IPL 2020: 4 pre-auction traded players who did not get a chance in the playing XI

Building a team for the Indian Premier League (IPL) is quite an arduous task for the franchise owners.

They have to look at a lot of parameters while making selections such as the money at hand, availability of players for the entire tournament, team balance and players based on the conditions on offer at the home venue.

The teams also have to take into consideration the overseas limit and strike a balance between Indian and foreign players in various departments of the game.

There has to be a good mix of youth and experience and a good leader who can serve the team for a considerable amount of time.

The teams can acquire players either through the player auctions or by means of pre-auction trades.

While the IPL auctions can be fickle in nature because of competition among teams, acquiring personnel through pre-auction trading enables the franchises to meet the specific requirements and plug holes in their lineup.

The trading also allows teams to offload players who were surplus to their requirements, which in turn gives them the luxury of a bigger purse in the auctions.

Before the IPL 2020 auction, there were a total of 11 transfers that took place during the trading window. These were:

List of traded players before the IPL 2020 auction

Generally, traded players are picked with specific purposes and are always in the scheme of things for selection in the playing XI.

However, during this edition of the tournament, the team combinations and performance of other members in the squad has meant that four of the eleven traded players have warmed the bench for the entire season (Dhawal Kulkarni got to play only in the final league game when Jasprit Bumrah was rested).

Let us have a look at these players.

#4 Siddhesh Lad

Mumbai all-rounder Siddhesh Lad was a part of the strong Mumbai Indians contingent from 2015. After waiting for four years, Lad finally made his IPL debut in 2019 against Kings XI Punjab.

However, Lad could not add to his caps any further and was traded to the Kolkata Knight Riders during the trading window.

It was a similar story at the new franchise too, as Rahul Tripathi filled the role of the domestic batting option with some useful contributions. KKR also opted for Nikhil Naik and Rinku Singh for one game each, thereby confining Lad to the bench for the entire tournament.

#3 Sherfane Rutherford

Sherfane Rutherford was traded to Mumbai Indians after being a part of the Delhi Capitals squad in IPL 2019. The West Indies all-rounder played seven games for DC with ordinary returns of 73 runs. However, his ability to hit the ball hard made MI acquire his services.

MI had a settled and well performing unit right through the league phase. This led to them not fiddling too much with their playing XI, which meant Rutherford did not get a look-in. However, he is a good backup for Mumbai Indians legend Kieron Pollard and adds to the bench strength of the mighty team.

#2 Jagadeesha Suchith

After impressing the Mumbai Indians talent scouts, Jagadeesha Suchith was roped in for IPL 2015 and played an important role in their come-from-behind triumph in the tournament.

However, Suchith got just one more game in the next two seasons combined, and was signed up as a replacement for injured Harshal Patel by Delhi Capitals in 2019.

With a luxury of quality spin options, the Capitals traded Suchith to Kings XI Punjab before the IPL 2020 auctions. The left-arm spinner did not get a chance at the new franchise too as they preferred the leg-spin duo of Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin.

Nevertheless, Suchith made his presence felt as a substitute fielder, taking a gem of a catch to dismiss Manish Pandey and also affecting a brilliant run-out from point to send Sanju Samson back to the dugout.

Check the IPL 2020 playoffs schedule here.

#1 Mayank Markande

Of all the transfers, Mayank Markande's story is the most interesting and unique. During the first trading window, Mumbai Indians traded Markande to the Delhi Capitals.

With the Capitals signing in Ravichandran Ashwin via trade from Kings XI Punjab, DC found Markande surplus to their spin bowling requirements and sent him to the Rajasthan Royals in the second trading window.

At RR, Shreyas Gopal had already established himself as the spin spearhead, while the all-round abilities of another traded player - Rahul Tewatia (again from DC) - led to Markande warming the bench throughout the season.

Yet another find of the Mumbai Indians scouting team, the Punjab leggie had shot to limelight in IPL 2018 having picked up 15 wickets. His performances in the tournament had also earned him an India T20I cap.

However, an injury during IPL 2019 gave Rahul Chahar a chance, who immediately made an impact and secured his place in the side, pushing Markande down the pecking order.