5 New Zealanders who have never played in the IPL but could have done well
The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just two months away as the cricket universe awaits yet another season of T20 cricket extravaganza. To hype up this year’s IPL, BCCI has announced an All-Stars game where the biggest names of the tournament will take part in a charity match.
IPL began in 2008 and it was Brendon McCullum from New Zealand who ensured that the tourney gets off to a rollicking start as he played a whirlwind knock of 158 runs in that match. The Kiwi players have since then been an integral part of the IPL. The likes of Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori, Corey Anderson, Mitchell McClenaghan, and Ross Taylor have all left their mark on the IPL.
However, there have been many players from New Zealand who never played in the IPL but could have done well had they got an opportunity. Here are 5 such Kiwi cricketers.
#5 Chris Cairns
The IPL franchises always seek to sign all-rounders in the auction and one of New Zealand's greatest all-rounders, Chris Cairns could have been a hot property in the IPL auctions. Cairns played 215 ODI matches for his nation where he aggregated 4,950 runs besides scalping 201 wickets. The fact that he scored runs at a strike rate of 86.26 shows that he was tailor-made for the IPL.
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With his right-arm medium pace, the Picton-born player took three 4-wicket hauls in ODI cricket while his best figures were 5/42. Cairns even played 14 T20 matches in his career. Although he never earned a contract in the IPL, he was once a part of the Chandigarh Lions side in the disbanded Indian Cricket League.
Also read: 5 Sri Lankan players who never played in the IPL but could have done well