The IPL 2022 came to a close with Gujarat Titans’ seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. This was probably one of the longest IPL in history which saw 74 games across a span of more than two months. We take a look at the top five players this season who made a mark, giving a fresh lease of life to their careers. Here are those players who before the IPL were either dropped or deemed unfit for their respective national teams.
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Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals/England): One of the most prolific batters in modern-day limited-overs cricket, Buttler was dropped from the England Test squad following his horror Ashes in Australia last year. Buttler must have kissed his Test career goodbye, but he might soon be in new Test coach Brendon McCullum’s scheme of things, courtesy a superb IPL. The Englishman went onto slam 864 runs with four centuries, equaling the record Virat Kohli in the process. Meanwhile, he not only gave his team great starts, but also acted as mentor to youngsters like Riyan Parag. This augured well for him and McCullum, who himself was KKR coach, took note.
Yuzvendra Chahal (Rajasthan Royals/India): Just like Buttler, Chahal too saw his stocks take a tumble when he was dropped from India’s T20 World Cup 2021 squad. But he soon came back and made sure that he never puts his position in jeopardy. He did make an impact on return against New Zealand last year, but his best was reserved for IPL 2022 where he went onto seal the Purple Cap in a close race with RCB’s Wanindu Hasaranga, picking up 27 wickets-a wicket every 15 balls.
Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans/India): Pandya did play the T20 World Cup 2021, but in the lead-up, his inability to complete his four overs raised questions about his match fitness. In such a scenario his performance suffered, and he needed a big stage to prove the naysayers wrong. His all-around show this season saw him account for 487 runs at an average of 44, which came at number four. On most occasions, he made GT cross the line in tense chases, reaffirming his match-winning skills. However, he picked up 8 wickets, bowling 30 overs in 14 games—which was not four overs per match. Nonetheless, he bowled a brilliant spell in the final which must be enough to show at this stage with captaincy only adding to his repertoire.
Umran Malik (Sunrisers Hyderabad/India): When Malik came to IPL 2021, he was relatively unknown. He did bowl a couple of 145 plus deliveries in UAE, but his best came in 2022 where he not only picked up the pace—154.8 against DC, but constantly among wickets(he accounted for 22 wickets). He even went onto bowl a four-wicket maiden against Punjab Kings. No surprises, he was drafted into India’s squad for South Africa T20Is; life will never remain the same for this youngster from Jammu.
Dinesh Karthik (RCB/India): By the time IPL 2022 came, Dinesh Karthik was becoming popular, not for his exotic shots, but for his commentary. And then times changed and how. So much so that ‘DK’, who is 36-years-old is all set to play the five-match T20I series against South Africa. Moreover, he also had a great IPL where he redefined the rules for modern-day finishing. He went on to score 330 runs at an average of 55. Full value for money for RCB after he was picked up for Rs 5.50 crore.
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