IPL 2020: 5 Indian Cricketers Who Can Return As Replacement
Sep 8, 2020 at 5:54 PM
The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) will begin very soon. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the entire IPL 2020 from 19th September to 10th November 2020. All the teams have almost sorted out their full squad, except some last-minute changes due to the unavailability of their contracted players.
As the IPL 2020 will be as usual a long tournament, there is a chance of some changes in the full squad in the later period of the tournament, majorly due to the fitness and health issues. So, we can still hope to see some cricketers in the late IPL 2020, who are currently not in any squad but they can be added as a replacement in a later period.
Here we are talking about the five Indian cricketers who can return as the replacement during the IPL 2020
Barinder Sran
The 27-year-old left-arm pacer Barinder Sran was remained unsold in the 2020 IPL auction, whose base price was INR 50 lakh. While he played eight limited-overs international matches for India in 2016 (6 ODIs and 2 T20Is), he has played 24 IPL matches from 2015 to 2019. In his IPL career, Sran has taken 18 wickets. His inconsistency performances were the main reason why he wasn’t picked up in the latest IPL auction.
In his T20 career, Sran has taken 45 wickets in 48 matches. As he is a left-arm Indian pacer, he can be picked up during the IPL 2020 if a left-arm pacer misses out at any stage of this tournament.
Manoj Tiwary
The 34-year-old Manoj Tiwary played 15 limited-overs international matches (12 ODIs and 3 T20Is) for the Indian team between 2008 and 2015. He is an experienced cricketer in Indian domestic cricket as well as in the IPL.
From 2008 to 2018, Tiwary played 98 IPL matches, where he scored 1695 runs (average 28.72), including seven fifties, and also took one wicket. In the IPL 2012, while Gautam Gambhir-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their first IPL trophy, Tiwary hit the winning runs.
In the 2020 IPL auction, Tiwary had the base price of INR 50 lakh, but he remained unsold like the previous IPL auction.
Jalaj Saxena
The 33-year-old all-rounder Jalaj Saxena is an effective off-spinner and useful right-handed batsman. He hasn’t experienced any IPL match yet, but the former Indian cricketers Aakash Chopra and Deep Dasgupta have recently brought out his name as the proper replacement of the veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (currently serving for Chennai Super Kings), who has withdrawn his name from the IPL 2020 due to personal reason.
After playing 54 T20 matches, Saxena has taken 49 wickets and scored 633 runs (average 16.23), including one fifty. Though he served for three IPL teams (Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals), he hasn’t made his IPL debut yet.
Hanuma Vihari
The 26-year-old Indian batting all-rounder Hanuma Vihari has already impressed with his performances in his early Test career. However, Vihari hasn’t impressed with his IPL performances yet. In the 2020 IPL auction, Vihari remained unsold while his base price was INR 50 lakh.
In 24 IPL matches (from 2013 to 2019), Vihari scored 284 runs (average 14.20) and also managed to pick up one wicket. Meanwhile, while he has played 74 T20s, the right-handed batsman has scored 1355 runs (average 20.84) and also taken 22 wickets.
Yusuf Pathan
The 37-year-old Yusuf Pathan is one of the successful cricketers in IPL history. However, it is the first time when the IPL season is ready to begin but the senior Pathan is not in any team.
At one stage, the aggressive right-handed batsman was holding the record of the fastest fifty and century in IPL history (at present, he is in the second position in both these records). The Player of the Match award winner in the first-ever IPL final (2008), Yusuf Pathan played 174 IPL matches. In his IPL career, the right-handed batsman scored 3204 runs (average 29.12) and the off-spinner took 42 wickets.
In the 2020 IPL auction, Yusuf Pathan’s base price was INR 1 crore. But the franchises never showed their interest to buy him in that auction.