Many have hailed IPL as a boon for Indian cricketers. Their arguments centre on the opportunity given by this league to lesser-known domestic players to showcase their skills. But if one looks at the first decade of IPL, there are some players who rose to fame suddenly and then disappeared with even greater speed.
As another season of this tournament is underway, let's take a moment to remember four such names that have vanished from the memory of fans and commentators despite their heroics in previous editions.
Manvinder Bisla
In the 2012 IPL final, Manvinder Bisla played a memorable innings of 89 to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to victory. But a few people can recollect his name. Bisla's IPL career didn't prosper after that knock and he faded away faster without much else to his credit. He was last heard of playing local cricket in Bangladesh some years ago.
Paul Valthaty
In the 2011 season, Kings XI Punjab's Paul Valthaty achieved overnight stardom by scoring a brilliant hundred against Chennai Super Kings. But this performance proved to be a flash in the pan as Valthaty's form disappeared by the next season. After playing a handful of matches in 2012 IPL, where he flopped, the right-hander got just one match next year.
Rahul Sharma
It is tempting to say that Rahul Sharma's career was destroyed by the busting of a rave party by police during 2013 IPL. But that would be somewhat incorrect as he was able to come back after the scandal and put in some good performances. It was in the 2011 season that Sharma – a tall leg-spinner from Punjab playing for Pune Warriors – impressed everyone and got rewarded by selection in the national team. But the vagaries of form haunted him and eventually, he fell out of the team. His last T20 was in 2014 while his international career was over even before that.
Swapnil Asnodkar
Opening the innings with Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar of Goa played a crucial part in Rajasthan Royals' dream run to the IPL title in the league's maiden season. But that was it for the diminutive right-hander as far as fame was concerned. However, he did have a successful first-class career scoring nearly 6,000 runs at an average of 40.
