3 star overseas players who have unfortunately played very few IPL matches ft. Mitchell Santner
The limit of having just four overseas players in the XI in the Indian Premier League (IPL) often pushes teams to go for players who could fit in the requirement that season.
There have been numerous examples of some big money players who haven't quite made the impact they were expected to. However, it is the balance that they brought to the side that created a demand for their signature, thereby leading to bidding wars.
Often in such circumstances, there have been some world-class overseas players who were unfortunate to not play as many IPL matches as their talent could justify. On that note, let's take a look at three such overseas players:
#3 Mitchell Santner
In just two games of the ODI World Cup 2023 so far, Mitchell Santner has shown exactly why he is invaluable in the Indian conditions. In two games, he has seven wickets at an outstanding average of 13.71 including a five-wicket haul against the Netherlands.
Santner's ability to pack a punch with the bat as well makes him a player that would arguably walk into any IPL team's XI. However, despite being a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) since 2019, Santner has only played 15 matches in the marque tournament, picking up 13 wickets.
The likes of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana taking the overseas slots in the bowling department and the presence of a left-arm spinner in Ravindra Jadeja are the main reasons why Santner probably hasn't got the game time he deserved.
#2 Mohammad Nabi
An absolute veteran who plays in T20 leagues around the world, former Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi is another player who should have played a lot more IPL games than he has. He has played a staggering 361 T20 matches with 336 wickets to his name and has scored as many as 5730 runs.
While he has scored just 180 runs in 17 IPL matches, Nabi has got them at an incredible strike rate of 151.26. With 13 wickets at an economy rate of 7.14, Nabi has shown that he can be more than handy as an off-spinner. The 38-year-old is yet to play an IPL game since 2021.
#1 Hashim Amla
Hashim Amla is considered as one of the greatest white-ball batters of his generation and his stupendous records in ODIs speak volumes about how lethal he was in his prime. However, it still remains a mystery why Amla couldn't play more than 16 matches in the IPL.
Out of the 16 games, Amla played 10 in a stellar 2017 season where he scored 420 runs at a strike rate of 145.83 including two sensational hundreds. Yet that was the last season that he was a part of as a player, showing just how unlucky the veteran South African batter was.