3 IPL teams that will be least affected by unavailability of players
IPL 2019 is going to be different in a lot of ways. Firstly, the venue of the tournament is still undecided and this is proving to be a huge roadblock for the teams to kick-start their preparations. Secondly and most importantly, because of the World Cup that is scheduled immediately after the IPL, most of the overseas players might not be available for the entire season this time around. The departure of players affects the team combination and momentum of the team and it becomes difficult for their replacements to get going straight away.
The effect of this was seen at the auction too as a lot of players whose availability was under scanner went unsold. Some of the teams were very smart and bought players who are sure to play the entire season. Also, some teams bought some strong backup players who can fill in for players who are unavailable.
We will look at 3 teams that will be least affected by the absence of international players in IPL 2019.
#3 Kings XI Punjab
International players available for the entire season - Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Hardus Viljoen
International players whose availability is doubtful - David Miller, Andrew Tye, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sam Curran
Kings XI Punjab were one of the most active teams at the auction. The franchise made sure that they bought a large number of players.
While the Kings spent huge bucks on domestic players like Varun Chakravarthy and Prabhsimran Singh, they also bought some useful overseas players in Sam Curran, Nicholas Pooran, and Hardus Viljoen. Out of the overseas players in the Kings' camp, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Sam Curran are players whose availability is under question.
However, Sam Curran does not look like he is going to be in contention for a spot in England's World Cup squad while Andrew Tye was not included in Australia's squad for the series against India which makes it difficult for him to find a place in Australia's World Cup squad.
Also, even though Afghanistan is slated to play an ODI series against Scotland in the second week of May, the Afghanistan Cricket Board might allow Mujeeb to play in the last two weeks of the IPL. Thus, Kings might lose only David Miller, for whom they have enough backup.