IPL 2021: 4 Players who have pulled/ruled out of the tournament

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to kick-start the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in India after hosting the previous season in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The tournament will run from April 9 to May 30 across six venues including the likes of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata.

This time the league will be a bit different as all the matches will be played at neutral venues with no teams playing at their home grounds to dismiss the home advantage. Also, IPL 2021 will witness a total of 11 doubleheaders where 6 teams will play three-afternoon matches & two teams will play two-afternoon matches.

With the T20 Championship round the corner, all the eight franchises have started their preparations, however, a few teams have been dealt with massive shocks as their main players have either been ruled out or have pulled their name from the tournament owing to a variety of reasons.

In this article, let’s take a look at 4 top players who have pulled out/ruled out of IPL 2021 for different reasons

Josh Philippe

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were mighty impressed with Australia’s young rookie Josh Philippe’s form in the 2020-21 edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). The 23-year-old had finished as the second-highest run-getter in the tournament and was at his fluent best both the willow and the gloves.

However, earlier this month, it was revealed that Josh has pulled out his name from the upcoming T20 extravaganza citing personal reasons. The Australian lad had made his debut in IPL in the 2020 edition for RCB and had managed to score 78 runs from 5 games he had featured in.

Though the Bangalore-outfit has named New Zealand’s Finn Allen as a replacement for Josh Philippe, they are likely to get affected with his absence as Allen has made his debut only in Bangladesh T20Is. The Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman has just played 13 T20s scoring 537 runs at an average of 48.8 and strike rate of 183.3.

Shreyas Iyer

With the 2021 edition of the Indian League round the corner, the Delhi Capitals (DC) have a big headache of hunting a new captain for the side who can lead the team as perfectly as Shreyas Iyer in the elite tournament. DC’s skipper and ace batsman Iyer has been ruled out of the tournament after suffering a massive shoulder injury during the first One Day International of the three-match series between India and England.

In the eighth over of England’s innings, Shreyas fell awkwardly on his left shoulder while successfully intercepting a drive from Jonny Bairstow. The right-hander managed to bruise his shoulder pretty badly and was immediately rushed for the scans from the ground as he could be seen withering with the massive pain.

The reports suggested that the 26-year-old has suffered a subluxation (partially dislocated) in his shoulder and will have to undergo a major operation. Adding to the misery of the Mumbai-born, the initial reports suggest that the injury is pretty bad, and Shreyas Iyer might need a healing time of about four to five months. This possibly means that the batsman can be away from the game of cricket till September.

Jofra Archer

Ahead of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the wooden-spooners of the previous season, Rajasthan Royals have been dealt with a massive blow as it is speculated that England’s speed merchant Jofra Archer is all set to give the upcoming tournament a miss due to multiple injuries on his right hand. Archer has been suffering from pain in his right elbow for quite some time now.

However, his right elbow injury aggravated after he featured in the just-concluded five-match T20I series against India in Ahmedabad. Archer has given the three-match ODI series against the same opponents a miss due to the aforementioned reason and is likely to take the third injection for his elbow in the month of April.

In addition, it is now learned that the pace sensation had also sustained a cut on his right hand while cleaning his home in January and is scheduled to undergo surgery on March 29th for the same. With two major injury concerns, the 25-year-old is unlikely to return to India to participate in IPL 2021. Also, the ECB is unlikely to take any risk with the fitness of the seamer as they have a busy cricketing year scheduled in 2021.

Dale Steyn

South Africa’s veteran right-arm fast bowler Dale Steyn was one of the most dangerous and intimidating fast bowlers of his time. However, the seamer is not as effective as before as he is past his prime and is marching towards the end of his cricket career. Steyn has been a vital part of IPL since its inception in 2008 but in recent years has struggled to make it to the Playing XI owing to his inconsistency.

In his glorified IPL career Dale has played for IPL teams including the likes of  Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), now-defunct Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and Gujarat Lions. In the previous season, the 37-year-old had played for RCB but had a forgettable run as he could feature in Playing XI of just three games scalping one wicket at an economy rate of 11.40.

Therefore, the Proteas legendary pacer decided to give IPL 2021 a miss and is keener on playing in other franchise leagues across the globe apart from IPL. Dale Steyn believes that franchise leagues like PSL and LPL are more rewarding than the Indian league as they are focused more on the game than the money. However, he clarified his statement later while stating that his comments were taken in wrong context.