Suresh Raina. (Photo Source: Twitter)
The festival of the IPL 2024 is just around the corner. The IPL 2024 will begin on March 22 with the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clashing in the opening match. This encounter will take place at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
This season of the tournament will be missing some big names who were part of the IPL 2019. Several cricketers, who were big names, were seen in that tournament, which was the last played before the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. It was a farewell for a couple of players, while some of them were moving to their final appearances in the IPL.
Here are 5 Indians who were part of 2019 IPL but wouldn’t feature 2024:
5. Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa was playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2019 edition. However, his performance for the two-time champions was very poor. He managed just 282 runs in 12 matches at an average of 31.33 and a strike rate of 115.10. His highest score was 67* and this was his only fifty in the IPL 2019.
He then moved to Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2020 and then to Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021. He called time on his career in IPL 2022 and retired with 4952 runs in 205 matches in the tournament history. He hit 27 fifties with a strike rate of 130.35 and an average of 27.51. His highest score remained 88.
4. Ambati Rayudu
Ambati Rayudu. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
Ambati Rayudu called time on his IPL career after Chennai Super Kings won the IPL 2023 tournament last year. Rayudu made his IPL debut in 2010 after receiving amnesty from the BCCI as he was one of several players who had played in the rival Indian Cricket League (ICL). He was picked up at the 2010 auctions by Mumbai Indians.
He won the IPL with the MI franchise in 2013, 2015, and 2017 and was an opener, wicketkeeper, and middle-order pillar for the Mumbai Indians. Then in the IPL 2018 mega auction, MI released Rayudu and CSK grabbed the Hyderabad batter in the auction. Rayudu proved to be a good addition to the CSK, winning further IPL trophies in 2018, 2021, and 2023. Rayudu retired with 4,348 runs in 204 matches, with one century and 22 fifties. His strike rate was 127.54 at an average of 28.23 in the cricketing extravaganza.
3. Harbhajan Singh
MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Harbhajan Singh played in the IPL for three franchises and all three of them are multiple-time IPL trophy winners. He started his career with Mumbai Indians and also captained them in the inaugural edition. After playing for a decade with MI, Harbhajan was bought by Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2018, and then in IPL 2021, he played for Kolkata Knight Riders.
One of the best off-spinners India and the IPL has ever seen, Harbhajan Singh picked 150 wickets in 163 games with a best of 5/18 at an economy of 7.08. He also hit one fifty in his 163 games, making a total of 833 runs. Harbhajan Singh called time on his career after IPL 2021 as he played just three matches that season and failed to pick any wickets.
2. Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh boasted of a brilliant career for India from 2000-2017, when he last played a game for the Men in Blue. Yuvraj’s career in IPL started in 2008 when he was the marquee player of the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) side and captained the team as well. However, for someone so talented, Yuvraj’s IPL career was underwhelming as he never had a career-defining outing in the IPL, unlike his India career. He did win IPL twice in 2016 with Sunrisers Hyderabad and 2019 with Mumbai. His reputations made him the most expensive player in IPL auctions twice.
But he never achieved that legendary status in IPL. He played 132 games, scoring 2,750 runs with 13 fifties at a strike rate of 129.72. He also took 36 wickets, including two hat-tricks in IPL 2009. His last outing in IPL was in 2019, when he played 4 matches, scoring 98 runs including a fifty. But he was benched after these matches and then in June 2019, Yuvi announced his retirement from international cricket and IPL.
1. Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)
‘Mr. IPL’ Suresh Raina was the face of Chennai Super Kings along with MS Dhoni from 2008-2021. When CSK was banned for two years, Raina captained Gujarat Lions in the interim in IPL 2016 and 2017. However, when he returned to CSK in IPL 2018, his best days were probably behind him. Once known for scoring 400-plus runs in seven consecutive IPL seasons, Raina’s last few seasons were underwhelming.
He made 445 runs in IPL 2018 and 383 in IPL 2019, but he skipped the IPL 2020 owing to COVID-19 despite traveling to the UAE. He featured in IPL 2021, but once an integral part of the CSK franchise, The UP batter was released by the franchise before the IPL 2022 mega auction, where he went unsold. Raina retired from IPL after that. Overall, Raina made 5,528 runs in 205 matches with one ton and 39 fifties at an average of 32.52 and strike rate of 136.76.