IPL 2022: Team-wise one player who could be benched

The T20 mega carnival of 2022 will be a huge one. The competition this season will be between 10 teams. Top cricketers from around the world will gather to take part in this mega event. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has gained an immense amount of popularity over the years. The tournament has undergone immense change from its initial avatar.

The thrill of the Indian Premier League commences from the auction itself. The IPL mega auction for the 15th season took place on February 12 and 13, which saw bidding wars for various talents from the cricket-playing nations. This year’s auction witnessed some surprise buys, as well as some best deals.

The teams have their final squads ready for the 15th edition of the extravaganza. The franchises gave in their all to include the best players in their squad. However, there are certain deserving players who might have to warm the benches in the tournament.

We will take a look team-wise at one player, who might be benched for the whole season.

1. CSK – Mitchell Santner

Mitchell Santner is a handy player to have in an playing XI. His multi-dimensional skills are effective on most occasions. He has been a vital cog in the New Zealand cricket team’s success in the last few years. He has even been part of CSK for a few seasons, but had hardly got an opportunity to play.

Santner is a player a team would love to have, but CSK have a plenty of options. They already have spin-bowling all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali, and both of these players are important members of the team who have done the job on many occasions in the past.

The other problem for CSK is their selection for the four overseas positions. They are likely play Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Dwayne Bravo, and Adam Milne. These four players are the first-choice overseas players for CSK which doesn’t leave any room for Santner.

2. MI – Riley Meredith

Mumbai Indians have the problem of picking overseas players, too. The most successful IPL franchise has built a strong fast-bowling unit. They have quality T20 pacers like Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, and Jaydev Unadkat. As a result, being an overseas fast-bowler, it will be very difficult for Riley Meredith to make it to the playing XI.

The franchise might invest in Meredith for the next season. The Australian pacer has a good record in T20s and has done well in the Big Bash League (BBL). Despite being a star in the BBL, his performances have not been so great in the IPL.

Meredith has played five IPL games, and has been very expensive in those games. He has bowled with an economy of 9.94 and has a poor bowling average of 42.25. Riley Meredith might have to wait for his MI debut.

3. DC – Mustafizur Rahman

Mustafizur Rahman is the only Bangladesh cricketer who will take part in IPL 2022. Despite being a match-winner for Bangladesh in white-ball cricket, he might have to sit on the bench while playing for the Delhi-based franchise.

Fizz, as he is fondly known, has a good record in the T20s, but DC is expected to be very selective while picking their four overseas players. The Delhi Capitals have a good bunch of foreign talent. They had the best bowling line-up last season, but have lost their two pillars of bowling – Kagiso Rabada and Avesh Khan.

This year, the franchise has invested more in their batting with the addition of David Warner being the best thing that has happened to them this season. Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi might be preferred ahead of Mustafizur.

4. RCB – Sherfane Rutherford

The hard-hitting Caribbean batter might not get a chance to take the field for RCB this season. Sherfane was one of the last buys they made in the mega auction. RCB have batting giants in their team such as Glenn Maxwell and skipper Faf du Plessis.

These two overseas batters are definitely the first choice for the franchise, as Rutherford has not yet performed to the expactations at this level. The IPL is one of the toughest T20 leagues in the world, and some players who have come with a good record in the other leagues, have failed to perform in it.

RCB might not take a risk of playing Rutherford, and are expected to go with the more experienced guys who can give impactful performances for the team.

5. KKR – Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane has not had many good cricket memories in the last few months. A few months back, he was the Test vice-captain, and a stand-in captain for India, but now he has been dropped from the national side and has been told to perform in domestic matches.

KKR decided to pick the experienced Indian batter to make a solid core for the franchise, but he might not play this season. The franchise already has Indian batters like Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, and Nitish Rana in their team who are highly expected to play all the games for the franchise.

Ajinkya Rahane is not a batter who can be much flexible with the batting order. He is a top-order batter and his game-play doesn’t allow him to play the high-percentage shots. As a result, this might not be the year for him.

6. SRH – Jagadeesha Suchith

A good left-arm spinner, a handy lower-order batter, and a gun-fielder, Jagadeesha Suchith is a decent cricketer and has done well in some of the games in the previous seasons. Suchith might not get to play for the Hyderabad-based franchise in the 2022 season.

They already have Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma, and Abdul Samad in their squad. Suchith has played 17 IPL games and picked 12 wickets with a bowling average of 38.5. He has played a good cameo at time for different franchise, but has not played any other impactful knocks in the league.

Mumbai Indians gave him an IPL contract even before he made his IPL debut, and he did exactly what MI needed from him. After a brilliant 2013 season with MI, Jagadeesha has been an ordinary performer.

7. PBKS – Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Bhanuka Rajapaksa has proved to be a vital cog for the Sri Lankan Cricket Team in the last few months. Punjab Kings bought Bhanuka for his base price of 50 lakhs in the mega auction.

He was picked in the dying moments of the auction, and Punjab didn’t look much concerned about buying him. However, Bhanuka might not feature in PBKS playing 11 this season.

This is the first time Bhanuka has got an IPL contract. The 30-year-old has played 18 T20Is for Sri Lanka and has scored 320 runs at an ordinary average of 26.67. PBKS have quality overseas batters like Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone. So, Rajapaksa might not get an opportunity this year.

8. RR – Rassie van der Dussen

Rassie van der Dussen is a name that Indians regularly heard during India’s tour of South Africa earlier in 2022. Rassie’s contribution has been fabulous for South Africa. He has played some top knocks, and has won games single-handedly for the Proteas team.

However, he has not played IPL yet. Despite being in a fantastic form, the South African might warm benches for Rajasthan Royals. The Royals already have the likes of Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Devdutt Padikkal.

Hence, they might not consider playing van der Dussen in their XI. Rassie is probably being seen as a backup for the middle-order by the franchise. His turn can come, if anyone among the batters has niggles or some other issues.

9. LSG – Krishnappa Gowtham

Krishnappa Gowtham was with the Chennai Super Kings for the last few seasons but he hardly got to play games for the franchise. He has now moved to a franchise that is full of all-rounders, and some runaway T20 match-winners.

So, he might not be the first choice player in the XI. Gowtham is a quality multi-dimensional cricketer, and a regular performer for the Tamil Nadu side in the domestic tournaments.

The all-rounder has played 24 IPL games and has 13 dismissals to his name. His bowling average of 43.23 seems ordinary but has decent hitting skills with the bat as well. However, he will have to be consistent in both aspects of the game to be considered on a regular basis.

10. GT – Dominic Drakes

Dominic Drakes is a left-arm pacer from Barbados. Apart from his bowling, he is a handy batter too. He scored an unbeaten 48 off 24 balls in the final of the 2021 Caribbean Premier League, and helped St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in winning their first CPL title.

Drakes was signed by Chennai Super Kings as a replacement for injured Sam Curran in IPL 2022. The southpaw is a good T20 player, but has not performed in the major leagues apart from CPL. He is just 24 years old, and still has to prove his worth in the high-pressure games.

Dominic has played 19 T20s and picked 20 wickets at a bowling average of 28.35. Gujarat Titans have a packed fast-bowling line-up which includes Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami and Alzarri Joseph. Thus, Drakes might be seen only as a replacement or back-up.