Indian T20 League is credited for the sharp rise of T20 cricket all over the world and now is the biggest franchise cricket league in the world. Many of the current players, including world no.1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, from India’s T20I team have the league to thank for. No doubt, Indian T20 League is the biggest platform to earn a national team call-up in T20I matches.
Many cricketers earned big bucks in league auctions after consistently impressive performances in domestic cricket. But few were lucky to play a few Indian T20 League matches due to their impressive numbers in other formats. So, let’s take a look at five players who were lucky to play Indian T20 League.
5. Sanjay Bangar
Many will be surprised to see Bangar’s name in this list after poor performances for India. He scored 180 runs and took eight wickets from 15 ODIs but still managed to win an Indian T20 League contract with Kolkata in 2008 and Hyderabad in 2009. Bangar scored 49 runs and took four wickets from 12 Indian T20 League matches.
4. Aakash Chopra
The former Indian opener received many opportunities across formats but never made a big impact to secure his name. He featured for Kolkata during the 2008 edition of the Indian T20 League and then for the Rajasthan franchise in 2011, where he scored 53 runs from six innings at an average of 8.83.
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
The red-ball stalwart recently completed 7000 runs in Test cricket but he never made a big impact in T20 games. Pujara scored 390 runs from 22 Indian T20 League games at an average of 20.53 and a strike rate of 99.74 while playing for four different franchises.
2. Tatenda Taibu
The former Zimbabwe captain played three games for the Kolkata franchise in Indian T20 League during the inaugural edition in 2008. With Brendon McCullum in the team, Taibu struggled with chances and performances and was released ahead of the next season. Taibu’s 100.77 strike rate in T20Is makes him one of the luckiest overseas stars to feature in the Indian T20 League.
1. Pravin Tambe
Tambe’s passion to play competitive cricket at the age of 50 is truly admirable. He first played an Indian T20 League game at the age of 41 for a Rajasthan-based franchise during the 2013 edition. He took a hat-trick against Kolkata franchise in the following season but managed to take only 28 wickets from 33 innings in Indian T20 League at an average of 30.46.
