Famous Indian cricketers who settled abroad after leaving India

While competition to move into the Indian national cricket team is immense, not every talented player gets an opportunity. With millions eyeing a spot, even the best of the cricketers often find themselves sidelined. As a result, several former domestic and junior-level stars have left India to pursue their dreams abroad. Notably, some even lifted the U-19 World Cup for India. Today, they represent other teams and play in foreign leagues.

The reasons why these cricketers leave their motherland can't be counted on fingers, but a few prominent reasons include lack of opportunities in India, ignorance by the selectors, familial or personal concerns, and better chances or pay grades while playing abroad. In this article, CricTracker lists down a few of the most famous names who initially started their professional career in India but moved to foreign lands a short while later.

Famous Indian cricketers who settled abroad to play:

8. Agni Chopra (USA):

Agni Chopra, son of renowned filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra and film critic Anupama Chopra, moved to the United States from India to pursue his cricketing dreams. The 26-year-old, who was born in Detroit, grabbed significant eyeballs in the Indian domestic cricket, scoring centuries in each of his first four Ranji Trophy matches for Mizoram and finishing as the leading run-scorer in the 2023–24 Plate Division with 939 runs.

Despite his stellar form, Chopra went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Following this, he chose not to apply for an Indian passport, which would have subjected him to BCCI restrictions. As a US citizen, he became eligible for the 2025 Major League Cricket (MLC) draft and was picked by MI New York for USD 50,000. In the recently concluded MLC season, the left-handed batter featured in two games, scoring 13 runs.