5 Overseas players who can come back to national side with good show in IPL 2022

Apart from being a great platform for Indian talents, the Indian Premier League has provided an opportunity for overseas players to kick-start their careers or the experienced cricketers to revive their careers to make a comeback to the national side.  The national selectors of different nations have a keen eye on the performances of the players in the IPL.

The players like Mitchell Johnson and Chris Gayle were dropped from their respective sides in the early part of the last decade. But their impressive performances in the IPL provided them a permanent place on the national side, and also helped their respective sides to win the coveted ICC tournaments as well. Also, the pace sensation Jofra Archer earned a national call-up after doing well in the 2018 edition.

 5 Overseas players who can come back to their national team with IPL’s performance

1. Shimron Hetmyer

The quality middle-order T20 player has been terrific with his hitting abilities to provide a late flourish to his respective teams. But, Hetmyer has been failing fitness tests on a consistent basis for the last couple of years and is not yet a permanent fixture of the Windies team in the limited-overs format.

However, Hetmyer has done well for the Windies team in ODI with 1447 runs in 47 matches and has 666 runs in 42 T20I appearances. In the last three editions of the Indian Premier League, he served as the backbone of the Delhi Capitals batting unit and was one of the key reasons to seal the playoffs spot.

In the 2022 edition of the tournament, Hetmyer has garnered 67 runs in two appearances at a fantastic strike rate of 248.15 for the Rajasthan Royals team and thereby helping the team to secure victories on both occasions. He is surely the one player to look out for this season, who can come back to their national side.

2. Bhanuka Rajapaksa

The left-handed batter has been an impressive performer in his limited white-ball appearances for the Sri Lanka team. He had a good run in the 2021 World Cup, where he garnered 155 runs in six innings and returned as the third-highest run-scorer on the team. But, he made his last appearance for the Sri Lanka team in the T20 World Cup.

The fitness issues have kept Rajapaksa devoid of donning the Sri Lanka jersey for quite some time. Due to the issues with the Sri Lanka cricket board, he had announced his retirement in January as well but soon made a U-turn after consultation with the sports minister. Although, he was not picked for the Australia and India series as well.

In the ongoing IPL 2022, Rajapaksa has contributed 83 runs in three matches at a strike rate of 230.56 and has provided great starts to the Punjab Kings side. With a fine current form, Rajapaksa is expected to be one of the candidates on this list as well.

3. Riley Meredith

Riley Meredith has been a fantastic performer for the Hobart Hurricanes team in the Big Bash League. With his consistent wicket-taking abilities, Meredith made his T20I debut in March 2021 and soon played a single ODI as well. In five T20I appearances, Meredith has eight wickets to his name but has been rather expensive with an economy of 10.

Meredith was picked up by the Mumbai Indians team for the IPL 2022 for a hefty price and will serve as the third pace-bowling option along with Jasprit Bumrah and Mills. If Mills’ form drops or the team decides to have two overseas pacers, Meredith can be perfect to take wickets in the power-play or the death overs.

In 11 fixtures of the Big Bash League 2021/22, Meredith picked up 16 wickets and is in great form leading up to the IPL as well. He can surely get an opportunity in the Australian T20I team on the virtue of his current form and a great opportunity arriving with IPL 2022 as well.

4. Andrew Tye

The talented right-arm fast bowler from Australia, Andrew Tye has been a steady customer with the ball in the T20 format since his debut in 2016. In the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League, he was selected to play for Gujarat Lions, and soon made headlines after securing a purple cap by taking 24 wickets in 14 matches.

In 32 T20Is, Tye has picked up 47 wickets and has 12 wickets in seven ODI appearances. But he donned the Australian jersey last in August 2021 and was not picked for the T20 World Cup 2021 as well. But his form in the BBL 2021/22 was praiseworthy, where he scalped 25 wickets in 16 matches.

Looking at his current form and the experience in the IPL, he was bought in as a replacement for Mark Wood in the Lucknow Super Giants squad. With a fine performance in the tournament, he will look to make a comeback to the national side.

5. Sherfane Rutherford

The hard-hitting left-handed batter, Sherfane Rutherford featured last for the West Indies team in January 2020 against Ireland, and since then has been dropped from the side. But, he has been a consistent performer in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) for the last few editions.

In the CPL 2021, Rutherford smashed 262 runs in 11 matches at an average of 37.42, with the highest score of 58*, and played a key role in helping St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots to secure their maiden title victory in the history of the tournament. He followed it up by scoring 160 runs for Peshawar Zalmi in nine appearances of PSL 2021/22.

In the IPL 2022, he has started with 28 off 40 balls but stitched an important partnership along with David Willey to secure the first win for the RCB team this season. Going ahead, he will serve as a solid middle-order batter with the capability to play out whole innings and provide lusty blows as well.