5 Faded IPL stars - Where are they now?

Indian Premier League (IPL) has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the budding cricketers. The T20 tournament has been a talent-producing machine that produces several talented players every year and players from across the globe take part in the cash-rich league. Many national teams have reaped the benefits since its inception as they got some naturally talented batsmen and bowlers, who are now rated as the gems of cricket.

Every professional cricketer dreams to be part of this prestigious tournament. India got Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and many more from IPL. These all players hold sheer talent that has received plaudits from the cricketing fraternity in the past.

In the last 12 seasons, some players were successful in achieving their dreams and some talented cricketers faded away with time. There were certain individuals, who played in IPL and hogged the spotlight with their performances but they failed to continue with the same. They were exceptionally talented that until now their performances hold a special place in the hearts of fans.

Let’s go through the IPL stars that faded away with time:

1. Paul Valthaty

Paul Valthaty, the right-handed opener from Maharashtra breakthrough season came in 2011 playing for Kings XI Punjab. He smacked 463 runs in 14 games with one ton and two half-centuries. He played an amazing marathon knock of 120 runs off 63 balls that helped his side in chasing down a mammoth target of 185 runs against CSK.

It looked like that he would soon make his international debut on the back of his exceptional performances. But, that never happened due to a wrist injury that he sustained playing in IPL. It was a massive blow for the opener, who never looked impressive after recovering from the same. In the very next season, he failed to replicate his good form with the bat. Valthaty was given ample chances to prove his worth but he flopped on all the occasions.

After successive failures, KXIP team management released Valthaty and he was never picked by any other IPL franchise. Soon, his road to glory took a sharp turn on a track that was full of obstacles. Now, he plays for Air India where he got a job based on the sports quota. In 2018, he was spotted playing in Mumbai T20 league for Mumbai South Central. It was a sad end to Valthaty’s dream run and no one had expected that he will fade away so soon.