5 Forgotten talents in IPL history

IPL provides a platform for the youngsters to showcase their mettle. Many players have gone on to represent their country, thanks to excellent performances in the tournament. The new players also get to learn from the presence of the international level players in the team. This has made the tourney a perfect grooming ground.

There have been many instances from the past, where youngsters took the floor by storm in their debut season. However, for a variety of reasons, many of them failed to repeat that performance. The burden of expectations, injuries and disobeying rules has been a reason for the decline of most of such players.

On this note, let us take a look at 5 such players, who had a dream season but gradually faded away afterwards

1. Paul Valthaty

Paul Valthaty had a dream season for Kings XI Punjab in 2011. He was made to open the innings and made his presence felt. The right-hander scored a belligerent 63-ball-120 against a potent Chennai Super Kings attack. His overall tally was 483 in that season, making him the sixth-highest run-getter of the tournament.

However, his performance only declined since then. In 2012, he could only score 30 runs in 6 games. He played a solitary game in 2013, where he scored 6 runs. Though his talent was on par with good batsmen, injuries at regular intervals hampered his growth.

He has been playing for Air India’s cricket team, where he was employed under sports quota. However, it is a pity to see such a waste of talent just because of injuries.

2. Saurabh Tiwary

Saurabh Tiwary was included in the Mumbai Indians squad in 2010 at a very young age. Such was his talent, that he was sometimes even hailed as the left-handed version of MS Dhoni for his hard-hitting abilities.

Tiwary had a fantastic outing in the tournament, and his 419 runs in 16 games played a key role in taking Mumbai Indians through to the final. He was bestowed with the Emerging Player Of the Tournament award. However, that was the only successful season out of the seven.

He could only score 818 runs in 58 games in the next six seasons. However, he is still only 29 and has a chance to make a comeback. But the time is running out for him, and he will have to work hard to be back in the form of 2010.

3. Pradeep Sangwan

At a young age of 17, Sangwan showed a lot of promise. The pacer stole the limelight for his 5/44 against South Africa in the group stages of the Under-19 World Cup 2008.

In 2009, he was given a chance by the Delhi Daredevils, where he again impressed with 15 wickets in 13 outings. Since then, there were only lows to his career. In 2010, he could not even partially replicate his heroics of the previous season.

In 2013, he was tested positive for a prohibited steroid, which ruled him out of action for the next 18 months. After his return, he could never be the same force as before and soon faded away.

4. Abhishek Nayar

Abhishek Nayar was the batting mentor of KKR in the IPL 2019. He needs to be given credit for reviving Dinesh Karthik’s career. Overall, he has enjoyed quite a success in the coaching role, but his career as a cricketer was no less than a forgotten story.

Nayar had excellent outings in the inaugural two IPL seasons. The southpaw scored 206 runs in the first season, following it with 193 in the next. Moreover, his strike rate was above 125 both times. Sadly, he failed to repeat the same form in the next seasons.

In 2010, he was given a consistent run but failed to repay the faith with 61 runs in 10 games. In 2013, he could only manage 66 runs from 11 games. Thus, he never could be the same force that he was before.

5. Kamran Khan

Kamran Khan was one of the finds of IPL 2009. He instantly stole the limelight with his whippy action, ability to swing and bowl yorkers. His match-winning super over against KKR in 2009 would still be fresh in your minds, for it was the first tied super over in the IPL history.

However, his action soon came under the scanner, prompting Rajasthan Royals to send him to Australia to improve his action. Since then, he could never be much successful. He could only get one game in 2011 for now-defunct Pune Warriors.

Unfortunately, he was spotted in a wheat farm in 2012, something over which even Shane Warne (RR captain in 2009) expressed his sorrow. As of now, Kamran plays for a local club in Hyderabad.

Found it bizarre that Kamran is working on a farm and not playing IPL.
To me a waste of talent, hope your ok buddy.. https://t.co/i4tZATV5

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 7, 2012