5 Unexpected players who might dominate IPL 2020

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the biggest stages in world cricket to prove yourself. Players from all across the globe have rated it as one of the best T20 tournaments. In fact, there are multiple players (Indian and international) who have made a name for themselves through the IPL.

Moreover, we have seen many players dominated particular seasons. David Warner has been dominant with the bat for the last few years. Virat Kohli was mind-boggling in the 2016 season where he nearly broke the 1000-run barrier. There have been bowlers who’ve owned the IPL as well. Dwayne Bravo did it twice. Bhuvneshwar Kumar led the bowling charts for two seasons in a row.

However, these are expected names. There have been unexpected players who’ve had fabulous seasons as well. The likes of Morne Morkel, Mohit Sharma, Shaun Marsh, Robin Uthappa and many others have hogged the limelight. Thus, here we look at five possible but unexpected players who may dominate the 2020 season of the IPL.

1. Mitchell Starc

The last time Mitchell Starc featured in an IPL game was back in 2015. For two years, he was Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) premier fast bowler. He played 27 games and had picked up 34 wickets. These had come at an average of 20.38 and a strike-rate of 17.06.

However, in the following seasons, Starc has been injured more often than not. From 2016, the New South Wales pacer has always been ruled out due to injury. In 2018, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping sum of INR 9.4 crores. However, a leg injury ruled him out. A muscle injury meant he had to miss the 2019 season as well.

Thus, between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, Starc played very little white-ball cricket. However, that did not affect how he performed in the 2019 World Cup. For the second edition in a row, the left-arm fast bowler returned as the leading wicket-taker. Moreover, he wasn’t Australia’s preferred pacer in the Ashes which suggests he will play a lot more white-ball cricket. Hence, he could well be available for the entire IPL season next year. Thus, Starc may well dominate the 2020 edition of the IPL if he plays.