7 Indian internationals who are yet to play this IPL

Every franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is built around its Indian stars, who form the crux of the team and play a big role in the fortunes of the team. These players have played for India at the international level and are used to the pressure that is associated with the IPL.Since teams need to have 7 Indian players in their line-up, they prefer to have as many experienced Indian players as possible. It was believed that franchisees with more number of Indian international players had an advantage, but this season has seen that statement proven wrong. Teams have started to rely more on domestic Indian players and such players have impressed one and all.Take players like Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Hooda and Sandeep Sharma for example. They have not let the spotlight affect their performances and have impressed everyone. A lot of Indian international players have been benched by these domestic players and it is not wrong to say that they have been rightly benched because other players have been in better form and in better touch than them.The list of Indian international players who haven't played a single game for their IPL team this season are:

#7 Abhishek Nayar

Team: Rajasthan Royals

Abhishek Nayar, the hard-hitting batsman and medium pace bowler from Mumbai has had a mixed career so far. He was selected by the Mumbai Indians for the early seasons of the IPL on the back of strong Ranji Trophy performances. He had a great IPL with them, his most memorable moment being his knock against CSK when he smashed multiple sixes against Andrew Flintoff.

Nayar was later part of the Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2011 and IPL 2012 and Pune Warriors India in IPL 2013. He did not have much success with either of them and became a part of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2014. He played a few games for them that year but was overshadowed by RR’s excellent domestic players.

The Secunderabad-born lad, who made his debut for India in 2009, has been on the bench this year and is not even on the verge of a place in the eleven.

#6 Parvinder Awana

Team: Kings XI Punjab

The tall fast bowler from Delhi has been playing IPL cricket for Kings XI Punjab since 2012. He had an extremely successful season in 2012, which led to him being called up for India’s fourth Test against England.

Awana later made his Indian debut in the T20Is against England in December 2012. His performances have declined over the years and he did not have a great IPL last year and was overshadowed by the younger Sandeep Sharma.

Anureet Singh and Sandeep have been excellent this season and have thus far, confined Awana to the bench.

#5 Abhimanyu Mithun

Team: Mumbai Indians

Abhimanyu Mithun, the fast bowler from Karnataka, had represented only Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) until 2013. He has not had much success in the IPL over the last few years, but he has been impressive in the domestic circuit, especially the Ranji Trophy.

Mithun made his Test debut for India in 2010 but hasn’t played for India since December 2011. He was selected by the Mumbai Indians for IPL 2015 but hasn’t played a single game yet. A barrage of young Indian domestic players like Jasprit Bumrah and Pawan Suyal have been preferred over him.

#4 Rahul Sharma

Team: Chennai Super Kings

A leg-spinner from Punjab, Rahul Sharma made his IPL debut for Deccan Chargers in 2010. In 2011, he made a name for himself with excellent performances for Pune Warriors India and was one of the most economical bowlers in the tournament.

He then made his debut for India in 2011 but suffered a setback because of off-field issues. He made a comeback to IPL in 2014 with Delhi Daredevils but did not have a successful season.

In 2015, he was picked up by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) but hasn’t played a single game yet. He has fallen way below the pecking order for CSK, below the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Pawan Negi.

#3 Ashok Dinda

Team: Royal Challengers Bangalore

Ashok Dinda, who has played ODIs and T20Is for India, was considered as one of the finest and fastest bowlers in India when he made his debut for India in 2009. Having played for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors India in the past, Dinda was selected by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for IPL 2014 and was retained this year.

He did not play to his potential last year, picking up 5 wickets in 9 games at an economy of 8.70. Those poor performances last year has relegated him to the bench this year, with talented youngsters like Harshal Patel and Abu Nechim preferred over him.

#2 Subramanium Badrinath

Team: Royal Challengers Bangalore

Subramanium Badrinath, the right-handed middle-order batsman who made his Test debut for India in 2010, was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs.30 lakhs for IPL 2015 after a break in 2014, when he was not part of any team in the IPL.

He was expected to solidify the RCB batting which lacked a Mr. Dependable. However, he hasn’t got a single game in the IPL probably because of his age and the perception that he is not suited to T20. Players like Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh have risen over him in the pecking order for RCB.

#1 Irfan Pathan

Team: Chennai Super Kings

Irfan Pathan, who was released by the Sunrisers Hyderabad last year, was bought by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs.1.5 crore. Irfan was perceived by the fans as the one to occupy the crucial No.7 spot for CSK in the batting order and shoulder responsibility with Ashish Nehra and Mohit Sharma as the lead pace bowlers.

However, the left-arm swing bowler suffered an injury just before the start of the tournament and coach Stephen Fleming said that Pathan should become match-fit before staking a claim for a place in the eleven. This proved to be disastrous for Pathan as his replacement, Ishwar Pandey and more recently, Ronit More have excelled so far and Irfan looks set to sit on the bench for the upcoming games as well.