The Indian Premier League and the International Cricket both go hand in hand.  The players arrive into an IPL season at various stages of their international careers every year. The international cricket that takes place these days has a hectic schedule with our sport spreading across its three formats in short spans of time. The IPL franchisees I know do a lot of work in communicating with their players in the off-season and yet there can easily be unfortunate happenings that can impact them and subsequently the results & so their fortunes in the league. 

This IPL season is no different, there are big international names missing the season owing to the physical toll on their bodies and being surplus to the teams' requirement during the auction. And dare I say, some are missing because of their own pre-planned onfield misjudgments, I know you got this one.   

Today, team COC gets don to choosing 5 best players who will be missing the season for various reasons. Click on the following pages to know who they are. 

1. David Warner

. That's a franchise build around its four pillars in Tom Moody, VVS Laxman and David Warner & Bhivmeshwar Kumar on the field but especially around the captaincy of David Warner over the years. Warner has been outstanding for them with the bat too. It doesn't need my reiteration but two batsmen have stood out over the last few years in the IPL, winning games singlehandedly at times for their teams, one is Virat Kohli and the other is David Warner. 

2. Steve Smith

He is not the best T20 player in the world but one of the reasons why the Rising Pune Supergiants made the resurgence through to the final last year then the answer will start with the captaincy of Steve Smith. Rajasthan Royals retained him purely because they wanted to restart their journey with Smith at the helm of affairs. With the bat too, his presence at no.3 would've given them that big figure to bat around. One misjudgment and we'll be missing one of the best cricketers in the modern game from one of its biggest carnivals. What a pity!

3. Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc has been one of the few international bowlers who has managed to save his pace and swing despite his injury issues. RCB let Starc off their hook after 2015 and since then he has not been a regular member of the IPL. Since he is a bowler of good repute, this year as well teams wasted no time in bidding for him in the auction once he announced his availability for the season. Kolkata Knight Riders bagged him for a sum of 9.4 cr. They were looking to build their fast bowling strengths around the presence of  Starc before unfortunately, the knee injury aggravated. Australia has been very carefully trying to manage his workload but the body has given in to the massive toll that it endured during the Test series versus South Africa. Starc will be missed. 

4. Kagiso Rabada

Delhi Daredevils ended up getting one of the most successful squad after the auctions. They roped in Gautam Gambhir to lead them for the season. One big step they took was to use RTM card for Kagiso Rabada for the season. They roped him in for 4.2 crores to very much lead the bowling attack. He will be missing the IPL due to a back injury which has come as a big blow to the franchise ahead of the season. They have a good back up for him in Trent Boult, Mohammad Shami and all-rounder Chris Morris who will be expected to cover for Rabada's absence. 

5. Hashim Amla

Here's a player in Hashim Alma, whose absence might well come as a surprise to many fans. He has been one of the greatest cricketers of our times. There are runs across all conditions and formats by that man. You might think, why not Martin Guptill but the big reason the franchisees have had to look elsewhere with Guptill, has been the inability to play spin in these conditions. Amla has had no such issues, he's been outstanding versus spin. He had a stellar last season when he scored two superb hundreds for Kings XI Punjab, it was surprising they didn't retain him and nobody bid him. That's a player IPL audiences must get to watch every year and the league can't afford to lose to the county game. In the evening of Amla's career, you would want to savour as much as possible of the great man. The Mighty, Mighty Hash will be missed.