There are a lot of players who have been very consistent in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but when they have been picked to play for their respective national teams, they have not been able to produce the results as consistently as they have done in the IPL.
So many players fall in this category that we can have an all-time IPL XI of the players who did reasonably well in the IPL but couldn’t do as well in international cricket as they should have.
Here is that all-time IPL XI –
#1 Openers (Chris Lynn and Dwayne Smith):
Chris Lynn might still be somewhere in the plans of the Australian selectors in white-ball cricket, but there is hardly any possibility of Dwayne Smith playing for West Indies again.
Both of them have been really fruitful playing in the IPL. While Lynn has done a great job for KKR, Smith has has put on some wonderful performances for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
But, neither Lynn not Smith has managed to make as much of an impact opening the batting for their national sides as they have done in the IPL.
#2 Middle Order (Parthiv Patel, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Albie Morkel):
Parthiv Patel made his India debut way back in 2002, but he never managed to cement his place in the Indian side.
Same goes to Uthappa who debuted a few years after Parthiv and might have retained his place in the Indian squad for a brief period, but once he lost his form after the 2007-08 season, he could never establish himself in the Indian squad again. However, both Parthiv and Uthappa have been very useful contributors for their IPL franchises.
Yusuf Pathan has been a part of two world cup winning squads of India, but he individually wasn’t able to do as much in international cricket as he would have liked to. However, he has an amazing record playing for KKR.
Albie Morkel, who won two IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings, has also got the IPL record to boast of, but he couldn’t do justice to his talent when he got the opportunity to play for South Africa.
#3 All-rounders (Chris Morris, Axar Patel):
Both Morris and Axar have been in and out of their respective national sides, however they still get consistent game time in the IPL.
Axar was actually picked in the Indian team on the basis of his IPL performances only, but he couldn’t replicate his IPL form in international cricket.
Morris has also got the rewards of his IPL performances with national call-ups from time to time, but he has mostly not been at his best while representing South Africa.
#Bowlers (Piyush Chawla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohit Sharma):
Piyush Chawla, like Yusuf Pathan, was also a part of the World Cup winning squads of India, but he didn’t have a huge part to play in those triumphs individually.
Considering the potential Chawla has and the way he has performed in the IPL over the years, he would be a little disappointed with how his international career panned out.
Mohit Sharma was an integral part of the CSK set-up for a decent period of time, but he couldn’t really retain his spot in the Indian squad for a long duration.
Dhawal Kukarni is a similar case who has been there in the IPL for many, many years, but his international career doesn’t reflect his true potential.
