Ever since the commencement of the Indian Premier League back in 2008, the billion dollar tournament has only been growing in popularity. Skip to 2021, IPL is now not only the highest grossing Cricket tournament in the world but also competes with Worldwide famous tournaments like NBA, UEFA Champions League and NFL in terms of revenue generated. In fact, many are of the opinion that IPL will overtake these tournaments in annual earnings in years to come. However, IPL could never have reached these heights had it not been for the fabulous performances of some core players who attracted more fans.
Players like Chris Gayle and AB De Villiers were fan favorites and people got hooked to IPL watching their breathtaking shots and spectacle. IPL would have been nothing without their players. And unfortunately the time has now come that the fans would have to say goodbye to the players who made them fall in love with the game.
Many star players who had been featuring from the very first very first season of the tournament have not registered for IPL 2022’s Mega auction and we might very well consider that this is the end of their IPL and cricket career.
However, there are also many key players who have not registered for the IPL 2022’s mega auction due to an injury or due to some personal reasons.
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Let us now take a look at the Top 5 stars who will be missed in IPL 2022
1. Chris Gayle – Chris Gayle has had a big role in the globalization and growth of the Indian Premier League. From the very first season, Gayle was known as a big hitting giant who was probably the best suited player for the new format. He scored sixes for fun and toyed with the bowlers.
Even during his days at Kolkata Knight Riders, Chris Gayle had been famous for his big hitting. However, he gained the most fame during his days at Royal Challengers Bangalore. After all, who can forget his unbelievable knock of 175*(66) against Pune Warriors in 2013. It is the highest individual score by any player in the Indian Premier League till date and probably one of the most famous knocks in Cricket.
However, since 2016, the performance of Chris Gayle started deteriorating. Yes he still had the capability of scoring big sixes but he lost his reputation as a responsible batsman as he was very inconsistent in the last few years of his career.
Gayle has scored 4965 runs in 142 matches during his IPL career and is one of the highest overseas scorers in the tournament. However he is 42 years old now and it is his time to retire. Thus, he has not registered for IPL 2022 Mega Auction. It is indeed heartbreaking for many fans.
2. AB de Villiers – Former South African player AB De Villiers announced on Friday, 19th November 2021 that he is retiring from all formats of the Cricket effective immediately and that included IPL. The news was shocking for his fans and the entire Cricket fraternity as even last year, he played brilliantly in the Indian Premier League and his retirement was indeed very surprising.
AB de Villiers was famously called ‘Mr. 360 degree’ for his wide range of shots that he played at all angles and regions.
AB de Villiers made his IPL debut in 2008 with Delhi Capitals. In 2011, Royal Challengers Bangalore signed him for 5 crores and that was the turning point in his career. He was simply amazing from his very first season at RCB and soon he grew up to become one of the most famous overseas players in the tournament.
He has innumerable great partnerships with Virat Kohli at RCB and the two were best of friends. He is the second highest run scorer in the history of the tournament and will be a major miss this season onwards.
3. Ben Stokes – Many English players have not registered for IPL 2022’s Mega auction due to the strict schedule of the England National team and Ben Stokes is one of them.
Ben Stokes made his IPL debut in the year 2017 with Rising Pune SuperGiants. He slowly became the best All-rounder in the Indian Premier League and he was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for 12.5 crores in the 2018 IPL. However he failed to perform in the tournament ever since and his fate was even worsened by successive injuries.
In total, Ben Stokes has scored 920 runs and picked up 28 wickets in the 43 matches that he played. This will be the second successive season that Ben Stokes will be missing. He missed the 2021 IPL as he was focusing on his mental health during that period.
4. Mitchell Starc – Mitchell Starc has been very unfortunate when it comes to IPL. Ever since his successful stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore that made him known to the world, Starc has failed to do anything fruitful in the Indian Premier League. He has missed almost every season of IPL since then due to his loyalty towards the Australian National team and his preference.
Starc was bought by KKR in the 2018 IPL for a whopping 9.4 crores but he did not play even a single match and was released from his KKR contract. Soon there was a big legal battle between the two sides regarding the payment and insurance and ever since, Starc has never played a single IPL match. For the very same reason, he has decided not to register for IPL 2022 mega auction. In all likelihood, he will never ever be taking part in the tournament due to the 2018 IPL controversy.
Mitchell Starc has had a very successful career in International cricket during this time period though. He has picked up 529 wickets in his International career and is undoubtedly one of the best bowlers in the world currently.
5. Jofra Archer – Jofra Archer shot to fame after his heroics in the Indian Premier League with Rajasthan Royals. He made his IPL debut in 2018 and picked up 15 wickets in just 10 matches. His best performance came in IPL 2020 when he picked up 20 wickets in just 14 matches. He is undoubtedly one of the speediest bowlers in the world currently and has a great future as he is just 26 years old.
Things were going smoothly for Jofra Archer until 2021 when he suffered a serious injury. He missed the 2021 IPL and all the international action that year due to the same reason and he is yet to recover.
Thus, Rajasthan Royals did not retain him and he also did not register himself for the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. The English speedster will hopefully recover soon and make a brilliant comeback. But as of this season, he will be missed highly by cricket fans.
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