5 Indian origin cricketers who found success in other teams

India as a nation seems to have cricketing genes flowing down family lines. In a country with over a billion people, millions don’t just follow the gentlemen’s game as many even play the sport and at some point had this dream of representing the national team at the highest level. There are tons of good cricketers grinding it out in the domestic arena at various levels in order to get closer to the international ticket.

In recent times due to the stiff competition and limited opportunities, some of the cricketing talent has started migrating to other countries in pursuit of their passion for the sport. Countries like the UAE, Oman, USA, Canada and several others have benefitted from it. On top of that, there are also players of an Indian origin who moved to another country with their parents or otherwise are were brought up there. Among them, a handful has achieved great heights.

Here is the list of Indian origin cricketers who found success in other countries:

1. Nasser Hussain – England:

The gritty, right-hander was one of those batsmen who made it to the top level with his sheer hard work. Nasser Hussain was not born talented but he was extremely focused whenever he took on the field. He is often considered the England captain who laid the base for their cricket to flourish in the modern era. After taking over the role from Alec Stewart in 1999 when the team was really low he guided them to four consecutive Test series victories.

Nasser has always earned praise for his leadership qualities as even the great, Sachin Tendulkar considers him as an excellent strategist. Apart from his captaincy, he has scored more than 8000 international runs. During his playing days, he was solid against quality spinners and it might have been because of his birth in the land of spin, Chennai.

He shares a special bond with Chennai as he spent the initial 7 years of his childhood in the southern state of India. He was born in a hospital close to the Chepauk stadium. In the 80’s Naseer played club cricket for Tamil Nadu as a part of MCC (Madras Club Cricket). Now he is a popular voice in the commentary box and he is also an honorary member of the MCC.

2. Hashim Amla – South Africa:

In the last couple of years, Hashim Amla has been a pale shadow of himself with fewer big scores and Man of the Match awards in his hands. Even in the 2019 World Cup, the senior statesman was not able to stamp his class but there is no denying that he was the pillar of their batting order in his heydays. Amla will go down as a legend of the Proteas as he has piled over 18000 runs across formats which includes 55 tons.

The Mighty Hash also made history when he became South Africa’s first permanent non-white Test captain. He led the side to a Test series victory in Sri Lanka after 21 years. A particular record which Amla will be proud of is his Test heroics in India where he averages 63, higher than his home turf. His rubbery wrists have allowed him to spread his magic in a country where he shares deep roots.

Very few people know that Hashim belongs to a Muslim family that migrated to the African nation from Surat, Gujarat. His grandparents used to live in the Haripura area of Surat. According to a Gujarati news channel, Amla’s family still owns an ancestral home in Gujarat but he has not personally visited the place.

3. Jeet Raval – New Zealand:

The New Zealand team has always found it difficult to carve out a quality Test opener but of late Jeet Raval has been the permanent fit for them. The left-hander has shown enough promise in the limited opportunities he has been presented. He made his debut against Pakistan and scored a patient half-century on a seaming Hagley Oval track. So far, he has played 18 matches and has scored over 1000 runs.

He plays for the New Zealand domestic side Auckland and there his teammates call him Rahul Dravid because of his intensity to bat for long hours. Due to his watertight technique, Raval has been successful in his red ball expedition. The left-hander also idolizes the former Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly. It came as no surprise as he was born and brought up in India.

As a teenager, Raval represented Gujarat at the U-15 and U-17 levels. He has also shared the dressing room with players like Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ajinkya Rahane. At the age of 16 Raval moved to New Zealand with his family and the decision turned out to be a good one. He is still good friends with some of the Indian players but has not visited his hometown Ahmedabad in 14 years.

4. Muttiah Muralitharan – Sri Lanka:

The former Sri Lankan great will be remembered as the best off-spinner to have played the gentlemen’s game. Muttiah Muralitharan single-handedly won a lot of matches for the island nation. He scalped 1347 international wickets which is jaw-dropping. He is a cricketer who proved his mettle in tough situations and against the best of the oppositions. Even when the world cornered him for his action, Murali shut his critics with performances on the field.

The offie was a nightmare for the best of the batting teams and in Test cricket, he scaled the Mount 800. Muralitharan was one of the tweakers who introduced variations in the art of spin bowling and used it effectively against oppositions. He often deceived the Indian cricketers who are considered to be good players of spin. His success against India might have also come because of his special connection with the country.

Murali’s family is based in Chennai. His grandparents migrated to Sri Lanka in search of work but they returned after some years but his father stayed back. The cricketer also married a Chennai native, Madhimalar Ramamurthy. The history of the game would have been completely different if his father had made the alternative choice.

5. Ravi Rampaul – West Indies:

Over the years the Caribbean land has produced some of the best fast-bowling exponents but one gem which never got enough scope to shine was Ravi Rampaul. The speedster made his debut at the age of 19 on the back of his immense potential. In his early days, Rampaul failed to deliver on the promise but as his career progressed he became a star performer for the West Indies. He took more than 160 international wickets in his career.

Ravi had the unique ability to swing the ball at 90mph and unlike other pacers, he loved to bowl on sub-continent pitches. After all, he was the first pacer of Indian descent to represent the West Indies. The speedster also scalped his maiden fifer against India in the 2011 World Cup. He was supposed to be a shining star for the team but frequent niggles brought his international career to a standstill.

Rampaul is one of the many Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagian players who have donned the maroon jersey. His ancestors belong to the Asian country and relocated to the Caribbean islands in search of better employment opportunities. A couple of years ago Rampaul launched a cricket clinic in the honour of his grandfather, Seecharan Bhajan which is a common Indian name.