Now that the painfully long drawn-out World Cup – three and a half hour for each innings! An hour’s break! – is over, here comes the real thing. Slam bam and thank you, that’s a wham. Back home in time for late dinner.

Yes, it’s IPL season.

And it’s an opportunity for those who didn’t have the greatest of World Cups to redeem themselves for their T20 teams. Here are 11 players who could turn from zeroes to heroes:

Dwayne Smith

During the World Cup, Smith might have been roundly ridiculed on social media for having a batting average of 18 in more than 100 ODIs. But make no mistake, on the IPL circuit he is a force to reckon iwth. He consistently averages more than 30 in all his IPL seasons, with a IPL career strike rate of 133. Sure, Smith may find it difficult to find consistent playing time in a talented Chennai Super Kings squad, but he will be relieved to get back to the IPL circuit after his travails with the West Indies.

Darren Sammy

Sammy didn’t have the best of World Cups, being removed from captaincy before the start of the tournament and then putting in a series of middling performances. In the IPL, though, he is gold-dust: his late-order hitting and his canny medium pace are extremely useful. The West Indian made a major contribution to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s qualifying for Playoffs in 2013; this year, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be looking at him to repeat more of the same.

Quinton De Kock

The South African will never want to remember this World Cup. Coming in from a long injury break, de Kock had the kind of tournament nightmares are made of, crossing double figures in only four of the eight matches he played. His record in the IPL isn’t the best, but Delhi Daredevils will be hoping he comes good on the batsman-friendly pitches in India.

Angelo Matthews

The Sri Lankan’s skills have proved him to be one of the most gifted all-rounders on the international stage, though the World Cup didn’t prove to be his arena. But all-rounders add great value to T20 sides, and Matthews fits nicely into this Delhi Daredevils team. Along with JP Duminy, he will be relied upon to provide impetus at the end, and slip in his handy cutters for providing key dismissals. An overall IPL career strike rate of 120 plus should make him hungry for more.

George Bailey

To say that Bailey flopped at the World Cup is a huge travesty of justice: he scored a crucial 55 for Australia against England in the only game he played before unselfishly making way for Michael Clarke. But there is no doubt that, the competitive player he is, Bailey will be looking to prove a point. He didn’t get many opportunities at CSK, but his leadership qualities will come in extremely handy at his new home, Kings XI Punjab.

Thisara Perera

Perera’s sole bright point at the World Cup came when he hit a 47 not out against Afghanistan to save Sri Lanka the blushes. Perera had a very good IPL 2014, howeverm picking up 19 wickets from 16 matches and scoring at a strike rate of over 140. In a Kings XI Punjab already stuffed with big hitters like Sehwag, Maxwell and David Miller, he will also be relied upon to provide a blazing end to an innings.

Shakib Al Hasan

Arguably the best player Bangladesh has ever produced, Shakib had an average World Cup, with only one exceptional performance. He has far higher standards, which he will be looking to get back to once he turns out for the Kolkata Knight Riders this season. He played a critical role in KKR’s victorious campaign last year, averaging 32 with the bat. His IPL bowling averages stands at 20 with an economy rate of just over 6, quite extraordinary in this format.

Lasith Malinga

‘Slinga’ Malinga might not have lit up the World Cup, but he has been exceptional in the IPL. Sample these figures: 119 wickets for Mumbai Indians over 6 seasons at an average of 17 and an economy of 6.5. Malinga holds the record for most ‘bowled’ dismissals in T20 cricket and can unleash havoc on the batsmen. Watch out for the Sri Lankan pacer this season.

Aaron Finch

After an aggressive 135 in the game against England, Finch slightly faded away before coming up with a laboured but vital 81 against India in Australia’s crucial semi-final encounter. Finch will represent Mumbai this time around at the IPL. His last two IPL seasons have been quite good; he scored 6 sixties, and averaged 32 in the 2013 season and 28 last year.

Chris Gayle

If the IPL were a movie, the poster would feature Chris Gayle and no one else. Year after year, Gayle has sauntered to the crease and destroyed attacks in the IPL. He owns almost all the batting records in the tournament – the highest individual score, the fastest hundred, as well as the highest number of hundreds by an individual. Whatever may happen at the IPL this season, don’t miss a Royal Challengers Bangalore game. If Gayle comes off, there’ll be more fireworks than Diwali.

Eoin Morgan

If there’s one player who’s had a worse World Cup than Quinton De Kock, it has to be Eoin Morgan. Coming in as the new England ODI captain, Morgan lurched from one low to another as England were knocked out by an exciting Bangladesh team. Morgan desperately needs to come good at the IPL and prove to his detractors that he still has the goods – which he does.

This article originally appeared on Scroll.in.