3 IPL emerging player of the year awardees no one remembers now

#1 Iqbal Abdullah

Iqbal Abdullah was instrumental in KKR's first title triumph in 2012

In 2011, the award to honour the best young talent of the tournament was named as rising star of the year. Iqbal Abdullah was hence IPL's first official rising star of the year and even the first spinner to receive the age group award.

Abdullah, who was 21-years-old when he received the award, took 16 wickets in 15 games for a renovated Kolkata Knight Riders side and maintained an economy rate of around 6 runs per over.

Iqqi, as he is called, played an instrumental role in KKR's first title triumph in 2012. Though he did not pick up as many wickets this time, he kept a strong check on his economy rate and was Gambhir's trusted warrior to stop leakage of runs. The Azamgarh-born player's economy rate kept increasing ever since and reached the 11 runs per over mark last year.

Hence, he does not have a fairytale comeback story like the previous two mentions. Just as expected, he found no takers in the auction. He is now competing in local tournaments and wants to make a comeback to franchise-based cricket's biggest stage next year.