India has been home to some of the greatest cricketers of all time. Some great talents have made India proud in the cricketing world with their magnificent performances on the field. The competition is sky high in Indian cricket and not every talented cricketer can earn an opportunity to represent the Indian team.
Also, sometimes the parents move out of India when their child is young. Due to these reasons, the Indian origin cricketers end up playing for other countries and play wonderfully for them. In this article, we will look at the all-time XI of Indian origin cricketers who are playing or played for other countries.
Openers – Hashim Amla and Daren Ganga
Former South African opener Hashim Amla was one of the best batsmen of the previous decade and will open the innings for this Indian origin XI. Daren Ganga will open the innings for him. The cricketer-turned-commentator Ganga had a prolific career for West Indies.
Middle Order – Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Nasser Hussain, Ramnaresh Sarwan
Another Caribbean great to feature on this team is their left-handed defensive batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The former RCB star had a great career for West Indies, where he played several memorable knocks for them in all formats. Ramnaresh Sarwan, his teammate, hails from a Hindu family of Indian descent and his name simply clarifies it. Nasser Hussain, the former England team captain, was born to Raza Jawad ‘Joe’ Hussain, was an Indian Tamil-speaking Muslim. Hussain went on to become one of the best batsmen to don the English jersey.
All-rounders – Sunil Narine and Ravi Bopara
Kolkata Knight Riders star Sunil Narine has publicly called India as his second home because of the love that he receives from the Indian fans. Also, Narine’s roots are of Indian origin just like English all-rounder Ravi Bopara. The former Kings XI Punjab star is a medium pace bowling all-rounder and he could have been a great asset for India had he not moved to England and played for them.
Bowlers – Ravi Rampaul, Monty Panesar, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Stuart Clark
Ravi Rampaul and Stuart Clark will lead the fast bowling attack of the team. While Caribbean star Ravi Rampaul has an Indian connection just like the other names from West Indies on this list, Stuart Clark, the former Aussie fast bowler, has a Chennai connection. He has spoken about that link in some of his interviews.
Monty Panesar, the former English spin bowler, has Indian origin and in a recent interview, he admitted that he understood that the language spoken by Indian players, but acted as if he did not at that time. Muttiah Muralitharan has a south India connection again and he went on to play for neighboring country Sri Lanka besides ending his career with a world record 800 Test wicket.