IPL heroes forgotten by franchises & fans

Over the past five seasons several youngsters have lit up the IPL sky but some stars have fallen out of favour. Whether it's the lack of support from the franchise or the BCCI, it has been a sharp fall from hero to zero.

Discarded by his franchise, 2009's IPL hero Kamran Khan is spending this summer at his brother's farm. A suspect bowling action followed by poor form, this is one whirlwind this fast bowling Tornado might find difficult to come out of.

"Currently I am with the Pune Warriors. The IPL is on but they haven't kept me in the team and have sent me back. After returning to my village, I have started working out. After practising in the morning, I help my brothers in the farms," Kamran said.

Kamran isn't the only one. Swapnil Asnodkar, a here for his team in the previous editions, has also been forgotten. In an effort to control bulging budgets, most IPL teams have had to send players back home. But then IPL teams are run as Corporate companies and hence perform or perish is the buzzword.

"IPL is an extremely ruthless system. It is based upon your flavour of the year or flavour of the season. The classic examples are players like Paul Valthaty and Kamran Khan - players who were sensations for a while and have vanished now. The primary reason is that there is no one to tell the franchise owners that you have to take care of the professional cricketers and nurse him for the future. Franchises are looking at those players who can deliver, who can't, are sent back home. So Paul Valthaty is watching the IPL sitting at his home in Mumbai when he ought to have been in the dugout," says well known cricket journalist Sanjay Jha.

Players being sent back home hasn't happened for the first time in Indian cricket. Irfan Pathan had to board a plane back from the South Africa trip of 2007 because the coach was concerned by his poor form. But Irfan found a favourable support system back home which isn't clearly the case with these IPL discards.