IPL 2021 2nd Phase: 10 Unsold Players Who Can Make A Comeback As Replacements

The UAE leg of IPL 2021 will be played between September 19 to October 15. The same was confirmed by BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla in the boards’ statement on the resumption of the IPL. Due to concerns over the COVID pandemic in India, the BCCI decided to shift the second leg to the UAE. UAE hosted IPL 2020 amind the global pandemic and it was a huge success. The first leg was held in India and 30 matches had been played till the season was suspended on May 4.

Meanwhile, many reputed overseas players will not be able to participate in the IPL after their respective boards said that they will not allow their players to play the remaining IPL. The England and Wales Cricket Board and the Bangladesh cricket board will not be sending their players for the remaining leg. It also opens up opportunities for unsold players to come back as replacements.

In this article, we take a look at 10 players who can come back as replacements in the UAE leg. The likes of Aaron Finch, Alex Hales amongst others went unsold in the IPL 2021 auctions and now has a chance for a comeback.

IPL 2021: 10 Unsold Players Who Can Comeback As Replacements In UAE Leg

Alex Hales

Hales is an international superstar in the format. He regularly plays the BBL and the PSL and is amongst the top scorers in the league. KKR and RR ate amongst the sides with English players in their teams. While Eoin Morgan leads KKR, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer form the pillar of the Royals. With all of them missing these franchises can look to have Hales in their team.

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Devon Conway

He was an unknown commodity during the IPL 2021 auctions. But with a double hundred on Test debut and winning the ICC World Test Championship title with New Zealand, Conway is the next big thing in New Zealand cricket. He is a T20I specialist and after his recent success, he will be on the franchisees’ radar as a possible replacement.

Varun Aaron

Aaron now is a senior Indian bowler having been around the international team for over a decade now. He was unsold in the IPL 2021 auctions owing to his underperformance in the league. However, the UAE leg gives him a chance to come back as a replacement if key bowlers of the various teams get injured. He has played 50 IPL games so far and has picked up 42 wickets.

Ankit Rajpoot

He is another Indian bowler who went unsold in the auctions. He has played for a number of IPL franchisees in his career so far but has failed to play for them for a longer period of time. In 29 games, Rajpoot has picked up 24 wickets. with an economy rate of 9.23. He last played for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020.

Tushar Deshpande

Deshpande played IPL 2020 for Delhi Capitals but was released ahead of the next season. With the presence of experienced bowlers in the squad, Tushar found it difficult to get into the playing XI. In five games, he picked only three wickets with a poor economy rate of 11.29 before being released ahead of the next season. He can certainly find a franchise as a replacement with the league being a gruelling one and the players prone to injuries.

Aaron Finch

Australian white-ball skipper Aaron Finch not finding a franchise was the biggest surprise of them all. He played for RCB in IPL 2020 but was released due to an under-par season, However, none of the other franchises went for the experienced T20 batsman which did call for a surprise.

With the UAE leg coming up and many franchises losing out on key players. Finch might make a comeback into the league. In 71 T20I games, Finch has scored 2346 runs with a healthy average of 38.46. Talking about IPL, Finch has scored 2005 runs in 85 innings.

Glenn Phillips

Phillips is a wicketkeeper-batsman from New Zealand who is a part of the current squad. He has played 25 T20Is for the Kiwis scoring over 500 runs at an average of nearly 30. He has also played in the CPL previously.

Being a wicketkeeper-batsman he should be in the radar of Sunrisers Hyderabad who will be missing Jonny Bairstow for the remaining season.

Rassie van der Dussen

Dussen is a good option in the middle-order. He has been amongst the runs for South Africa in the series against West Indies. He is a handy middle-order batsman. Teams like KKR and Sunrisers can bid for him given that the sides are struggling in the tournament. He has played 20 T20I games for South Africa and averages 41.87 in the shortest format of the game.

Adil Rashid

Rashid is yet to play in the IPL. He is one of the overseas spinners who has not featured in the league so far. He is a regular member of the England white-ball set up.

Teams like Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals who do not have a reputed spinner in their ranks can bid for him. Till now, he has played 57 T20Is and 109 ODIs. Rashid has picked 55 wickets with an economy rate of 7.55 in the T20I format.

Sandeep Lamichhane

Sandeep is the first cricketer from Nepal to play in the IPL. He played for Delhi Capitals in 2018 and 2019 while going unsold in IPL 2020 and 2021 auctions. He has played nine games in the IPL and picked up 13 wickets at 22.46.

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