Top 5 absentees of IPL 2013

IPL 6 is around the corner and as usual controversies are no stranger for the billion-dollar tournament. Last time Luke Pomersbach, Wayne Parnel and Rahul Sharma were all caught for the wrong reasons in the media.This time it has started with SriLanka player’s issue. After the meeting held yesterday, the IPL governing council have arrived at the decision to bar Sri Lankan players playing at Chennai.

Fans at chennai would definitely miss them. Apart from them, few others also would miss the entire season or atleast first leg of the season. Lets see the top-5 players who would miss this season of IPL.

5. Cheteshwar Pujara

The recently wed Indian top-order batsmen have tasted success in his recent series against England and Australia. As result of that,he has stormed into Top-10 in the latest ICC Test rankings which doesn’t have a single player in top 10 since Dravid’s retirement. He is one of those youngsters who has perfect technique to suit all formats of the game. To his credit, Wisdenindia.com has quoted that “Pujara is far more than Dravid 2.0“. He has injured his hand in the recent home series against Australia. He plays for Bangalore. Given the form he is in, RCB would definitely miss him.

4. Michael Clarke

Equipping a batting style that is suitable for all conditions including Sub-continent’s , Michale Clarke comes around the world as player who falls into the pool of legacy. Franchises also see him as captaincy material. His lower back spasm that he experienced during the 3rd test between India and Australia and stayed the course and kept him away from playing the 4th test. As a precautionary measure, Clarke has considered to take rest to prepare him for the much important Ashes. He plays for Pune in IPL and the franchise would definitely miss their captain.

3. Shikar Dhawan

He might not be familiar to the international scene untill his test debut where he broke Dwayne Smith’s record of scoring fastest hundered in test debut but he already has fans across the nation. He was one of the prominent run getters in IPL. He was amongst the leading run-getter for Delhi in season 1 and was one of the main reason for taking them to semi- finals. He plays for Hyderabad now. Last year, he was one among the top 5 in leading the run charts despite his team showed a dismal performance. He not only twirled his Mustache for his show on debut but also caught with a niggle on the course of the match. This came as bad news for his fans as he misses out atleast a week or two in this season of IPL.

2. Faf du Plessis

When Hayden retired from IPL, Chennai was fortunate enough to get a like-on-like replacement to open the innings along with Murali Vijay. Duplessis, he is. Chennai reached Finals in the last edition and majority of credit goes to this man. He was brutal yet classy. He was athletic in the field. He could bowl if Dhoni asked him to. He was all for CSK untill the other opener hit form in the qualifiers. He is likely to miss the 1st leg of this season. Chennai fans would definitely miss him.

1. Kevin Pietersen

He comes. He Scores. He wins. Kevin Pietersen is such a type of player who sees the tournament on day’s basis. He would be on a lean patch yet suddently would come and hit a match winning hundred. He could turn the game in a matter of balls. He could drive his team beyond the line from the jaws of defeat. He, along with Virender Sehwag and David Warner at the top, formed a deadly line up to bowl at. Apart from his aggressive batting, he is also known for his kanny off-spinners. He could get you the much important break through when a partnership would threaten to take a game away. Delhi would definitely miss his services.

NOTABLE MENTION

His captaincy skills are heavily appreciated. His contributions to India cricket was no-less. He was India’s most successful test captain untill recently when Dhoni became the one. Last Year, when Yuvraj Singh was battling the Test of his life-cancer, Saurav Ganguly was asked on to lead the Pune Side. He was away from cricket for a while. Yet, he came back and led a side that had the likes of Ryder, Parnel, Rahul Sharma – all known for the wrong reason. He wasn’t as successful as one wanted to be. Yet he was a driving factor in the team. Fans came in plenty to cheer up the team just because he was there. Pune would definitely miss the servies of Ganguly especially as a person who brings that X-factor into the line-up.