CT IPL Flashback: 5 Players you didn't know played in the IPL

For close to a decade, the international stars of the cricket world have been coming together under one umbrella known as the Indian Premier League (IPL) to exhibit some of the best brand of cricket. The young Indian domestic players get the opportunity to rub shoulders with these greats of the game. The four overseas players turning up for each franchise, along with Indian international names, in every single match manage to hog most of the limelight. Some of the international players are known by the franchise that they play for. The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were known as the Chennai Super Kings products. On the other hand, there are franchises that are known by the players that they have. Lasith Malinga has made Mumbai Indians his own ever since the tournament inception. Similarly, the batting duo of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller have been popularizing the Kings XI Punjab with their stellar show back in the 2014 edition. While most of the international stars manage to etch their names in the tournament history books, there are some big names that fail to make an impact or get lost in oblivion in the plethora of action. This happens to such an extent that at times we wonder whether a particular player has even played the IPL or not. Here we have 5 such players you didn’t know played in the Indian Premier League: 1. Shane Bond – Kolkata Knight Riders (Photo Source: BCCI) The dashing right arm pacer from New Zealand is often regarded as the premier pace bowler from New Zealand after Richard Hadlee. Bond’s career was plagued with injuries and that curtailed a very promising talent to great extents. However, his guile, precision and pace remains unmatched. He was one of the most impressive bowlers of his era and no wonder why the IPL franchises were keen on roping in his services. Bond played in the 2010 edition of the IPL and had turned up for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Currently, he is working in the capacity of the Mumbai Indians bowling coach since the last couple of seasons. In the 8 IPL matches that he played, he scalped 9 wickets with best figures of 2/24. He bowled with an economy of 7.23 and averaged 24.89 with the ball. His tournament debut came against the Chennai Super Kings where he had gone wicketless. His best figures of 2/24 came in his last IPL match against Mumbai Indians in the same season of 2010. 2. Darren Lehmann – Rajasthan Royals Darren Lehmann. (Photo by Matthew Lewis-IPL 2010/IPL via Getty Images) The current coach of the Australian cricket team, Darren Lehmann, was a part of the victorious Rajasthan Royals roster in the inaugural edition of the tournament. The southpaw who was capable of using the long handle in the lower middle order played just 2 matches in his short stint in the premier T20 league. Shane Warne, the skipper of the Royals’ camp in 2008, had showed faith in his Australian teammate in the tournament. Lehmann made his debut against the Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla on April 19, 2008. He played his second and the last fixture in the very next game for the Royals against the Kings XI Punjab at Jaipur. In the 2 matches that he played, he scored 18 runs with a top score of 17 and averaged 9 with the bat. For the love of the fans, it would only have been fitting had Lehmann played in a few more fixtures than what he did in the league. 3. Shahid Afridi – Deccan Chargers (Photo Source: BCCI) When the Deccan Chargers had bagged Shahid Afridi in the inaugural auctions of the tournament, a lot of hype was built around this powerpacked player. Afridi was one of the biggest names at the auctions and that comes as no surprise given the hitting ability that this veteran batsman has in the shortest format. He made his IPL debut against the Delhi Daredevils at Hyderabad in the 2008 edition. He went on to play 10 matches in the season, with his last game being against the Chennai Super Kings at the very same home venue. He couldn’t impress as much as his team had expected though. He could muster just 81 runs in 9 innings with a top score of 33 and a low average of 10.12. In the bowling department, he had 9 wickets to show in 10 matches with a best of 3/28. His career in the tournament saw a rather sad end as Pakistani players were not allowed to participate in the following editions. His stint was similar to that of several other Pakistani stars who participated in the 2008 edition – Sohail Tanvir, Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt, to name a few. 4. Wasim Jaffer – Royal Challengers Bangalore Wasim Jaffer. (Photo by Santosh Harhare/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) Wasim Jaffer is one of the most technically sound batsmen to have ever played for India in the longest format of the game. The Mumbai batsman has amassed over 10000 runs in the First Class matches. His numbers are staggering in the long formats. Perhaps this was the reason why the teams were apprehensive about his participation in the T20 league. Jaffer was a part of the IPL for the first two seasons. He played 8 matches across the 2008 and 2009 editions of the tournament for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was a part of the inaugural IPL match against the Kolkata Knight Riders. In the 8 matches that he played, he scored 130 runs with a fifty to his name. He averaged just 16.25 in the tournament. It was perhaps the conventional style of play of Wasim Jaffer that brought a premature end to the T20 league career of such a fine batsman. Since then he led the Mumbai team to title triumphs in the Ranji Trophies and then represented Vidarbha in the domestic circuit. 5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul – Royal Challengers Bangalore Shivnarine Chanderpaul. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images) Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s name goes down as one of the most consistent and finest batsmen from the Caribbean Islands in the modern era. Chanderpaul has featured in 164 Tests and 268 ODIs for the West Indies side in the international scene. Many people might not know that the unique-stanced southpaw has featured in 3 IPL matches too. Chanderpaul played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2008 edition of the IPL. He played 3 matches and had 25 runs accumulated under his name. He averaged as low as 8.33 and had a top score of 16. His debut came against the Mumbai Indians where he turned up at number 3 in the match. His last game in the tournament was against the Kolkata Knight Riders where he was promoted to open the innings but failed to impress. He was subsequently left out of the playing eleven in the matches that followed for the RCB.

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CT IPL Flashback: 5 Players you didn't know played in the IPL

5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul – Royal Challengers Bangalore

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