IPL 2022: 3 overseas players who will be missed this year
IPL 2022 will see some prominent international names missing out on the tournament. Not only did these players withdraw from the IPL 2022 auction but their availability for next season is uncertain as well.
From the perspective of the franchises, the absence of these players are a major blow, especially for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Gujarat Titans (GT). The two new franchises would have been frontrunners to land players like Ben Stokes and Mitchell Starc.
Ahead of the start of the IPL, which is set to begin on March 26, we take a look at three international players who will miss the tournament.
#3 Chris Gayle
Such is the bruising batting that West Indies veteran Chris Gayle brings to the table, that it is hard to count him out in any game. The proof; He leads the list for most sixes by a batter in IPL history.
Gayle became a sensation in the IPL when he was signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2011 to replace Dirk Nannes. The rest was history as Gayle went on to become a mainstay alongside Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Gayle has 4965 runs from 143 IPL games at an average of 39.72 and a strike rate of 148.96. He also has six centuries and 31 fifties to his name. Gayle last played for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) before opting out of IPL 2021 citing bubble fatigue.
#2 Jofra Archer
When the Mumbai Indians (MI) splurged ₹8 crores for the English pacer who played his last competitive international game in March of 2021, there was a mix of shock and excitement.
An elbow injury will see Archer miss some cricket, including IPL 2022, making it quite a bummer for fans who were keen to see the pacer in action. However, should Archer recover sooner and join the Mumbai outfit ahead of IPL 2023, their bowling lineup will be one of the deadliest units in the league.
Check out the IPL Winners List here.
#1 Ben Stokes
Former Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ben Stokes made moves ahead of the IPL 2022 auction in order to mentally and physically energize himself for the English summer. The Evening Standard reported:
“Stokes will sit out this year’s tournament, which will feature 10 teams for the first time and will be preceded by a mega-auction in which there is plenty of spaces to fill."
Stokes' absence will be a major blow for the franchises who were keen to sign the hard-hitting all-rounder.