5 players from England who have never played in the IPL but could have done well
The Indian Premier League has been the playground for cricketers all over the globe. Players from various countries have made themselves home in India while playing the tournament.
While the Aussies have been the most successful among the overseas players, the English players have also had their fair share of glory. For instance, Ben Stokes was awarded the MVP for his performance in the 2017 edition of the IPL.
However, there have also been players from England who have never played in the IPL – and here are 5 of them who could have done well if they had been given a chance…
Ian Bell
Ian Bell, at his peak, was the pillar of the English batting lineup. He was among those batsmen that were difficult to get out. His technique was fabulous to watch as his shot-playing was among the classiest in the world of cricket.
He was also a fairly decent T20 player. Indeed, with 2749 runs to his name from 100 innings at an average of 31.23 and a strike-rate of 124.72, he showed that he is a good player when it comes to the shorter format and might have been a useful player if he ever played in the IPL.
Graeme Swann
In Indian conditions, one can’t help but think how good Graeme Swann could have been. While the pitches used in the IPL are batting-friendly, there are always tracks that help the spinners as well.
And with someone of the quality of Swann, he could have been a good buy for any IPL side. Indeed, Swann took part in 80 matches, taking 98 wickets at an average of under 20 and an economy rate of 6.56 – which is simply astute in T20s.
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The ship has now sailed, unfortunately, leaving us with only imagination of what could have been.
Dawid Malan
We now enter the territory of English players who could still make it to the IPL and one among them is Dawid Malan. The left-handed batsman is a classy T20 player and is showing it in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League.
He recently scored a century against Rajshahi Royals to further improve his T20 stats. He has played 190 matches and has scored 5144 runs from them at an average of 33.40.
His strike-rate in the format stands at a respectable 128.76 and he has 27 half-centuries and five centuries under his belt. Surely, he should be playing in the IPL with numbers like these.
Someday, we can only hope.
James Vince
James Vince is four years younger than Dawid Malan and has even better numbers than the southpaw. The elegant right-handed batsman has played 203 times in the shorter format, scoring 5354 runs in the process.
He also has an average of 30.42 and a strike-rate of 133.15 while also scoring 34 half-centuries and a century in the format. Unfortunately for him, however, there are quite a lot of batsman of similar profile to him, especially in the Indian domestic scene itself, which is why Vince hasn’t been considered by the IPL teams yet.
Joe Root
Right now, Joe Root has to be the biggest exclusion in the IPL. The tournament has Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson but the final quarter of the Fab Four is missing with Root’s absence.
It is not that he is a bad T20 player either. In fact, his numbers are quite impressive as he has scored 1619 runs from 66 innings in the format at a strike-rate of 125.69 and an average of slightly over 30.
The Yorkshire-born star, however, is not explosive, which is why he has not been in the IPL even now, although he himself opted to sit out of this year’s auction. Maybe, if he sets the T20 World Cup alight with his blistering performances, he might get a place in the IPL in the future. Win big this IPL season only on 10 CRIC, log on to 10CRIC and claim a bonus of INR 10,000.