T20 World Cup 2022: The IPL is regarded as the best franchise-based league in the world despite the rise in the number of other T20 leagues. In its 15 years of existence, the league has provided opportunities for cricketers across geographies. The IPL has helped players draw international attention while a few stage comebacks into national teams. It has provided security to not just Indian but overseas players too.
IPL stars but won’t feature in the World Cup:
There are certain players who are bonafide IPL stars but they are not indispensable to their national team. These players are never a certainty for their team. They often tend to miss out on flagship world tournaments.
We look at 5 such IPL stars who will miss out on playing in the T20 World Cup 2022:
#5 Avesh Khan
He had two successful IPL seasons in a row. India saw a lot of potential in him. But Khan despite repeated failures kept getting chances. Avesh Khan was one seamer that India kept persisting with right till Asia Cup. But the team management finally ran out of patience post India’s disastrous showing in the Asia Cup. He is not part of India’s T20 2022 World Cup squad.
#4 Sunil Narine
He is one of the three players to have won the MVP twice in IPL history. Sunil Narine remains one of the biggest reasons behind KKR’s success. After an indifferent couple of seasons in 2019 and 2020, Sunil Narine has been back to his best in the last two years. But despite his continual success, his association with his national cricket board remains iffy. He won’t be playing in the T20 World Cup 2022.
#3 Ishan Kishan
He was the most expensive player in the IPL Mega auction this year. Mumbai Indians splurged INR 15.25 crores on the keeper-batsman. Kishan was top-draw in the mega auctions as he is someone who opens, keeps, and can even bat in the middle-order. But meager returns in national colours cut short his chances of playing a consecutive T20 World Cup.
#2 Andre Russell
He has been one of KKR’s biggest shining lights ever since he started playing for the franchise. Andre Russell came quite close to winning the MVP for the third time during IPL 2022. He looked at his absolute best this year. But sadly he won’t be turning up for his national team in the T20 World Cup 2022. His exclusion from the squad is on similar lines to Sunil Narine.
#1 Sanju Samson
Arguably the biggest name to miss out from the World Cup is Sanju Samson. He is one of the most talented batsmen in the IPL. Samson in the last couple of seasons has married flamboyance with consistency. But he hasn’t been duly rewarded with the right number of opportunities. He, therefore, misses out on the squad for T20 World Cup 2022.
