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Top 5 Injury Replacements in the History of the IPL | Which players have proven to be the best injury replacements in the history of the IPL?

The Indian Premier League season comprises of closely packed games that offers very little breathers to several franchises. Players tend to live on the suitcase often and that takes a toll on their physical health. Furthermore, the season is fitted in between strenuous international assignments and all these factors combine with the testing summers in different parts of India.

Hence, injuries aren’t uncommon and most certainly, teams keep an eye on probable players who could be signed up once the campaign has already commenced. They can opt for individuals who went unsold in the auction ahead of that season. Many cricketers find it difficult to immediately adapt to a tournament as demanding as the IPL. However, some injury replacements have managed to make heads turn with their ability to seamlessly get into the groove of things. In this article, Cricblog puts some light on five such players.

5: Dwayne Smith – Mumbai Indians (2012)

It was 2012 and Mumbai Indians had gradually begun assembling a formidable squad. The first Title had eluded them but they had international stars of the likes of Mitchell Johnson in their ranks. However, the Aussie pacer had to be ruled out of the tournament in late April for failing to recover from a surgery on his big toe.

West Indian dasher Dwayne Smith was called up as a replacement for the metropolis club. In his very first game, he chased down 14 runs off the last three deliveries by hitting Ben Hilfenhaus straight over the pacer’s head to win a cracker of a contest against the Chennai Super Kings. Smith opened the innings regularly for Mumbai Indians from thereon and scored 620 runs in 22 innings for them in the IPL.

He had an average of 31, strike rate of 129.44 and notched five half-centuries too. The swashbuckler powered the franchise to their second Champions League T20 trophy in 2013 and was named as the player of the series for his brilliant performances. Overall, he turned out to be a beneficial quick-fix investment for the team.

4: David Miller – Kings XI Punjab (2011)

Not many might arguably remember that David Miller’s journey with the Kings XI Punjab began in 2011. Though unpicked in the auctions, Punjab signed the Protea batsman as a replacement for Dimitri Mascarenhas. The English all-rounder had not recuperated from a surgery to his fix his Achilles heel injury. Miller made his way to the Kings XI camp but could find only six games come his way in his first two seasons for the franchise.

He sprung into limelight in 2013, as the southpaw scored a century in 37 deliveries against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in an unbelievable chase. He was earmarked as ‘Killer Miller’ from then onward, and became an absolute mainstay for the franchise. Miller even led the team for some period during his eight-year long stay at Kings XI Punjab. Though the player’s performances dipped considerably as time progressed, he continues to remain one of the most defining players to have turned up for the Preity Zinta co-owned outfit.

3: Imran Tahir – Rising Pune Supergiant (2017)

Imran Tahir’s solitary season with Rising Pune Supergiant is significant as it perhaps paved the way for his immensely successful ongoing stint with CSK. Mitchell Marsh had to opt out of IPL 2017 due to a shoulder injury and the Pune-based franchise signed Tahir in the Aussie’s place.

The leg-spinner scalped 18 wickets in 12 encounters as the team finished runners-up in the season. He impressed one and all with his uncanny ability to provide breakthroughs in the middle-overs. Stephen Fleming was the head coach of the side and MS Dhoni had led them in 2016.

Naturally, CSK roped in Tahir during the mega-auction of 2018 as they returned to the tournament. Tahir’s prominence further grew under the leadership of Fleming and Dhoni and has picked up 32 wickets in 25 games for the three-time IPL champions so far. It is certainly one of the best replacement signings secured by any franchise in the history of the IPL.

2: Hashim Amla – Kings XI Punjab (2016)

Shaun Marsh, one of the most iconic players of KXIP, had to be ruled out of the IPL in 2016 due to a back injury. The franchise brought in ace opener Hashim Amla as Marsh’s replacement. Amla is not known for his exploits in the shortest format of the game. However, the batsman graced the league with his class in 2017 in his first full-season with the team.

Amla notched 420 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 145.83. He scored two centuries and half-centuries each and emerged as one of the most unlikely top-performers of the competition. Surprisingly, the player has found no takers thereafter in the league.

Many overseas players tend to hold on to their spots based on sheer reputation built due to a couple of commendable innings. However, the consistency with which franchises have ignored a player of Amla’s stature especially with the numbers that he racked up in 2017 is rather intriguing.

1: Chris Gayle – Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2011)

Chris Gayle joining the RCB due to a side strain that prevented Dirk Nannes from participating in IPL 2011 will go down as one of the significant moments for the league in the years to come. Gayle had endured slightly underwhelming few seasons with KKR prior to 2011.

However, he went on to attain a cult status in Bengaluru for his spellbinding performances for the franchise for seven-long years from then onward. The West Indian star scored 3163 runs for RCB in the IPL, taking them to two IPL finals and entertaining the fans at the Chinnaswamy with his fantastic six-hitting ability.

For years, he shouldered the responsibility to take RCB home and bagged 19 half-centuries and five centuries in the process. Though the franchise remembers him vividly for his unsurpassable contributions to the team, it wouldn’t have happened had Nannes not been ruled out due to injury in IPL-4.

Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter today

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