Gayle can be considered as three confirmed overseas players in the playing XI while there is a tough competition among Dawid Malan, Riley Meredith, and Moises Henriques for the fourth overseas slot in the Playing XI.

KKR – Ben Cutting

A tall lanky giant of a medium-pacer hailing from Australia Ben Cutting will be plying his trade for two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the upcoming 2021 edition of the T20 championship. Cutting was added to the squad by the franchise during the IPL auction, hosted by the Board of Control for India (BCCI) on February 18 in Chennai.

The 34-year-old Ben Cutting had made his international debut for Australia in 2013 and since then has featured in just 4 One Day International and 7 T20 Internationals scoring 53 and 40 runs respectively at an average of 26.5 and 10. Coming to the bowling, he also has 5 ODI and 3 T20I wickets under his belt.

The main reason behind KKR going for Ben Cutting is that the all-rounder can act as a back-up for West Indies explosive power-hitter Andre Russell. Thus he might not get to play a single game in IPL 2021 as KKR is not expected to replace Russell unless some unforeseen situation occurs.

SRH – Mujeeb Ur Rahman 

Afghanistan’s right-arm young spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman had a dream debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the 2018 edition as while playing for Kings XI Punjab (formerly known as Punjab Kings), the youngster bamboozled the opposition batsmen with his spin and scalped an impressive 14 wickets in 11 games. However, the 2020 edition of the tournament saw Rahman getting replaced by other spin options like Ravi Bishnoi.

This was followed by the youngster getting released by Punjab and finding another buyer in the form of 2016-champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Playing for the Hyderabad franchise will be an enriching experience for Mujeeb as he will be sharing the dressing room with one of his countrymen and celebrated spinner Rashid Khan along with the likes of Dawid Warner, Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow.

However, the 19-year-old is unlikely to feature in the playing XI for any games in IPL 2021 as SRH will be playing Rashid Khan as their main spinner along with an Indian option as the other three foreign slots will be occupied by Warner, Kane, or Bairstow, and Jason Holder or Mitchell Marsh.

RR – David Miller  

South Africa’s power-hitter David Miller is also one among many overseas who can warm the bench for the entire season in the upcoming 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). There is no doubt over the capabilities of Miller in the shortest format of the game but the batsman can fall prey to the four foreigners policy of IPL.

Over the years, there has been no dearth of quality foreign players in the camp of IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) and they have been often forced to make tough choices while picking the players for four overseas slots. This year is no different as once again Rajasthan is expected to face the same dilemma. 

Most likely, England’s wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler, aggressive all-rounder Ben Stokes and seamer Jofra Archer will occupy the three overseas slots in the Playing XI for the whole tournament. The fourth spot, which was vacant after the Royals released their skipper Steve Smith ahead of IPL 2021, will be filled by South Africa’s Chris Morris who was snapped by the franchise in IPL auction 2021 for a staggering amount of INR 16.25 crore.