The Indian Premier League kicked off its fifteenth edition last week at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Ten teams will be participating in the tournament from this year. The T20 league has been a breeding ground for cricketers all over the world.
Many cricketers have been able to make successful careers in the tournament. The likes of Lasith Malinga, Virat Kohli, David Warner, Suresh Raina have been great performers in the Indian Premier League.
However, there have of course been players who could not make much of an impact. Some of them had such a short IPL career, that the fans don’t remember that they were even part of the league.
In this article, we take a look at five players who you might not know played in the Indian Premier League.
#5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Former West Indies cricketer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was part of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. He represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore in that season and played three matches for the franchise.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored 25 runs in those three innings, with a strike rate of 80.75. Royal Challengers Bangalore did not have a great season, as they finished second last on the points table. Chanderpaul did not get an opportunity to play again after the first season in the Indian Premier League.
#4 Darren Lehman
Darren Lehmann announced his retirement from the sport in 2007. However, he did feature in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. The Rajasthan Royals picked the former Australian cricketer.
Lehmann played just two matches for the franchise in the tournament, scoring 18 runs. The Rajasthan Royals won the championship, however, they released Darren Lehmann in the next edition.
The former Australian cricketer, then, led the Deccan Chargers to the IPL 2009 title, as a coach.
#3 Tim Panie
Former Australian skipper, Tim Paine was bought by the Pune Warriors India (PWI) during the 2011 Indian Premier League auctions. However, the wicket-keeper batter got only a couple of opportunities with the franchise, as he could not make much of an impact.
Paine scored just 10 runs in the two games that he played for the Pune Warriors India. He was ruled out of the next season due to injury, and could never play in the Indian Premier League ever again.
#2 Younis Khan
Younis Khan had a prolific Test career for Pakistan scoring over ten thousand runs in the format. Despite leading the team to victory in the 2009 World T20, the former cricketer’s performance in the T20Is has been underwhelming.
In the 2008 IPL, Younis Khan played for the Rajasthan Royals. He played just one match for the franchise, scoring just three runs. Younis Khan never got an opportunity to play in the Indian Premier League again.
#1 Mohammad Ashraful
Mohammad Ashraful emerged as a promising talent for Bangladesh in the early 2000s, however, soon lost his way. The right-handed batter featured in just one Indian Premier League match.
Ashraful played his solitary match for the Mumbai Indians in the 2009 season. He contributed only two runs in the match. In 2014, Ashraful was banned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board for eight years after he was found guilty of match-fixing.
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