5 Pakistanis who will be excellent in the IPL

Ever since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, IPL teams have refused to employ Pakistani players in their squads and in a hugely controversial auction back in 2009, the franchises refused to place a bid for any of the players.

Since then, no Pakistani cricketer has played in the IPL (except Azhar Mahmood, who is now a British citizen) and it is unlikely that they will be seen in the near future. However, it is interesting to speculate which players would have made a difference in this hugely popular tournament had they been a part of it. Here are 5 players (in no particular order) that any franchise would love to have as part of their squad.

#5 Hasan Ali

The 23-year-old medium-fast bowler took the world by storm in last year's ICC Champions Trophy in England and ever since his debut for Pakistan, Hasan Ali has become an integral part of his country's limited-overs bowling attack.

Other than the fact that he has obvious guile and can move the ball both in the air and off the pitch, Ali has plenty of variations in his repertoire that make him such a smart limited-overs bowler. He can bowl in the powerplay, the middle overs and most crucially the slog overs.

A strike rate of 14.8 in T20 internationals and 16.3 in domestic/franchise T20s is proof enough of his abilities. Moreover, he has an economy rate of only 7.29 in domestic T20s and anyone would like to have a bowler who can take a wicket for around 30 runs in his quota of overs. Ali would be an asset to any IPL side.