5 all-time greats of cricket who had short IPL careers
The IPL has grown into one of the most popular global cricket tournaments over the last 13 years. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) launched the competition in 2008, a year after India won the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup.
The Indian Premier League allowed young Indian cricketers to share the dressing room with some of the legends of the game.
Many greats of the sport, including Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Jacques Kallis, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Adam Gilchrist, have had long, fruitful runs in the league.
The same, however, cannot be said of some others. We look at five all-time greats who had short IPL stints.
1. Ricky Ponting - 10 IPL matches
Current Delhi Capitals (DC) coach Ricky Ponting participated in two IPL seasons as a player. He played under Sourav Ganguly for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2008. Five years later, Ponting captained the Mumbai Indians (MI).
In all, Ponting played 10 IPL matches, scoring 91 runs at an average of 10.11. His strike rate was close to 70, and the Australian failed to touch the 30-run mark in any of his nine innings.
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2. Michael Clarke - 6 IPL matches
Australia's 2015 World Cup-winning skipper, Michael Clarke, played only one season in the IPL. The Pune Warriors India signed him for the 2012 edition.
Clarke played six games that season, aggregating 98 runs at a strike rate of 104.26. His highest score was 41. He also scalped two wickets.
3. Makhaya Ntini - 9 IPL matches
Unlike Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, Makhaya Ntini lived up to expectations in the IPL. Playing for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first season, Ntini picked up seven wickets in nin matches.
The former South African pacer became the third bowler to take a hat-trick in the tournament. Ntini accomplished the feat against KKR, dismissing Sourav Ganguly, Debabrata Das and David Hussey.
4. Shane Bond - 8 IPL matches
Former Kiwi fast bowler Shane Bond did not play in the first two seasons. He made his IPL debut in 2010 with KKR. Bond played eight matches for the franchise that year.
The right-arm pacer picked up nine wickets at an average of 24.83. Bond achieved his best IPL figures of 2/24 against the Kings XI Punjab.
5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 3 IPL matches
Not many fans will remember that the former West Indian played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2008. Chanderpaul represented the franchise in three games.
The left-handed batter aggregated 25 runs at a strike rate of 80.65. Chanderpaul's highest IPL score was 16, achieved against MI on debut.