5 Cricketers who featured in IPL before playing for India

The IPL, since its inception, is known to unearth talented players by providing them opportunities to compete with and against the best in the world. Almost every budding cricketer in the world dreams of getting picked in the IPL auction. And yearns for an opportunity to showcase his talent on the biggest stage of T20 cricket.

With the policy of a minimum of 7 Indians in the eleven, Indian cricket has been the utmost beneficiary of this tournament, colossal incoming money aside. It wouldn’t be wrong to confer that in the last few years, the selection in limited-overs cricket has been influenced by the performances of the player in the IPL. There are several successful cricketers in international cricket who are a by-product of the cash-rich league.

Here we bring you five players who played in the IPL before playing for India:

Ravindra Jadeja

Shane Warne was the first person to call Ravindra Jadeja a ‘Rockstar’. He recognized the special talent in him, which we witness in every game nowadays. Rajasthan Royals picked Jadeja, who was part of India’s Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2008, in the inaugural IPL season. With an average of about 20 and a strike rate of 131, he played the pinch hitter’s role in Rajasthan’s title-winning campaign. A year later the all-rounder was called up to ODI and T20I squads against Sri Lanka.

Jadeja couldn’t make a mark in his initial years in the international circuit. However, his move to Chennai Super Kings proved to be the turning point in his career. Under captain MS Dhoni, he blossomed in all three departments and cemented his place in the national team. His pairing with Ravi Ashwin in Test cricket has made India an indomitable force in home conditions.

The southpaw took 43 wickets in 2016 and 54 wickets in 2017, making him the number one Test bowler. His accuracy with the ball and lightning heroics in the field was always his strong suits, but in the last couple of years he has improved his batting as well; making the all-rounder an indispensable player.

With the performances with the bat in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand and in the recent Test series against South Africa, the 30-year-old has shown his ability to bat in different gears and adapt to the situation. ‘Sir’ Jadeja has become an all-format player for India.