5 players who have won the IPL trophy in least appearances

1) Azharuddin Bilakhia – 7 games

The 2009 IPL will always hold a special place in the tournament’s history. For the simple reason, that season helped the league grow globally. After shifting its base to South Africa, the tournament was in murky waters at first, but as usual, the exhilarating on-field action made up for all the off-field issues. And in the end, the league crowned its second champion in the form of Deccan Chargers.

In that season, it was Adam Gilchrist‘s tactical genius, which proved to be the biggest strength of the team. He backed some unknown commodities of the Indian domestic circuit without even looking at their track record. One of them was Baroda’s Azharuddin Bilakhia. Not a big name by any stretch, but a string of good scores in the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy earned him a contract with the Chargers. From there on, the right-hander lived some of his biggest cricketing moments.

He played as many as six games alongside the likes of VVS Laxman, Herschelle Gibbs, and Gilchrist. On top of that, he also lifted the IPL trophy, being part of the playing XI in the final. Though he scored only six runs in the tie, it was crucial for the team as they won the game with that much margin. After that, he played only one game in the 2010 season and retired from the game soon. However, now he holds a unique record of lifting the IPL trophy with the least appearances in the league.