List of injured and withdrawn players: T20 is one of the most grueling formats of the sport and it extracts a heavy toll on the cricketers as the pandemic has enforced a bubble-bound year of cricket that has seen an extended bout of cricket with very minimal breaks in the middle.
IPL was no exception to the aforementioned norm and it is quite obvious that not all the players who were bought in the auction will be able to carry out till the very end. A few withdrew even before the tournament kickstarted while for the others injury played a major factor.
In this story, let us quickly take a look at the players who have either been injured or have pulled out of the tournament quoting various reasons.
Chennai Super Kings:
Chennai had a decent squad strength until now and despite a poor start to the latest edition of the tournament, it never came to the fact that they might lose out on one of their primary players, Deepak Chahar. The medium-fast bowling all-rounder was ruled out of the tournament after copping a new back injury in addition to the one that he was nursing already in his quadriceps.
Gujarat Titans:
The Titans have been in fine form so far and they continue to thrive at decent steam as they are at the top of the points table with four wins out of the five games that they played. Hardik Pandya has given out a glimpse of the brilliant cricketer that he usually is and has led the team perfectly until now. Just ahead of the tournament, Jason Roy pulled out citing bubble fatigue and was replaced by Afghan cricketer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Kolkata Knight Riders:
The Knights had a decent start to their campaign but were soon wobbling as they lost steam in the last couple of games with defeats against the Delhi Capitals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. They had an exceptionally well-built batting unit but the pulling out of Alex Hales has disrupted the equation to a certain extent. However, they did manage to find a replacement in Aaron Finch, the hard-hitting Australian.
Lucknow Super Giants:
The Super Giants have so far been in fine touch and have evidently maintained a fine balance in their squad. They have rotated well and their young guns have put up quite a show. They picked up Mark Wood just in the IPL auction who pulled out just ahead of the tournament. However, they did manage to get a suitable replacement in Andrew Tye.
Rajasthan Royals:
The new year has seen the Royals manifesting themselves in their most intimidating avatar since the opening edition of the tournament. They have been in fine touch and has been calling the shots exactly like it should be done. They have maintained a nice balance in their ranks and the only change that they were forced to do is to let go of Nathan Coulter-Nile who was ruled out of the tournament on April 6th.
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
The Challengers have seen a brilliant start to their campaign despite losing out on the opener. However, their team looks to be a balanced unit between the young guns and the experienced campaigners. They were forced to bring on Rajat Patidar after another young gun, Luvnith Sisodia was injured during the season.
