11 famous Pakistani cricketers who have been a part of the IPL
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is undoubtedly the grandest cricket carnival on the planet. Having a history of picking up young talent and transforming them to mega stars, this tournament has changed the landscape of the sport all around the world. This BCCI initiative of 8 teams from the metro cities of the country was met with an overwhelming response from the Indian fans.
After the huge success of the historic 2007 WT20, the BCCI took no time in identifying the potential the shortest format of the sport had. The T20 format attracted fans from all age groups unlike its previous formats. A three-hour game, huge sixes, epic fielding performances and the thrill proved out to be the core reasons of the popularity of the game.
IPL 2008 was a revolutionary tournament with players from all over the world coming to play in India and enthralling the fans. However, from the 2009 edition due to political tensions, Pakistani cricketers were barred from further taking part in the tournament.
Here’s a list of the 11 Pakistani stars who were a part of the 2008 IPL.
#1 Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi was a part of the Adam Gilchrist led Deccan Chargers in the first edition of IPL. Having been a part of the runners-up Pakistan side of 2007, expectations were high from “Boom Boom Afridi”.
However, in the 10 matches he played he could only score 81 runs at a poor average of 10.12. His leg-spin proved to be effective though, with the veteran scalping 9 wickets with a best performance of 3/28.
The entire Deccan Chargers team comprising big names like VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds failed to perform as a cohesive unit. The Hyderabad-based franchise took the wooden spoon in the inaugural edition of the league.