Domestic cricket or county cricket is the level of the sport that allows the cricketers to sharpen their skills before becoming star players. The Indian Premier League (IPL) began in the year 2008. The BCCI provided a platform to all players to play for franchises and earn big money.
Generally, the lucrative nature of the game draws many cricketers to this league. Some star players have even preferred IPL over international cricket on a few occasions. On the other side, there have been five cricketers who have preferred domestic cricket over the Indian Premier League. Here’s a look at those five cricketers.
1. Sam Billings
Sam Billings made a name for himself with his good performances for the Delhi Capitals and the Chennai Super Kings. Billings, however, took a break from franchise cricket in the year 2020.
The right-handed batter from England informed the fans via a tweet that he would not play any franchise cricket in that winter. The reason behind that was Billings wished to focus on playing county cricket for Kent. As a result, he did not register himself for IPL that year.
2. One of the Australian star players to feature on this list – Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Starc is one of the top left-arm fast bowlers in the cricket universe at the moment. Starc played a vital role in Australia’s 2015 Cricket World Cup triumph.
The southpaw was an important part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in two seasons. Many fans expected him to play in IPL 2021. However, Starc did not register and later revealed he wanted to play in the Sheffield Shield. Thus, he skipped IPL.
“I wanted to play as much Shield cricket as I could. Managing a few little things with the body and wanting to play as much red-ball cricket as I could with certain guys heading off to the IPL, it was my intention to be the constant in the Shield team and hopefully play role there as a senior head in the team,” Starc had told Cricket.com.au.
3. One of the Australian star players to feature on this list – Justin Langer
Current Australian coach Justin Langer got an IPL contract in the first season. Langer became a part of the Rajasthan Royals team in the inaugural edition.
Unfortunately, Langer did not turn up to play because of a pre-existing deal with Somerset. He missed the IPL that year because of county cricket.
4. Morne Morkel
Another player of the Rajasthan Royals team of 2008 who missed the IPL was Morne Morkel. The South African pacer had a deal with the Yorkshire County that year.
Like Justin Langer, he had a pre-existing deal, which is why he had to miss IPL. Morkel later turned up for RR, KKR and Delhi in the Indian Premier League.
5. Dimitri Mascarenhas
Dimitri Mascarenhas was another member of the Rajasthan Royals squad who had a county deal. He went to play for Hampshire on May 12, 2008.
Mascarenhas could not feature in the final phases of the league due to his county duty. He got to play only one match for the Rajasthan Royals in the first IPL season, where he scored nine runs and took two wickets.
