IPL History: 5 players who had just one good season

The introduction of the Indian Premier League( IPL) in 2008 changed the face of cricket, Indian cricket to be specific. The power of world cricket shifted to India with the BCCI becoming the force they are now. The concept of a franchise-style T20 league which brings together the best players from the world to co-exist with young Indian talent revitalized and re-energized the sport.

Almost a decade ago when BCCI came up with an idea of revolutionizing Indian cricket by introducing franchise system based IPL, it gave a chance to throw uncapped, fringe-players into the mainstream cricketing arena.

IPL gave the rookies a platform to prove their worth and get into the selector’s mind to hop into the Indian jersey.

While many Indian players benefited from their experience in the IPL and used that as a platform to get into the national side and make a mark, there has also been a list of players who have made a brilliant impression for one season of the IPL and then faded away into oblivion.

Here's a look of a list of some players who made it big in the IPL only to fade away completely from public memory:

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#5 Paul Valthaty- KXIP (2011)

Paul Valthaty

The opener was a revelation for Kings XI Punjab in 2011 where he shot to fame after he scored a mind-boggling ton to chase down a target of 189 posted by the reigning champions, Chennai Super Kings. The right-handed batsmen’s unbeaten knock of 120 in 63 balls was the first century of the season.

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He managed to score 463 runs at an average of 35.61 with a strike rate of 136.98 in the season. His run tally was the sixth-highest that year, behind players such as Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, and Sachin Tendulkar as he registered one hundred and two fifty-plus scores. However, Valthaty’s career went into a downhill after he was not able to live up to the hype in the successive seasons. He managed to feature in only six more games in his IPL career scoring a total of 30 runs.

His was a case of expectations getting the better of him. A very attractive stroke player fell prey to the rising demands to perform at a consistent level in front of packed stadiums that every IPL game witnesses.

#4 Kamran Khan for Rajasthan Royals (2008 season)

Kamran Khan

Kamran Khan's story was a classic example of rags to riches. A son of a farmer in UP, he was found by the scouts of Rajasthan Royals in 2009 and the rest is history. His weird, slingy action almost resembled a left-handed Lasith Malinga and that proved to be his key to success. The action with speeds of well over 140+ kmph was something to behold.

He didn’t get a lot of wickets (six wickets in five matches including a 3/18) but Kamran caught Warne’s eye with his whippy action, ability to swing and bowl yorkers. Soon his action was deemed suspect, prompting Rajasthan Royals to send him to Australia to work on his action. The 2010 season saw Khan get three games and the 2011 and 2012 seasons were spent with Pune Warriors India playing just one game.

It is indeed sad to see Kamran Khan completely fall off the radar and from our memory nowadays.

#3 Sreenath Aravind for Royal Challengers Bangalore( 2012 season)

Sreenath Aravind

A promising left-arm seamer from Karnataka, Sreenath Aravind turned up for the Bengaluru-based outfit in IPL 4 and went on to create havoc. With 21 wickets in 13 matches at a startling strike-rate of 13.14, he concluded the season as RCB’s leading wicket-taker before being involved with the team in the 2011 Champions League where they lost to the Mumbai Indians.

He got selected to play for India in England the same year although he didn’t get a match. The 2012 IPL saw him feature in just a single game where he leaked 48 runs off three overs and had no wickets to show. The ensuing seasons conveniently wiped him off from public memory as he went back to doing the hard yards for Karnataka once again in the domestic circuit.

Aravind happens to be one of many fast bowlers that RCB have tried and who have failed to impress. With his left-arm variation, the fans of RCB had lot of hopes on this local lad but he failed to live up to their expectations.

#2 Saurabh Tiwary, Mumbai Indians (2010 season)

Mumbai v Bangalore - 2010 Champions League Twenty20

The Jharkhand lad, a look-alike of MS Dhoni with his long locks and attacking approach was a permanent feature in the IPL arena. He was first signed by Mumbai Indians (MI) for the inaugural edition of IPL but his breakthrough season came in 2010. He scored a total of 419 runs from 16 matches with three fifties with a strike rate of 135.59. He played a crucial role in his team’s journey to the final that season.

For the next three seasons, he was part of RCB, but failed to recreate that old magic of 2010. Further, his stint with Delhi Daredevils in 2014 was cut short by an injury to his shoulder and Imran Tahir was called-up as his replacement. In 2016, the new franchise of Rising Pune Supergiants roped him in for their debut IPL season.

His demotion in ranks and stature from being a first choice starter in the playing eleven to not finding a team in the recent seasons, has been glaring. The highlight of his IPL career remains the 2010 season that handed him a team India debut against Australia.

He has been resigned by Mumbai indians this time around for the upcoming season.

#1 Swapnil Asnodkar, Rajasthan Royals( 2008 season)

Swapnil Asnodkar

In the inaugural season of IPL where most players struggled to figure out the formula of success the young 24-year old wicket-keeper batsmen from Goa made all heads turn by displaying some blistering starts alongside the experienced Graeme Smith. By the end of the tournament, they had scored 418 runs together at an average of 59.71 – the highest of the tournament.

This stable opening pair provided a strong base for Rajasthan as they went on to win the inaugural season of IPL. He scored a total of 311 runs from 9 games at a very good average of 34.55 and a strike rate of 133.47.

However, things fizzled out as Asnodkar could not reproduce his 2008 heroics in the next season as he could only manage 112 runs in 11 matches, leading to his exile from the cash-rich league ever since.

He will always be remembered fondly for being the pocket-sized dynamo who really shook the IPL from the start with his fearless brand of cricket under the able leadership of Shane Warne for the Royals. It is indeed sad to see a player of his talent not being able to capitalize on that.