Its IPL season as the most popular cricketers in the world are playing in the biggest T20 extravaganza. When we talk about the IPL the one thing that stands out is the incredible level of cricket which is due to the players featuring in it. All top players want to be associated with the IPL because of the money as well as the worldwide recognition that comes along with it.
Nevertheless, as only 4 overseas players can play in a team even some of the top overseas players are benched in the IPL. This why popular cricketers who have made a name for themselves in T20Is have never played in the IPL. In this feature, we find out 5 popular cricketers who after achieving so much in international cricket hasn’t even played a single IPL game.
5 Popular Cricketers Who Never Played In IPL
5. Mushfiqur Rahim
The wicket-keeper batsman of Bangladesh Mushfiqur Rahim is one of the most skilful batsmen in Asia today. He may not be a power hitter but always finds a way to score runs even in the shortest formats. His USP is undoubtedly his ability to find gaps and hit boundaries against spinners at will in the middle overs.
Nevertheless, even after being a capable batsman Mushfiqur still hasn’t played in the IPL which is a little surprising. His overall record in T20Is is effective but his strike rate of 120 is one of the main reason why franchises have never gone after him in the IPL auction.
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4. James Anderson
When IPL began in 2008, James Anderson was one of the best fast bowlers in the world both in Tests in ODI cricket. Anderson always picked wickets with the new ball and was also able to contain the batsmen in the death overs. Still, the England fast bowler never featured in the IPL which will forever be talked about as he surely possed a skill set that would have brought him success even in the IPL.
Andreson over the years has done commentary during IPL for channels back in England but he should have surely played a season for two in the initial few seasons of the IPL. Anderson is certainly one of the most popular cricketers who has never experienced the IPL spectacle during his career.
3. Mashrafe Mortaza
The fast bowler changed the fortunes around Bangladesh white-ball side when took over the captaincy reins before the 2015 cricket world cup. Mortaza was always a bowler who knew his limitations and always executed his plans which brought him success in limited-overs.
However, he was never in line to play the IPL maybe because he never had the pace which is required for an overseas fast bowler in an IPL team. Perhaps the most popular cricketer in Bangladesh, Mortaza relied on slower deliveries which every young Indian bowler is able to do in an IPL team hence he could never represent any IPL team even after being a prominent name in Bangladesh cricket.
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2. Tamim Iqbal
The left-hander Tamim Iqbal is unarguably the greatest opening batsman Bangladesh has ever produced. At the top Tamim has always scored runs consistently which is why many would have believed that he would taste success even in the IPL. But if we closely look at his overall T20I record he has 1758 runs but his strike rate is 117 which is not at all appealing.
As a batsman, one should always possess a strike rate between 130-140 especially when they open the batting which Tamim always lacked in his career and franchises were never interested in him for the IPL.
1. Joe Root
The most popular cricketer in world cricket that hasn’t played even a single IPL match has to be Joe Root. The classy batsman is considered one of the great batsmen of his generation as he has a terrific record in all formats. Root has always maintained that he would love to feature in the IPL but the England management has always kept him reserved for the big Test series as he is their main Test batsman and also the captain of the side. The England side has always managed his workload well but still in his prime Root should have contested in the IPL.
However, Joe Root maybe if he had a strike rate of around 135 and not 126 which is his T20I SR would have been acquired in the IPL auctions. Now even though Root is only 30 it looks highly unlikely that will ever feature in the IPL and this will always be discussed in the cricketing world in future.