The Indian Premier League has served as the perfect career launcher for the young cricketers. Many Indian as well as foreign cricketers have took advantage of this tournament to catapult themselves to the next level in cricket. It has become a common sight to see the franchises preferring uncapped players over veterans.
Sometimes, the foreign players who have never played T20I cricket end up doing a good job in the IPL. On the other side, there are also players who fail to impress the team owners. As a result, they fail to earn another contract and soon their career falls off track. On some occasions, a few legends came to play IPL after passing their prime, which is why they could never play T20I cricket.
In this listicle, we will have a look at those ten foreign players who have the IPL experience but they represented their country at the global level in T20Is.
10. Graham Napier
England’s bowling all-rounder Graham Napier earned a deal from the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2009. The Englishman had done well in county cricket.
Napier received his first IPL cap in the 23rd match of IPL 2009 against the Kolkata Knight Riders. In his only IPL game, Napier scored 15 runs and dismissed Morne van Vyk. However, after that match, he never played IPL nor he represented England in T20Is.
9. Dominic Thornely
Another player from the Mumbai Indians team present on this list is the former Australian all-rounder Dominic Thornely. Dominic played for the Mumbai-based franchise in the inaugural IPL season.
The Mumbai Indians included him in their playing XI for six matches, where he scored 39 runs and claimed three wickets. He played his last game against the Deccan Chargers at Hyderabad.
8. Shane Warne
It might surprise a few fans but Shane Warne never played a T20I match for the Australian cricket team. The leg-spinning maestro represented his nation in the game’s shortest format.
Many fans would know Shane Warne led the Rajasthan Royals to the IPL championship in 2008. In all, Warne played 55 IPL matches, picking up 57 wickets for the Royals.
7. Lee Carseldine
The Rajasthan Royals invested their funds in many Australian cricketers, and Lee Carseldine was one of them. The Aussie batting all-rounder played for the Royals in IPL 2009.
Lee made his IPL debut versus the Mumbai Indians at Kingsmead, while his last appearance came against the Deccan Chargers. In the five matches he played, Carseldine scored 81 runs and picked up one wicket.
6. Rob Quiney
Another Australian cricketer who played for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2009 was Rob Quiney. The left-handed batsman featured in seven IPL matches.
Quiney scored one IPL fifty in his brief career. However, he could not represent the Australian cricket team in white-ball cricket. Rob played two Tests for Australia in 2012.
5. Hardus Viljoen
Hardus Viljoen is a right-arm fast bowler from South Africa. Until IPL 2020, Viljoen was a member of the Punjab Kings team in the IPL.
Viljoen played six IPL matches, where he picked up seven wickets. While Hardus has played one Test match for South Africa, he has never represented his country in T20Is.
4. Nathan Rimmington
Yet another uncapped Australian player to appear on this list is the 38-year-old pacer from Queensland, Nathan Rimmington. The right-arm quick played for the Punjab Kings in IPL 2011.
He made his debut against the Pune Warriors team at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy. In his only IPL match, Rimmington scored one run and bowled a spell of 0/19.
3. Aiden Blizzard
Many Mumbai Indians fans would remember Aiden Blizzard because he was the team’s opener during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Blizzard donned the Mumbai jersey seven times in the IPL.
The left-handed opener scored 120 runs at a strike rate of 133.33 for the Mumbai-based franchise. Unfortunately, his inconsistency never allowed him to play international cricket.
2. Davy Jacobs
The Mumbai Indians used many batsmen as Sachin Tendulkar’s opening partner. Australia’s Aiden Blizzard was one of them, and the list even features South Africa’s Davy Jacobs.
The right-handed wicket-keeper batsman played seven games for MI, scoring 92 runs at an average of 13.14. As his strike rate was below 100, the South African star soon lost his place in the team.
1. Darren Lehmann
Darren Lehmann did not play international cricket for Australia after 2005. His last appearance came in an ODI between Australia and Pakistan at SCG.
Three years later, he joined the Rajasthan Royals team. Lehmann played two matches for the inaugural IPL winners in 2008, scoring 18 runs for the franchise.
