IPL’s oldest: Time and time again, it has been established in cricket that age is nothing but a number and there have always been cricketers with scintillating performances who have been validating this adage like a boss. As the second phase of IPL 2021 will be resuming in less than three days from now a lot of players who are beyond the accepted age of maximization will be taking the field.
T20 cricket has always been an experiment and the fact that who can hit the right chord earlier are the ones who will emerge victoriously. One of the major ingredients of this experiment is the convergence of youth and experience. Like the way young players bring agility and excitement to the side, veteran cricketers bring a boatload of expertise that helps the team to eke themselves out in tough situations.
In this story, we will be sneaking a peek at five cricketers who are aged more than 35 and will be a part of the second phase of the tournament.
#1 Kedar Jadhav
Despite his pedestrian show in the preceding edition of the tournament where he was nothing but an expletive in the Chennai colours, he can still make a strong appeal for himself given his expertise in the Indian conditions. He is also a handy all-rounder who can chip in with a few crucial overs in the middle and this can be an asset to the middle-order batsman. Though he failed to impress in 2020, he still houses the capability of striking those massive hits which will make him a big contender for the ongoing edition of IPL for SunrisersHyderabad.
#2 Harbhajan Singh
Though it is pretty obvious that this will be the last cricket that Harbhajan Singh will be playing, he can still spark a war for KKR. Despite his ripe age of 40, his spinning skills were always worth mentioning and his experience in India will be of great value to KKR especially with the Knights struggling badly. He has also led Mumbai Indians previously which will bring in leadership material to the team that will also be very important to the outfit ailing in the penultimate position of the points table.
#3 Dan Christian
This man has been defying age like a boss and he is still going strong in the shortest format of the game. He is one of the most active all-rounders and brings in a boatload of excellence to the squad that he plays for. With a decent showdown in the previous BBL, he can very well be in the queue of establishing himself as a significant moniker for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He is not someone who is known for turning the tables upside down but he is known for getting the job done and what else do you need from a cricketer?
#4 Imran Tahir
Hailing all the way at a ripe age of 42 years, Imran Tahir is still going strong and will most likely be starring in a couple of matches for Chennai Super Kings. The South African leg-spinner has managed to claim 82 scalps until now in India’s franchise extravaganza. This will most likely be his last song given the glut of youngsters who will soon be swarming over in the next edition of the tournament.
#5 MS Dhoni
Another last dance that Indians patiently await is of their favourite captain cum legend, MS Dhoni. The hard-hitting wicket-keeper is already 40 years old and has evidently run out of breath on a couple of occasions in the ongoing and the preceding edition of the tournament. Though he is no longer the formidable cricketer that his team once took pride in but even his scarred remains are as deadly as he was in the 22 yards.
