IPL 2016: 5 star players who can still feature as replacements
Injuries are part and parcel of any cricketer’s life. However, it is a sad thing for a cricketer to miss out due to injury. This year in the ongoing IPL 2016, the curse named injury has already got the better of most of the stalwarts who were plying their trade in the high-profile tournament.
The new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants seem to have been affected the most by the injuries as four of key their key foreign players Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis, Steve Smith, and Mitchell Marsh are out of the tournament due to injuries. Mumbai Indians also received a major blow when their lethal fast bowler Lasith Malinga and reliable opener Lendl Simmons were ruled out of the tournament.
Teams like Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Kings XI Punjab have also suffered the same predicament and some of the teams have already hired a replacement for the injured player. Players like Martin Guptill, Usman Khawaja, Chris Jordan, Tabraiz Shamsi have already joined in as replacements and the teams are surely pondering over the other players who can be called to replace the other cricketers.
We have tried to analyze and find out the players who can be the ideal replacements and help their team with their efforts. Here are the 5 stars who can be still be a part of IPL 2016 as replacements:
Grant Elliott
The New Zealand all-rounder who recently retired from the ODIs can be an ideal replacement for someone like Mitchell Marsh as the Kiwi can contribute with both bat and ball. His style of bowling is ideal for the Indian conditions as he is someone who varies his pace well and his off-cutters are quite deceptive as well.
Recently in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016, Elliott bowled some important spells for his team and also picked up 3 wickets in the game against Bangladesh. He bowled well in the Pakistan Super League as well where he picked up 11 wickets in the 6 games he played. The cunning bowler can solve Dhoni’s woes in the middle-overs with his intelligent bowling.
Elliott is also a more than useful batsman and he is someone who can construct the innings. He played one of the best knocks of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 against South Africa in the semifinal to guide his team to the final which they eventually lost to Australia. In the absence of Smith and du Plessis, Elliott can be given the role of the sheet anchor as well.