Indian-Origin cricketers who played for other countries

India is a country with a population of 1.3 billion. It means that every 8th guy in the entire world is an Indian. This is the reason why Indians are found in every continent. Indians haven’t stood back in representing other countries in cricket either. There has been a history of some amazing foreign cricketers of Indian origin. Too bad they didn’t represent their own country? We have seen some amazing Indian-origin cricketers do wonders in international cricket. In the article, let’s form the best Indian-Origin cricketers who played for other countries: 1. Hashim Amla Hashim Amla. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images) When you look at Hashim Amla, you instantly get that he’s somewhere from the subcontinent. Of course, he’s an Indian-origin cricketer. His father belonged to Suraj, Gujarat before settling in Durban where Hashim was born and raised. He debuted at the age of 21, that too against the Indian team at Eden Gardens. He became a regular part of the team in 2006 and ever since, he scored runs almost everywhere. In fact, he would always be breaking records in terms of being the fastest to reach certain milestones like 3K, 4K, 5K runs in ODI cricket. During the last few years of his career, his form kind of died down completely. He still managed to score 9K+ runs in Test cricket and 8K+ runs in ODIs. Had he continued his amazing form in the late 2010s, it wasn’t impossible for him to be on the list of all-time greats. 2. Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images) The former captain of the English side is also of Indian origin. He was born in India itself, hailing from Madras. His father was a Tamil-speaking Muslim and the entire family left for England when Nasser was just seven. Nasser Hussain made his debut in 1989 in an ODI match against Pakistan. He didn’t have to wait much for his Test debut either as he made his first appearance in the longest format one year later. Nasser Hussain continued playing for 15 years to follow his debut in international cricket. He also led the English side for a couple of years. Having played 96 tests, he was one of the most successful batsmen of England in their entire cricketing history. But how many of you knew he was born in India only? 3. Ramnaresh Sarwan ST JOHN’S, ANTIGUA – MAY 12: Ramnaresh Sarwan of the West Indies. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images) Ramnaresh Sarwan has played so many good innings against India that it’s difficult to understand he had an Indian origin. Jokes aside, he was, in fact, a Hindu, as suggested by his surname too. There isn’t much about how he got to Guyana or anything about his family. Sarwan was one of the few cricketers to have done well in both formats in that particular era. He scored close to 6K runs in both formats. He was the backbone of the West Indian team for a long time. Sarwan had captained his side for a couple of years as well. He wasn’t picked in the West Indian setup after 2013. It was only in 2016 when he decided to hang his boots but he had already made huge achievements in his career. 4. Shivnarine Chanderpaul Shivnarine Chanderpaul. (Photo Source: Twitter) Shivnarine Chanderpaul was born and brought up in Unity village of Guyana. Even his father had seen much of his life in Guyana itself. But his ancestors belonged to India before they were sent to the West Indies because of the labour system in place. He made his debut in 1994 and his career lasted a whopping 21 years. Too bad, not many people talk about it? He played 164 Tests in his career, the 5th most along with the Indian legend Rahul Dravid. He was one of the highest run-getters in the entire world and the second-highest for the West Indies. Although his Test run was marvelous, he was pretty good in the ODIs as well. He scored 8,778 runs at an impressive average of 41.60, making it a tally of more than 20k+ runs combined in both formats. 5. Ravi Bopara Ravi Bopara. (Source - Twitter/X) Ravi Bopara belongs to a Sikh family. He was born and brought up in England itself, having done his schooling from Brampton Manor school. He represented Essex Boys and Girls Club during his U14 days. Ravi Bopara got his first chance in the international side in early 2007 against Australia. He instantly got rewarded with a spot in the world cup team that year. In one of the matches against Sri Lanka, he won the man of the match award for his performance where he scored a fluent half-century. Ravi Bopara had a pretty good career although it didn’t last very long. He was one of the very few English cricketers to have scored three consecutive centuries in the longest format. He still continues to play in franchise leagues and provides a very good hand with both bat as well as ball. 6. Samit Patel Samit Patel. (Photo Source: Twitter) The Indian-origin all-rounder Samit Patel currently plays first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Patel marked his debut for the English team in August 2008 but had to face omission owing to dissatisfactory fitness levels. He later went on to mark his comeback for the country in 2011 and entered the purest format of the game in 2012. So far, he has been part of six Tests, 36 ODIs, and 231 first-class matches. Patel has been part of various T20 leagues (PSL, LPL, BBL) across the globe and played last for England in 2015. He could have enjoyed a longer stint with the English team but his dismal fitness standards marred his international tenure. 