The IPL is the biggest stage for domestic cricketers to show what they can do at the highest level. Not just the Indian cricket team but foreign boards make selections based on the players’ performance in the IPL. It is arguably the most competitive T20 league in the world.
However, impact in the IPL doesn’t necessarily mean success on the international podium. Despite years of consistent performances in the IPL, certain players haven’t been able to repeat their heroics for the national team.
Here we look at 5 such players who made it big in IPL but failed in T20I’s:
1) Hardik Pandya
The man with all the swagger, Hardik Pandya, has become one of the most important players for Mumbai Indians. This showed when MI retained Hardik in the 2018 IPL auction for a whopping 11cr. In 87 IPL matches, Pandya has scored 1401 runs at an average of 27.47, maintaining a strike rate of 157.24.
With the ball in hand, he has picked up 42 wickets, although the economy is on the higher side. When it comes to T20I’s however, Pandya has failed to impress. He averages a meagre 19.75, with 474 runs in 32 innings. Granted he walks in usually during the death overs, his potential is too high for a player with such a record.
2) Piyush Chawla
Piyush Chawla is one of the most experienced players in the IPL. He has been part of 164 matches, featuring for 3 different sides viz. Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab, and Kolkata Knight Riders. Chawla has a combined tally of 156 wickets from those matches, at a respectable average of 27.33. He was even part of the 2014 KKR side which beat Punjab in the finals to be crowned the champions.
Unfortunately for him, however, his international T20 career doesn’t truly reflect his worth. Chawla was part of the team in only seven T20 internationals, taking four wickets at an average of 37.75. Although he was part of the Indian squad for the 2010 T20 World Cup in West Indies, his lack of fitness and performance never really let his career take off.
3) AB de Villiers
De Villiers is one of the most loved cricketers in the IPL, nay the world. Since joining Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011, his partnership with Kohli has been a sight to behold for the fans. The South African is known for winning matches single-handedly, no matter how desperate the situation.
In 162 innings, De Villiers has amassed 5056 runs at a brilliant average of 40.38, striking at 152.38 in the process. He even has three centuries in the IPL, with the highest being 133* against Mumbai Indians. For South Africa however, the man hasn’t had anywhere close to the same impact.
Having featured in 78 matches, he has scored 1672 runs at an average of 26.13, with nothing to show in the centuries column. There were talks of him making a comeback to the national side for the 2021 T20 World Cup. But the rumors boiled over when Mark Boucher stated that De Villiers will not be making a comeback.
4) Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson is one of the most purely talented batsmen India has ever produced. His shot-making is of the highest order. When in full flow, he can play effortless shots which make even the best bowlers look pretty mediocre as seen in the IPL. Although his record in IPL is far from great, the Kerala-born batsman has 3 centuries to his name.
He has scored 2861 runs at a strike rate of 134.83, at an average of 28.90 in the IPL. Sanju has played 7 games at the International level, with just 83 runs coming at an average of 11.86 from it. The batsman has had the same troubling problem for a while.
He gets to good starts but fails to convert them into match-winning scores. Nonetheless, Sanju is just 26-years-old so he still has time to make up for these poor stats.
5) Shikhar Dhawan
The man for the big occasions, Shikhar Dhawan has had a stellar couple of seasons in the IPL recently. He holds on to the orange cap after the first phase of the IPL 2021. He sits in the second spot on the highest run-getter list, only behind Virat Kohli.
The aggressive left-handed batsman has played for Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. In total, he has scored 5577 runs at an average of 35.30, with an ever-improving strike rate of 127.36. The southpaw’s record for India in T20’s however, is not as eye-pleasing as it is in the IPL.
After being the opener for India in 65 matches, Dhawan has scored 1673 runs at a below-par average of 27.88 with the highest score of 92. Although initially, he was a permanent part of the squad owing to his performances in the ODI’s, his appearances in recent times have been sporadic.
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