Three successful international players who just played a single season in the IPL

The slam-bang cricket first came into the limelight when T20 WC was played in the year of 2007. As the tournament progressed the impetus and charm of the new form also increased exponentially. In India, the popularity of the format went through the roof when the Men in Blue reached the podium by beating the arch-rivals Pakistan in a nail-biting finale. By the end of this carnival fans rooted for more of the same action and with that the advent of T20 leagues began around the globe and IPL was one of them.

The bandwagon of Indian Premier League started in the year 2008 with 8 teams consisting of rookies, pros, and legends from around the world, playing the game and sharing dressing rooms together. The league became an overnight success story as it received the cult following from the first match itself and the audience adored this fast-paced curriculum. Last year the IPL completed 11 years of coursework with its share of rights and wrongs along the trail. Now it is time for the 12th chapter of this fairytale.

During all these years many overseas players had the opportunity to be a part of this new Indian festival and each of them has a success story of their own. Most of the time established players have multiple stints with the franchise but there are some names who were successful international players but they didn’t have a second stint in the IPL.

The following are three successful overseas players who just played a single season of IPL:

Andrew Flintoff

The Three Lions have been lucky in getting the services of some great all-rounders throughout their cricketing history and the names in that list include Trevor Bailey, Sir Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, and Ben Stokes for now. Popularly known as Freddie, Flintoff was a game-changer for England and his heroics in the 2005 Ashes are part of cricket folklore. Flintoff had raw pace and hard-hitting abilities which is the primary requirement for T20 cricket.

He wasn’t picked in the inaugural edition of IPL due to his frequent breakdowns but played in the 2nd edition for CSK. Flintoff played only 3 games and he generated good numbers, but unfortunately, he got injured in a match against DD and after his rehabilitation, he decided to retire from all forms in 2010. Though he had average numbers in T20Is he would have tasted success in IPL with his abilities but sometimes stars don’t align properly.

Shane Bond

New Zealand has produced some great fast bowlers and one of them is Shane Bond. He had the ability to generate sheer pace on dead wickets and he never lacked this ability even after several injuries plagued his career. Shane was nicknamed as James Bond-007, as he hunted the batsmen like the Ian Fleming character used to hunt down his enemies and his second best bowling strike rate in Test history is a proof of it.

Shane Bond used to bowl searing yorkers, an asset in white ball cricket and by using it he terrorized his Aussie counterparts as he had the best figures against them. Bond played a handful of T20I but had moderate success due to his start-stop cricketing journey. Still, he was picked up by KKR in the 3rd season and played 8 matches in which he scalped 9 wickets but he decided to hang his boots in late 2010 and after that, he took up the coaching role with MI.

Mashrafe Mortaza

If anybody remembers India’s disastrous 2007 50 overs-WC campaign then no Indian fan can forget the spell of 4/38 by the current Bangladesh ODI skipper, Mashrafe Mortaza. He was the first genuine fast bowler from the land of rivers as he clocked 135kmph regularly. In his initial years Mashrafe used to be a strike bowler for the Tigers but as years went by he became a stock bowler who will keep one of the ends tight.

Mortaza had to hang his boots in the classic format in 2009 due to frequent back injuries but he is still playing white ball cricket. In 2009 Mortaza donning the black and golden jersey represented KKR against Deccan Chargers but as fate would have it he bowled the most expensive spell of that season conceding 58 runs in 4 overs without taking any wickets. After that, he never played in any IPL match but one can say he was not provided enough opportunities to flourish as he is a good exponent of fast bowling.

Sometimes it is hard on foreign players to not get picked after a couple of failures. It is inevitable that overseas stars will get limited opportunities as only 4 of them are allowed in the playing XI but the league stands out as new talents emerge every season.

~Written by Kiran Kumar

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