Exclusive: The Most Unlucky Players 11 to Miss IPL 2023 Season
Rishabh Pant, the most unfortunate as we look at the unlucky players 11 of the tournament for IPL 2023.
The IPL 2023 is currently nicely poised at the mid-stage with almost all teams having played 7 matches each. Unsurprisingly, the competitive nature of the tournament has been excellent so far with as many as 7 teams doing pretty well, and well in contention for the Playoffs.
While most of the teams that have injured players have coped up pretty well, there are some teams like Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders that have been badly affected due to injured players. Both teams mentioned here don’t have their primary captain, and that has affected the balance of the team a lot.
The IPL 2023 sees a lot of quality and Indian players and foreign players missing the bus due to injury concerns. The likes of which include Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, etc. So, in this article, we take a look at 11 such players, who would form a part of the unlucky 11 for IPL 2023.
Unlucky Players 11 for IPL 2023:
Top-order: Jonny Bairstow, Will Jacks & Rajat Patidar
Punjab Kings suffered a huge shock when their primary and best opener, Jonny Bairstow was ruled out of IPL 2023 due to an injury. Bairstow is a key player for PBKS, and no matter what replacement they get, it’s difficult to fill the shoes of Bairstow. It is also visible from the performance of his replacement, Short, who has been poor so far in the tournament.
The second player on the list is another England opener, Will Jacks. Will may not be the primary player for RCB, but was more of a backup for Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell. Jacks is unfortunate to miss IPL 2023 even as his role with RCB would have been minimum this year.
Another RCBian, but this time an important player, Rajat Patidar couldn’t recover in time to be a part of the RCB squad for IPL 2023. Rajat was a key player for RCB last year with a century in the Playoffs. His absence has let RCB have a shallow batting after their heavy top 3. Currently, none of Mahipal, Suyash, or Anuj is able to fill his shoes in the tournament.
Middle-order: Kane Williamson, Shreyas Iyer & Rishabh Pant
Coming to the middle-order, the first name on the list is Kane Williamson, who was unfortunate to have injured himself in the first match of IPL 2023. However, the absence of Williamson didn’t affect Gujarat Titans much as Sai Sudharsan did more than a decent job, and it also allowed GT to play an additional overseas bowler.
Coming to the final two batting spots, it is the Captain duo of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. One captain of Delhi Capitals, and another Captain of KKR have been big misses so far for their respective teams. The result is also there in their team performance as both are strangling in the bottom half of the points table.
However, more than IPL, the Indian team fans are missing Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant more for their return to International cricket. Both are crucial members of the Indian ODI and Test setup. While both will definitely miss the WTC final, we are hoping these two recover before the ODI World Cup 2023.
Pacers: Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Reece Topley, Mukesh Choudhary, Jasprit Bumrah & Praisdh Krishna
If there is one department that has taken the highest hit when it comes to injuries, it is the pace department. As many as three quality Indian pacers are missing the bus in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Mukesh Choudhary, and Praisdh Krishna. All three pacers were the main pacers for their respective franchise, MI, CSK, and RR.
However, more than IPL, two of these three key pacers, Jasprit Bumrah and Praisdh Krishna are first-choice pacers for ODIs. Whereas Mukesh Choudhary was almost in for a national selection before getting to know about his injury. Hopefully, these three recover in the next few months.
Meanwhile, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Reece Topley may not be big names. but would have definitely been key backups for their respective franchises. Kamlesh would have found enough support seeing how DC pace bowlers performed. Whereas until the return of Josh Hazlewood, Reece Topley would have been a handy bowler.
The Unlucky Players 11 to Miss the Bus for IPL 2023:
Jonny Bairstow, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Kane Williamson, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant [c&wk], Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Reece Topley, Mukesh Choudhary, Prasidh Krishna & Jasprit Bumrah
So, that’s about the unlucky 11 for IPL 2023. Apart from the ones mentioned above, the other players that have been injured include Raj Bawa for PBKS, Jhye Richardson for MI, and Kyle Jamieson for CSK.
Thanks for reading! Which players do you consider unlucky to miss IPL 2023? Please email your comments to business@cricalytics.com
ALSO READ: WTC Final 2023: Best Predicted Squad and Players List for India vs Australia
Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics with over 20 years of experience following Cricket.
Cricket to him is like what Football is to Lionel Messi, Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar, Dancing is to Michael Jackson, and Acting is to Clint Eastwood.
Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.
