Indian T20 League had a long history of unforgettable stars and we saw some promising talents who were once the future of India but faded away soon. They showed their talent in front of the world and fans cheered them but some unfortunate thing happened in their lives as they couldn’t replicate it again. In today’s segment, we pick five lost stars of the Indian T20 League:
Paul Valthaty
We have a solo feature on Paul Valthaty’s tragic story. He played alongside Parthiv and Irfan in U19 WC 2002 and his quality performance helped him to crack the Indian T20 League contract. Fans started knowing Paul Valthaty when he scored a match-winning hundred against Chennai. Punjab chased down the target of 189, courtesy of his 120 off 63 balls. His 120 is still the best score by an uncapped player in the history of the tournament. He went on to score 463 runs in season 2011. He also scored a half-century and picked 3 wickets in one game to add one more record to his name. After the season 2011, Paul suffered a wrist injury and it was so panic that he couldn’t pick up his bat. He tried hard to script a comeback but the inconsistent performance made him out. He went unsold ahead of the 2014 season. Paul played club cricket and become an employee of Air India. He is now giving his coaching to aspiring cricketers in Mumbai. Paul is trying to get into the Ranji Trophy.
Manvinder Bisla
Manvinder Bisla was a wicket-keeper batsman. He came to light when he helped Kolkata to win their maiden Indian T20 League title with a match-winning knock. Captain Gautam Gambhir took a bold step to drop McCullum in the final against Chennai and Bisla was selected as an opener. Chennai posted a big total and Bisla played the finest knock of 89 runs off just 48 balls to script a memorable chase in the Indian T20 League final. He was later released by Kolkata after a poor performance in the next season. He was later picked by Bangalore in 2015 but he played only two games and after then, he never played in Indian T20 League. He appeared for Goa in Ranji Trophy but he couldn’t add colours to his cricketing career. Bisla played his last competitive game in 2017 and shifted his focus in the commentary.
Manpreet Gony
Manpreet Gony was one of the controversial names in Indian T20 League. He came into the light when he picked 17 wickets in his debut season with Chennai. His hard-hitting skills at down-order made him a promising all-rounder. His finest outings in Indian T20 League earned him a national call-up and he played two ODI’s for India. He got the selection in Asia Cup. In his second outing against Bangladesh, he picked two wickets that was his last international appearance. He was later picked by Punjab but he didn’t prove this worth. He last played in 2017 for Gujarat in Indian T20 League. He announced retirement in 2019 and shifted his all focus on franchise cricket. He participated in the Global T20 league of Canada and recently played for India Legends in Road Saftey World Series. Gony faced controversy after he was alleged of beating his mother-in-law.
Rajat Bhatia
Rajat Bhatia was a fine talent of the Indian T20 League and the all-rounder had some good outings with Kolkata under Gautam Gambhir. He also played for the Delhi franchise. He scalped 45 wickets from 60 matches in his Indian T20 League career. His best spell was 4 for 15 came for Kolkata. Rajasthan and Pune also bought him when he was released by Kolkata. His last Indian T20 League appearance was recorded for Pune in 2017 when his side made it into the finals.
Rajat Bhatia also helped Delhi to win Ranji Trophy in 2006-07 by scoring 512 runs in 7 matches. Rajat Bhatia has 3828 runs and 76 wickets in first-class cricket. Bhatia last played in Ranji Trophy in 2018-19 with Uttarakhand and was the top-scorer of the side. Bhatia announced retirement in 2020 from all formats of cricket.
Kamran Khan
Rajasthan coach Darren Berry spotted a pace talent Kamran from Uttar Pradesh during a local T20 tournament. Kamran Khan was a left-arm pacer and known for his pinpoint yorkers. His good pace and extra swing with the new ball impressed Shane Warne. He earned the Indian T20 League contract from Rajasthan at the price of 17 Lakh and he scalped six wickets in his debut season. His memorable performance was a win against Kolkata in super over. His unorthodox action came under the scanner and he was sent to rehab. With new bowling action, he failed to deliver performances and his career came to end early. He was picked by Pune in the 2011 edition but he played only one game. His last T20 performance came in Sri Lanka’s domestic T20 tournament in 2013.
