Over the years, the Indian Premier League has only become bigger and better. It is one of the best tournaments around the world as not just gives a platform to the cricketers to showcase their talent but also reward them with whopping prize money. Over these years, the quality of the cricketers has also improved.
There are so many cricketers who have become the face of their franchises, for example, MS Dhoni for CSK, Rohit Sharma for Mumbai Indians, and Virat Kohli for RCB. However, there have been a few players who we never knew were a part of the teams and went unnoticed.
Here, we bring you a list of cricketers who we never knew were part of these IPL franchises, have a look:
Michael Klinger:
The veteran Australian cricketer, Michael Klinger, who has played first-class cricket for nearly two decades. However, even after showing so much talent in the domestic circuit, he never got the chance to represent his country at the international level for so long. He only featured in 3 T20Is against Sri Lanka in February 2017.
However, in 2011, Michael was bought for a whopping $75,000 by Kochi Tuskers Kerala (TSK) in the Indian Premier League, where he played four games for the team. In all the four games he played for his team, he opened the innings and scored 73 runs in total. However, after the franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala (TSK) left the IPL, Michael was never given an opportunity again.
James Faulkner:
It was in the year 2011 when James was roped in as an injury-replacement for Angelo Mathews and joined Pune Warriors India (PWI). In fact, he played one game against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) by the end of the season and returned with the figures of 1/9 the two overs he bowled.
In the following season, he was bought for $190,000 by Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). However, he only played a couple of games, where he got to bowl 4 overs and conceded runs at an economy of 9 and picked up 3 wickets. However, he never got an opportunity to show his talent with the bat.
Nuwan Kulasekara:
The Sri Lankan pacer, Nuwan Kulasekara was bought by Chennai Super Kings for his base price of $100,000, where he got to play only one game. During the only game he played, he picked up 1/26 from 3 overs he bowled. However, he played 5 games in the next season, where he picked 4 wickets.
During the 2011 and 2012 seasons, he played a total of 6 games for CSK however, he never featured in any IPL team after that.
Albie Morkel:
Albie Morkel was an important part of the Chennai Super Kings in the initial years. However, in 2013 edition of IPL he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore at a price of INR 2.4 crore but he played 7 games. Therefore, he was released after playing only season.
In 2015, he was bought by Delhi Daredevils, where he played four games and smashed an unbeaten 73 against CSK. In 2016, he played two games for Rising Pune Supergiants. However, after that season, he was never given any opportunity in IPL.
Mark Boucher:
For the initial first three seasons of IPL, Mark played a significant role in Royal Challengers Bangalore setup. Across three seasons, Mark played 27 games, where he used to bat at no. 6 and 7 and was called the team’s finisher.
However, he was replaced by Tim Paine. Later after the 2011 World Cup, he injured his middle finger, which didn’t heal properly. This was the last time when he featured in an IPL season.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul:
Shivnarine is someone who is not known for his T20 game, however, he was there in IPL representing RCB during 2008’s edition of the Indian Premier League. He played 3 games, where he scored only 25 runs in 3 innings, with a strike-rate of 80.65. However, these runs didn’t come together and were scattered across the entire tournament. This was the reason, he never picked by any franchise again.
Damien Martyn:
One of the key players of the Australian cricket team through the late 1990s and early 2000s, Damien has represented Rajasthan Royals in 2010. He was picked at his base price of $100,000. He made his debut for Rajasthan Royals in the 10th game of the 2010 edition of the IPL in a match against IPL, where he made 19 runs off 24 balls, batting at number 3. That was his first and last IPL game.
Tim Paine:
Ever since Tim Paine became the skipper of Australia’s test team, he has not played in the shortest format of the game. It was in the year 2011 when he bought by Pune Warriors India for a sum of $270,000. During that season, he played a couple of game, however, failed to make an impact. He only scored 10 runs in 2 games he played. Later, in 2012, he was ruled out of the season because of an injury and was released in the 2013 edition of IPL. Since then, he never featured in any IPL season.
Steve Smith:
Well, it will come out as a surprise for many, Steve Smith was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalored during the 2010 edition of the IPL. However, he only featured in a single IPL game for RCB and a couple of years later, he represented Pune Warriors India, where he played for a couple of seasons before finally moving to Rajasthan Royals.
Shreyas Gopal:
For the last couple of seasons, Shreyas has become one of the key players for the Rajasthan Royals. He has done very well for the team. However, Shreyas started his IPL career with Mumbai Indians.
He was picked by Mumbai Indians in 2014 auctions at his base price of INR 10 lakhs, where he played 4 games and impressed everyone with his performance. However, he was benched in the entire 2017 season after going unnoticed in 2015 and 2016. He shifted to Rajasthan Royals in 2018 and was given a lot more opportunities.