7. Sunil Narine Sunil Narine. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Sunil Narine has been defined as a mystery spinner for a long time. Some of the players haven’t been able to solve his mystery till now. Go ask MS Dhoni who scored his first boundary against the Trinidadian bowler only in IPL 2021, that too off an edge. Narine, just like several of his mates in the West Indian team, has an Indian origin. His wife is of Indian descent as well. There hasn’t been much said about it in the media but Narine himself has claimed it in a couple of interviews. The mystery spinner hasn’t played much international cricket but is probably a legend in franchise cricket. He has made his mark as a T20 bowler, having made a lot of destructive batsmen his bunny. He keeps getting checked regarding his action though which is a matter of concern. 8. Ravi Rampaul JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JANUARY 20: Ravi Rampaul. (Photo by Duif du Toit/Gallo Images/Getty Images) This cricketer has represented Trinidad & Tobago in youth cricket. He is of Indian origin just like the other names on this list. His ancestors were from Punjab while he was born and brought up in England. Ravi Rampaul’s career-defining performance came in World Cup 2011 against India. He took five wickets in the match which also included the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. Other than that, he has had a pretty good ODI career. In Test cricket, he could play only 18 matches with no five-wicket haul at all. He did well as a batsman too with the highest score of 86 not out. When we are making an XI out of players of Indian origin, this guy has to find the list in all cases. 9. Ish Sodhi Ish Sodhi. (Photo Source: GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) Here’s one spinner who has been doing pretty good recently. Although not talked about often, Ish Sodhi has had a great run in T20Is. In 57 T20Is he has played till now, he has picked up 73 wickets at an average of 21. Not many people would know that Ish Sodhi was born in India itself. While other players on this list were born outside India, Sodhi spent three years of his life in the subcontinent itself. It was 1996 when his family decided to move to New Zealand and he’s been living there ever since. Ish Sodhi has represented New Zealand across formats. While he hasn’t had a great start to his Test career, he’s been pretty decent in ODIs. He is a great wicket-taking option in T20Is with all his variations. 10. Stuart Clark Stuart Clark. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) Stuart Clark didn’t have a very long career. But in the time he played for Australia, he had an extremely efficient run as a fast bowler. He pursued cricket very late in his career as he was a real estate agent before deciding to go full-time as a cricketer. He debuted at the age of 30 and lasted about four years in international cricket. During this period, he was shy of just six wickets from a hundred in Tests. Had he started a bit earlier in his career, he could have competed with any great fast bowler coming from Australia in terms of stat, he was that very consistent. Clark’s father was born and brought up in Chennai and his mother has an Indian origin as well. He makes a perfect pair with Rampaul as the duo of pacers in this playing XI. With the bounce that he used to extract out of the pitch, it’s easy to say that he would trouble any batsman from the world on his given day. 11. Muttiah Muralitharan Muttiah Muralitharan. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images) Shocked to see this name on the list? Well, it’s time for you to get to know something fresh, something different. Muttiah Muralitharan’s paternal grandfather came from South India to Sri Lanka back in the 1920s to work in the tea plantations and his family has settled there ever since. We can comfortably say that Muttiah Muralitharan was the best spinner of all time. His record proves why he’s regarded as a legendary spinner. He picked up 800 wickets in Test cricket itself, a record which seems pretty difficult to be broken. His amazing Test run coincided with fantastic numbers in ODIs as well. He picked up 534 wickets in the shorter format as well. He’s no doubt a living legend and an asset to this Indian origin playing XI!

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Indian-Origin cricketers who played for other countries

We have seen some amazing Indian-origin cricketers do wonders in international cricket.

11. Muttiah Muralitharan

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