The Indian Premier League (IPL) is renowned for bringing the world’s best players together. Where else can you see a top order consisting of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers? But beyond the stellar foreign imports, young Indian players are also given the chance to shine on the big stage, learning from international stars along the way.
With such enormous outlay on overseas talent, Indian youngsters are a vital way for teams to balance the books. It has resulted in huge faith being placed in these burgeoning batsmen, bowlers and wicket-keepers, with some going on to play for their country and others, inevitably, fading into memory.
Here, we look at the baby faced IPL stars who disappeared from the scene after initially showing signs of promise.
PAUL VALTHATY (Kings XI Punjab)
Paul Valthaty burst onto the scene in 2011 with a scintillating century against the Chennai Super Kings. He gave Kings XI Punjab blistering starts with his quick fire knocks at the top of the order with such clean hitting that left observers in awe of his potential.
Not only did he score quickly, but Valthaty also made big runs for Punjab that season. From 14 games in the 2011 season, he finished with 463 runs at an average of 35.61 and a strike-rate of 136.98. He scored a century and two fifties in doing so.
Mysteriously, he never repeated such success again. In the 2012 season, he scored only 30 runs from the six games he played in. He played just a single match in the 2013 season – scoring six – before disappearing from public consciousness.
SWAPNIL ASNODKAR (Rajasthan Royals)
Under the initial leadership of Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals discovered some rare talent. The unknown, unpolished gems were in fact the bedrock of their success under Warne’s captaincy.
One of Warne’s stars who played a leading role in the Royals’ victorious inaugural IPL campaign was Swapnil Asnodkar, who scored 311 runs from nine matches in the very first IPL season.
Warne christened him the ‘Goa Cannon’ and was personally full of praise for his abilities. But Asnodkar never made it big in the years to come. He played only 11 games in the next three seasons and struggled to put together barely more than one hundred runs from them.
MANPREET GONY (Chennai Super Kings)
MS Dhoni’s ability to back youngsters on big occasions is well known. In that very first season of the IPL, Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings thought they had discovered the next bowling superstar.
Bowling with admirable pace and control, Gony had a phenomenal debut IPL season, finishing with 17 wickets from 16 games at an average of 26.05. He had an incredible strike-rate of one wicket per 3.3 overs.
But things changed and the following year it looked as if Gony has lost his sharpness and control. He became easy to read and leaked runs with an economy rate of more than 10 runs per over as batsmen went after his predictable bowling.
Gony did have a short, but ultimately unsuccessful, international career with the Indian team. He made his debut against Hong Kong at the 2008 Asia Cup,where, particularly against Bangladesh in the next game, he was expensive. In that match he conceded 65 runs from his eight overs and despite picking up two wickets, was never considered again.
RAHUL SHARMA (Pune Warriors)
The lanky leg-spinner impressed with his disciplined bowling performances for the Pune Warriors in 2011. Sharma bowled some brilliant spells during the pivotal powerplay overs where he picked up a handy knack of taking crucial wickets.
He made headlines in the media, drawing lofty comparisons to Anil Kumble because of his height and action. He earned a call-up to the Indian team, making an impressive debut against the West Indies in December 2011 where he took three wickets for 43 runs.
He went on to play just three more ODIs and two T20Is before being dropped from the squad. Spells with the Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings followed, but he hasn’t since replicated his initial form.
SAURABH TIWARY (Mumbai Indians)
Because of his long hair and the odd helicopter shot, Tiwary was hailed as the left-handed Dhoni when he first burst on the scene. He had a penchant for hitting the ball hard and like Dhoni, was considered a good finisher.
He was a great success during the 2010 IPL season where he went after the opposition bowlers and finished with three half-centuries and became a crucial member of the Mumbai Indians side that finished as runner-up that season. He scored 419 from 16 matches at a strike-rate of 135.59.
He made his India debut against Australia at Vishakhapatnam and remained unbeaten on 12 in a successful run chase. He then played two more ODIs for India. While he continued to attract hefty price tags in the IPL, he has not been at his devastating best ever since.
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