3 players who joined in as replacements but didn't get a game in IPL 2024 league stage ft. Harvik Desai
IPL 2024's league stage culminated last night in Guwahati. Inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals hosted Kolkata Knight Riders for a match at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, but rain did not allow any action after the toss.
Courtesy of the no-result, Rajasthan Royals slipped from second to third position in the IPL 2024 points table. Kolkata Knight Riders finished first, followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured the fourth spot.
One of the major reasons behind the top 4 teams' success was that they had proper backup available in case of an injury to a main player. Even when their first-choice players got ruled out of the tournament, the teams signed other players who could take up the vacant spots. For example, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth has done a great job for SRH after joining as Wanindu Hasaranga's replacement.
However, not all teams could find perfect replacements for their first-choice players. In fact, the following three players did not get a single match in the IPL 2024 league stage after they joined in as replacements.
#1 Harvik Desai, Mumbai Indians
Saurashtra's wicketkeeper-batter Harvik Desai joined Mumbai Indians as a replacement for Vishnu Vinod, who injured his forearm. Desai joined the Mumbai-based franchise as a replacement on April 11.
Although MI were eliminated early from the tournament and tried out some benched players in the dead rubber games, they could not find a place for Desai in their match squad. First-choice wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan was available for all games, which is why Desai could not break in.
It is pertinent to note that Vishnu played three matches for MI last season even when Kishan was available.
#2 Allah Mohammad Ghanzafar, Kolkata Knight Riders
Born on July 15, 2007, Allah Mohammad Ghanzafar has an opportunity to set a new record for the youngest foreign player in IPL history. Ghanzafar joined Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for Mujeeb ur Rahman, who was injured.
Although Ghanzafar has the experience of playing ODI cricket for Afghanistan, Kolkata Knight Riders did not try him out in any of the league games. It seems unlikely that the Knight Riders will give the 16-year-old spinner his maiden IPL cap during the playoffs week, meaning he will have to return home without any experience of playing in the world's toughest T20 tournament.
#3 Gurnoor Brar, Gujarat Titans
Gurnoor Brar is a right-arm pacer, who made his IPL debut for the Punjab Kings last season. He returned with expensive figures of 0/42 on debut against the Lucknow Super Giants. After that, the Kings dropped him and released him from their squad before IPL 2024.
None of the teams showed interest in Brar's services at the IPL 2024 Auction. He joined Gujarat Titans as a support bowler, and then, replaced Sushant Mishra in the squad at his reserve price of ₹50 lakh.
Brar could have made his debut for Gujarat Titans in the last two matches when they were eliminated. However, both of those games got abandoned due to rain. Hence, Brar did not get a single match.