The emerging player award in IPL is a great motivator for young players to perform. Over the years, 13 players have won the prestigious emerging player award. Many of them including Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Shubhman Gill have made it big on the international stage. But there are others who failed to live up to their expectations.
Let’s have a look at the players who failed to perform after receiving the emerging player award:
1. Shreevats Goswami, 2008
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Shreevats Goswami won the emerging player of the year award in IPL 2008. Shreevats Goswami is a wicket-keeper batsman. In IPL 2008, he played 4 matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore scoring 82 runs. Goswami played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2009 and IPL 2010 too.
However, Goswami couldn’t convert his potential into an expected career- he has featured in 31 matches across the IPL for 4 different teams averaging a disappointing 14.65 with no further score of fifty or more. In the domestic circuit as well, the left-hander has under-performed for Bengal. He continues to be the back-up keeper for Wriddhiman Saha at Sunrisers Hyderabad also.
2. Basil Thambi, 2017
Basil Thampi was awarded with the emerging player of the year award in IPL 2017 for his splendid bowling show. The right-arm medium pacer played 11 matches for Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017 and grabbed 11 wickets. Thampi was impressive with his express pace, ability to hit the deck hard and execute yorkers .It was a great performance to look upon by a debutant in the tournament. Hence, Basil Thampi was awarded emerging player of the year in IPL 2017.
However, the Kerala pacer’s form and numbers plunged- he has played only 8 matches and picked up 6 wickets in those in the last three seasons for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Thampi recently went wicketless for Kerala in the entire Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Also, he has the unwanted record of most runs conceded by a bowler in an innings in IPL.
3. Iqbal Abdullah, 2011
4. Saurabh Tiwary, 2010
Saurabh Tiwary helped Mumbai Indians reach the final of IPL 2010 in his breakthrough IPL season scoring 419 runs. An India call-up soon followed and he played in 3 ODIs. Unfortunately, the left-hander couldn’t replicate his 2010 success in the future. He couldn’t manage to score even 200 runs in any of the subsequent seasons while playing for Bangalore, Delhi, and now-defunct Pune teams.
Last season, he was a backup player in the Mumbai Indians side, after Ishan Kishan replaced him with thunderous performances. This season he continues to warm the bench and it looks near impossible for him to get a game given the batting depth of Mumbai Indians.