5 Associate cricketers who deserve to play in the IPL
Over the years, the Indian Premier League has set the platform for many players to become stars of T20 cricket. However, the one thing that is yet to be seen in the Indian Premier League is the participation of cricketers from the associate nations with Ryan Ten Doeschate being the only notable associate cricketer in the IPL so far.
This year’s auction saw only two associate cricketers go under the hammer, both going unsold. In recent years, we have seen a number of associate cricketers who have provided a lot of sensational performances in the T20 format. Let’s take a look at five associate cricketers who deserve to play in the Indian Premier League.
#1 Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan)
Afghanistan’s wicket-keeper batsman has been their premier T20 batsman over the past few years. In fact, he is currently ranked No.10 in the ICC T20 batsman rankings.
The 28-year old has racked up 1,367 runs in 48 T20 internationals at an average close to 30 and with an impressive strike rate of 136.42. Moreover, Shahzad also holds numerous records among associate cricketers in T20Is which includes most runs, most man-of-the-match awards and most scores of 50+.
The dashing opener’s hard hitting and his ability to provide good starts to the Afghan innings has been one of the key reasons why Afghanistan have been ranked above Bangladesh in the ICC T20 rankings.
Shahzad first became a name to reckon with for his unbeaten knock of 65 against Ireland in the final of the 2010 ICC World T20 qualifier which helped Afghanistan win the tournament. Since then, the hard-hitting batsman has contributed immensely to Afghanistan’s success in qualifying for the World T20s that have followed.
In this year’s World T20, Shahzad was at his peak, scoring 222 runs at an average of 31.71, at an impressive strike rate of 140; ending the tournament as the fourth highest run scorer. Although his highest score of the tournament was 61 against Scotland, the innings for which perhaps he will be most remembered would be his quick-fire 19-ball 44 against South Africa which gave Afghanistan a very solid start chasing a target of 210.
The swashbuckling opener followed his cameo with a comment that caught everyone’s eye. The comment which he made was that Dale Steyn wasn’t a danger and had he not been dropped, Afghanistan would have come a step closer to beating South Africa.