Nation Over Clubs: The Foreign Players Who are Leaving IPL 2019 To Join Their National Team

2019 World Cup is around the corner and cricket boards have already started calling their player back from the ongoing IPL cricket games. Many of the players who have been playing for their respective teams in IPL 2019 have now left the tournament midway to join their national teams and start their 2019 ICC World Cup Campaign,

With the 2019 World Cup approaching fast, cricket boards are calling up their players to prepare for the premier tournament. It means some players who are serving duty in IPL 2019 will have to leave the tournament mid-way. There are also a few players who will leave soon after a few more matches.

However, there are some cricketing boards like West Indies, New Zealand and Afghanistan who have granted their players to play the full IPL cricket game 2019 tournament before heading home to start training for the upcoming 2019 World Cup.

There are some teams in IPL 2019 who will surely be affected by the departure of the key foreign players even though they were already aware that this would happen. So, we look at how these teams will fare after their star foreign player bow out of IPL 2019.

Read More : Analysis Of The World Cup 2019 Squads

K Rabada- Delhi Capitals

Rabada has made a great difference to Delhi Capitals’ fortune with his accurate bowling and wicket-taking abilities. So much so that Delhi for the first team in seven years has qualified in the playoffs. Rabada is the highest wicket-taker in IPL 2019 currently, with 23 wickets under his belt. His absolute best came in the Super Over against KKR when he bowled amazing yorkers to defend just 11 runs for his team and drive his team to victory.

He has to leave for South Africa and Delhi Capitals would find it hard to replace the star bowler. While DC has already qualified to the playoffs in IPL 2019, without Rabada, they may find it difficult to contain the opposition in the knockout phase.

Dale Steyn/Marcus Stoinis/Moeen Ali- RCB

Dale Steyn made his mark the moment he played for RCM midway in IPL 2019. Yet those marvellous wins are now history as he is injured and has already made his way back to South Africa. His inclusion gave teeth to RCB bowling as they bounced back with three straight wins. He was the missing puzzle piece that RCB so badly needed.

Moeen Ali has been instrumental in keeping RCB’s middle-order stable with some useful cameos with the bat. His bowling has also helped the RCB.

Stoinis had added depth to the batting attack with big hits in the final overs. He has also instrumental in taking wickets with his medium-pace bowling.

All three will be missed by RCB dearly as they have been the much-needed match-winners for the team so far. RCB do not have adequate replacements. Their exits may see Shimron Hetmyer getting another chance in the XI to prove himself in IPL 2019.

Jos Buttler/Steven Smith/Ben Stokes/Jofra Archer- RR

Jos Buttler, one of the star players of Rajasthan Royals has already left, while the rest are set to leave soon. He had played some good innings for RR.

Steve Smith was a little faded in the first phase of the IPL matches, but then managed to turn around RR’s fortune by his aggressive captaincy and leading-from-the-front batting.

While Stokes is also supposed to leave soon, his absence might not be much, since he had a really underwhelming IPL season so far.

Jofra Archer has proved his worth for the team with his all-around skills. Stuart Binny too can play the role of an all-rounder in place of Archer.

David Miller- KXIP

David Miller has blown a little hot and cold this IPL 2019 season and that has hampered the team’s chances. Miller is also about to leave, but Punjab has managed to find an attacking batsman in Nicholas Pooran who gave a mighty scare to RCB in the last game. But this is now the chance for other domestic Indian batsmen need to step up for Punjab.

Another good yet risky option for KXIP is to bring in Moises Henriques for Miller. Henriques can add depth to the squad with his all-around skills.

David Warner/Bairstow- SRH

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s top two and most important players will be leaving IPL 2019 for their nation to prepare for 2019 ICC World Cup. This is sure to be a massive blow for SRH.

Bairstow has already left for England to join his national team, while David Warner played his last match against KXIP and is now leaving for Australia. These two openers have played amazing innings for SRH in IPL 2019. Their innings have given SRH great totals which could be defended. In Warner’s last match for IPL 2019 to, he proved why SRH should miss him, as he nonchalantly scored 80 off 40 oddballs to help SRH reach to a formidable total.

The Australian batsman has struck 7 fifties and one ton in 10 innings @ 71.75.

The team in IPL 2019 was heavily dependent on these two especially on Warner since their domestic batsmen have really not delivered yet.

It is now that players like Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Vijay Shankar will have to step up

Mumbai Indians — Quinton de Kock, Jason Behrendorff

Mumbai Indian’s will miss opener de Kock’s efficient keeping and his big hitting at the top of the order. He has been especially good in the last few matches. His calming presence and composed demeanour also add a lot to the team in IPL 2019. Rohit Sharma and De Kock has a set opening stance and knew each other play and tactics well. Now Rohit will have to start from the scratch with a new opening partner which mat dampen MI’s performances.

Jason Behrendorff has got just 5 games for MI this season, bagging 5 wickets. MI won’t be missing the Australian pacer as they have a quality pace-bowling pair in Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga.

Chennai Super Kings- Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis

Imran Tahir has been the second highest wicket-taker in IPL 2019 cricket games so far, taking 17 wickets. He has been instrumental in every match, giving the team early breakthroughs or containing the flow of runs. CSK will definitely miss him, but not much as they do have quality spinners in Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner.

Faf du Plessis forms an excellent opening pair with Shane Watson but has been really inconsistent so far. Yet no one can question the amount of experience he brings. Watson was also at ease with this opening partnership.

Other Indian batsmen such as Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav will have to step up.

KKR — Joe Denly

Joe Denly has already left the KKR squad. He played just one match for KKR and scored a duck. Considering the form KKR are in, it would not have made much of a difference if Denly was still playing for KKR.

Read More : The West Indies Flare In Ipl 2019

Originally published at Sporcial.