As glorious as the IPL is, not everyone can find success in the tournament. Only the elite of the elite can find success in such a highly competitive tournament. There are players who have played the entire 13 seasons of the IPL, whereas there are players who have played just one or two seasons. Now there could be plenty of reasons why the player ended up playing just one or two seasons. The list of players who have played just one IPL season isn’t that long, however, we do have some payers, and today we will be looking at those players who played only a single season in the IPL.
PLAYERS WHO PLAYED A SINGLE SEASON IN THE IPL
ANDREW FLINTOFF
The 6ft4 English all-rounder only played a single season in the IPL. He played for Chennai Super Kings during the 2009 edition of the IPL. Andrew Flintoff is considered to be one of the greatest all-rounders in the game. Flintoff’s ability to take wickets at the right time and also his ability to clear the ground made him a fan favorite. He captained England on numerous occasions. He was purchased by CSK ahead of the 2009 edition of the tournament, his inclusion made fans extremely happy, and also opposition teams even more worried. He played 3 games for CSK and managed to score a total of 62 runs and take 2 wickets. Flintoff, unfortunately, got injured in a match against the Delhi Daredevils, and after his treatment, he decided to retire from all formats of the game. Who knows, if Flintoff had decided to continue in the IPL e could have become a star player, he sure had all the abilities to do so.
SHANE BOND:
Shane Bond is considered to be New Zealand’s best fast bowler since Sir Richard Haddie. Shane Bond’s fastest record delivery was recorded at 156 Km/hr and that too against India. So, no wonder, when KKR fans found out that this speed man was going to play for them, they all started to celebrate. Bond had a very mixed season with KKR, in the single season he played, he took 9 wickets in 8 matches. Soon after that season, he decided to hang his boots. Bond is very fondly remembered for his quick bowling that terrorized his Australian counterparts. Bond was given the nickname “James Bond-007” due to his ability to take down batsmen, just like James Bond, who takes down villains. Bond’s IPL career came a full circle, as he is currently Mumbai Indian’s bowling coach.
MASHRAFE MORTAZA:
Mashrafe Mortaza is very fondly remembered for his 4/38 against India in the 2007 50 over world cup campaign. His fast bowling absolutely bamboozled the Indian batsmen. Mashrafe Mortaza represented Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2009 season. He played only one game, which was against the Deccan Chargers. However, that would be one night Mortaza would everyone forget. In that game against Deccan Chargers, Mortaza conceded 58 runs in 4 overs. That disaster night was his last outing in the IPL, after that match he did not play again in the tournament, and because of that match, he did not get a contract from any of the other teams in the following auction. Mortaza is considered to be one of the best bowlers in the world and is also considered to be Bangladesh’s best captain. Mortaza still plates for Bangladesh and also plays for the Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League.
TIM PAINE:
Australia’s current Test captain played a single season in the IPl, he represented the Pune Warriors India in the 2011 edition of the tournament. Paine had a very mixed season, he only managed to play two games that season, and did not feature for any of the other games. He was unable to get any contracts from any other teams after that horrid season at Pune Warriors India. During the 2011 season, he played alongside his countrymen, Steven Smith, and Aaron Finch. Paine holds the record of being Australia’s youngest player ever to get a contract, achieving this feat at 16 years of age. Paine was named as Australia’s Test captain in 2018 and since then has gone on to become one of Australia’s important players in the test format. It is unfortunate that we did not get to see more of him in the IPL.
DARREN LEHMAN:
The Australian all-rounder was part of the Rajasthan Royals during the inaugural edition of the IPL. Lehman just played two games for Rajasthan, however, he was able to lift the trophy at the end of the season. In the two games Lehman played, he scored 19 runs. Similar to Shane Bond, he also went on to coach Deccan Chargers for 4 seasons, before moving on to coach the Kings XI Punjab.
These are the players who had a very unfortunate IPL career. It would have been interesting to see how far they could have actually gone in the IPL, had they continued to play.