IPL 2018: 4 foreign players to survive from the first season of the IPL
IPL is one of the most successful franchise-based T20 leagues in the world. The tournament's popularity has grown over the years and has become a global event.
The fierce competition of the IPL has given overseas players an opportunity to play alongside superstars of the game, and produce some memorable performances for the cricket-crazy nation.
The IPL has witnessed some brilliant cricket by the foreign recruits, over the years. However, there are only a few overseas players who played in the very first edition of the island are still going strong.
We take a look at the only foreign players to have played the first and the latest season of the IPL.
#1 Shane Watson
Shane Watson is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the IPL. In 2008, Watson was struggling to find a place in the Australian team, and was bought by Rajasthan Royals at the auction and it proved to be the turning point of Watson's career.
The all-rounder won the man of the tournament award in the inaugural season and earned back his place in the national side. Since then he hasn't looked back, and played 8 seasons for Rajasthan Royals from 2008 to 2015.
Rajasthan Royals was banned for two years in 2015 and was bought by RCB at the 2016 IPL auction, but he failed to deliver in the two seasons that he played for the franchise.
Watson is currently playing for CSK and is in a rich vein of form. In the 13 matches that he has played this year, the Aussie all-rounder has scored 438 runs at an impressive average of 33.69 and a healthy strike-rate of 147.47. He has also taken 6 wickets with the ball. Watson is also the only player to win the man of the tournament award twice.