3 Cricketers whose debut IPL Match turned out to be their last game
The 11th season of Indian Premier League is less than 20 days away. The excitement levels are already high with the reunion of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
With more than 330 uncapped players, this is the biggest pool up amongst all IPL seasons. Even many veterans who are in the twilight stages of their careers would want to make a mark in this season. Few of those would be Shane Watson, Chris Gayle, Amit Mishra etc.
In the previous 10 seasons, we have seen many youngsters from various countries crop up and showcase their talent through IPL.
Their performance in IPL fetched them a spot in their respective International teams. The best examples would include Shaun Marsh, Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane etc.
We have seen many legends such as Michael Hussey, Daniel Vettori, Matthew Hayden give consistent performances for their respective IPL teams.
However, there are few players who couldn’t make a mark in IPL, despite getting an opportunity.
Let us look at three International Cricketers who’s Debut IPL game turned out to be their last ever IPL game.
#3 Younis Khan
Younis Khan needs no introduction, perhaps one of the best cricketers Pakistan has ever produced and a thorough gentleman of the game.
Known for his copybook style of batting and stylish stroke play, Khan was picked up by Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural edition of IPL for the price of $225,000.
Khan warmed the bench in the first 13 games of Rajasthan Royals without a hit. With semi-finals berth confirmed, the Royals tested their bench strength and the former captain of the Pakistan team finally got a chance to play against Kings X1 Punjab.
Batting first Kings put up a huge score of 221/3 in their allocated 20 overs, thanks to a brilliant century by Shaun Marsh (115 of 69 balls).
Chasing 222 runs to win, the Royals had a disastrous start to their innings losing their opener Mohammad Kaif in the very second over.
Khan walked out to the crease with a huge task ahead. He found it hard to rotate the strike and couldn’t get going.
He was dismissed on the fifth delivery of the fifth over for three when he tried to slog one towards the leg side of an in-swinger of Irfan Pathan, which rattled the stumps.
Rajasthan Royals lost the match by 41 runs. This was the last time Khan was seen in an IPL jersey.