5 well-known overseas players who still haven’t played in the IPL
When the IPL started way back in 2008, it was an overseas batsman from New Zealand who set the new T20 league on fire in the first game itself. Brendon McCullum’s innings on the opening day of the league played an important role in the success of the IPL. Even though the IPL stands for Indian Premier League, it has given a lot to other countries as well. IPL is the only league where you would see the best of the overseas players. In any other league, you wouldn’t see all the best overseas players.
Players from other countries have benefited a lot from the biggest T20 tournament. Players like David Warner, Sunil Narine and many more got recognition by playing in the IPL. The IPL has been instrumental in shaping the careers of many overseas players. For instance, Jos Butler got a call-up to the England Test team due to his great run in the last season of the IPL. Overseas players always play an important role in any IPL franchise. They bring some unique skill sets which the Indian players might not possess. It not only benefits the team but also helps the local Indian players who get to learn a lot from these great players.
The IPL is a great platform for the overseas players but there are still a few well-known players who haven’t been part of this league due to various reasons. Let’s have a look at five such players.
5. Mohammad Shahzad
Mohammad Shahzad is well known for his big-hitting. The 31-year-old wicket-keeper batsman from Afghanistan has a great record at the international level in the T20s. He has scored 1860 runs in 64 innings at an average of 30.49 and a strike-rate of 134.01. He has 11 fifties and a hundred to his name.
In the T10 league, Mohammad Shahzad’s team was chasing a score of 95 in the allotted ten overs and guess what? He alongside McCullum scored it in four overs! 96 runs were scored in four overs out of which, 74 came off Shahzad’s bat!
He hits the ball really hard and it's pretty demoralizing for the bowler to see that. He is perfectly suited to the shortest format. He is trying to get an IPL contract for the last 2-3 years but unfortunately still hasn’t got a contract. Some of the Afghanistan players have already made it to the IPL and it wouldn’t be surprising if he is the next one on the list.