IPL 10: Benched Players XI of the second week

The 10th edition of the Indian Premier League is going at a great flow. IPL 10 has already garnered a record viewership coming into the third week of the tournament. The first two weeks saw some exciting games and closely fought thrillers at the display. The big names like Virat Kohli returned to the fore in the second week and that has only added to the glitz of the season.

Young players like Rishabh Pant and Rashid Khan have put forth some exciting brand of cricket. The second week also saw the first century of the season. Delhi Daredevils batsman Sanju Samson smashed a match-winning 102 against the Rising Pune Supergiant. Also, the Gujarat Lions found a solution to their bowling woes this season.

Australian all-rounder Andrew Tye made his IPL debut this season and scalped the first five-wicket of IPL 2017. He scalped 5/17 against the Rising Pune Supergiant. While there have been some big stars being the part of the tournament action in the past week, there were few big names who did not get a game to their name. Here we have the Benched Players XI for the second week of the season:

Openers:

Lendl Simmons

Swashbuckling West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons has been warming the bench for Mumbai Indians. Simmons, who has an IPL century to his name, should have been in the playing eleven riding on his previous knocks in the tournament history. He was one of the key performers for the Mumbai Indians in the 2015 edition of the tournament when the MI camp had lifted the trophy for the second time.

In the 22 matches that he has played, he has scored 942 runs. For the moment, the Mumbai camp is riding high with Jos Buttler settling in the role of the opener. Hence, it is unlikely to see Simmons being drafted to the team sometime soon.

Martin Guptill

Hard-hitting New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill looked like a certain starter in the Kings XI Punjab lineup before the start of the tournament. However, Guptill has not quite got his chances in the season thus far. He is one of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball. On his day, the Kiwi opener is capable of taking on any quality bowling lineup. Despite this fact, he has not been able to make it to the KXIP lineup.

Guptill had hit first taste of the IPL last year. He went unsold at the auctions but was later drafted in the Mumbai Indians squad as a replacement player. He had an average season for the MI camp last year. This year, he was roped in by the Kings at the auctions. It will be interesting to see whether he gets a look in the days to follow.