The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League is half way through and the teams are on their toes to make a spot for the playoffs. This season of IPL has already seen a multitude of crazy and outstanding performances from the new and upcoming players from India.
Uncapped Magic is the perfect way to describe the tournament this far. So far, the level of Indian talent we’ve seen has been nothing short of spectacular. From batters such as Ayush Badoni, Tilak Varma, Abhinav Manohar, and Anuj Rawat to bowlers such as Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, and Akash Deep, to all-rounders such as Abhishek Sharma, Lalit Yadav, and Rahul Tewatia.
Because uncapped players have been performing so well, many potential capped or skilled Indian players have indeed been kept on the bench. The Gujarat Titans’ perseverance with Matthew Wade has been the story of their season so far in this. They stuck with Wade for 5 matches in a row, but he didn’t come through in any of them.
Top Order: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Yash Dhull, KS Bharat
Wade was expected to be dropped in the sixth match, and Gurbaz was finally expecting to make his debut, but his luck ran out when Hardik missed the game due to injury, and Saha took his place. Gurbaz has been hoping to make his IPL debut, but he will have to wait.
KS Bharat, one of the RCB’s standout performers last season and Team India’s second-choice keeper in Tests, has been unlucky not to have played a single game so far. In Warner and Marsh’s absence, KS Bharat should have been the first-choice batter at 3, but Mandeep Singh got the run, and he blew his chances. Even after Mandeep was dropped by the Delhi Capitals, Sarfaraz Khan was preferred over him in the starting XI.
Middle Order: Glenn Phillips, Prerak Mankad
Glenn Phillips, the tight middle-order batter from New Zealand, would consider himself unlucky not to have played in a single game this far. Glenn Phillips could have gotten a game to strengthen the batting at 6 if Romario Shephard had failed in the first two matches. That was not to be, as SRH decided to bolster their bowling attack by bringing in Marco Jansen.
All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi, Rajvardhan Hangargekar
In terms of all-rounders, Mohammad Nabi, a clever bowler and hard-hitting finisher, may have been unlucky to be acquired by an overseas players’ dominant team, KKR. Russell, Narine, and Cummins chose for themselves, while the fourth overseas player was in need of an opener or wicket-keeper. So, while the Afghan captain deserved to play, there is no room for another overseas all-rounder.
Bowlers: Mayank Markande, Siddharth Kaul, Jason Behrendorff, Kartik Tyagi
The SRH team features three solid overseas bowlers as well as three solid Indian bowlers. As a result, even talented players like Kartik Tyagi are warming the bench. Kartik Tyagi may not have Umran Malik’s express pace, but he is experienced and can bowl good lengths. However, given Umran Kartik’s current form, he may struggle to play even a single match for SRH.
IPL 2022 Bench XI:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) (GT)
Yash Dhull (DC)
KS Bharat (DC)
Glenn Phillips (SRH)
Prerak Mankad (PBKS)
Mohammad Nabi (c) (KKR)
Rajvardhan Hangargekar (CSK)
Mayank Markande (MI)
Siddharth Kaul (RCB)
Jason Behrendorff (RCB)
Kartik Tyagi (SRH)
Yash Dhull, Prerak Mankad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Mayank Markande, Siddharth Kaul and Jason Behrendorff have all shown their worth in the previous seasons from their franchises and definitely can do something for this as well.