IPL 2019: Five overseas players who are yet to play a game in this season
We are at the business end of the league stage of the 12th edition of Indian Premier League. In the current phase, the results of every single game will have an impact on the points table. At the end of Match No. 45, only Chennai Super Kings has qualified for the playoffs.
However, no team has been eliminated yet from the playoffs race. With only 11 games remaining in the league stage, the competition for the remaining three spots in the playoffs will be very intense.
As per the IPL norms, a team can have a maximum of eight overseas players in its squad. However, a team is allowed to field a maximum of only four foreign players in the playing XI. Since the IPL is a long tournament, there exists a considerable possibility of all the eight overseas players (in a team) playing at least a single game for their franchise.
In the current season, barring five overseas players across all the eight teams, rest of them have played at least a single game for their corresponding franchises. Now, let us look at those five unlucky players who are yet to play their first game in this season.
#1 Moises Henriques (Kings XI Punjab)
Moises Henriques is one of the players who have been associated with the IPL for a very long time. The Australian all-rounder made his IPL debut in the 2009 season with Kolkata Knight Riders. In the 2010 season, he moved to Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals).
In the 2011 mega-auction, he was once again moved to a new franchise, as Mumbai Indians bought him for a sum of USD 50,000. However, he was ruled out of that entire season due to injury. In the 2013 season, he was moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Then for the next four years (2014-17), he became a constant member in the Sunrisers Hyderabad setup. Later, he went unsold in the 2018 mega-auction. However, he found a bidder in Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2019 auction.
In 57 IPL games, Henriques has scored 969 runs with five half-centuries. With the ball, he has claimed 38 wickets with an economy rate of 8.38. Though the numbers might look ordinary, he is always a handy player.
Interestingly, Henriques was supposed to make his debut for KXIP in the 32nd league match against Rajasthan Royals. However, he sustained an unfortunate injury during the regular warm-ups before the game. Hence, he was ruled out of that game at the last moment.
With the status of his injury unclear, there are chances of him failing to make his KXIP debut this year.