5 Top Cricketers Who Are Unlikely To Experience IPL In Their Career

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a platform open to players of almost all countries. Such has been the impact of the extravaganza that several cricketers have found popularity alongside hefty bucks at the same time. The exposure that they received being part of the tournament is truly enormous. The chance to share the dressing room with the stalwarts of the game is indeed an enriching experience.

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However, there do exist some cricketers who stand an improbable chance to bag a million-dollar IPL contract. Such players are not believed to have incorporated the T20 style of gameplay, which has been trending ever since the inception of the IPL. Some of the top athletes have also opted out of T20 cricket, which further makes it challenging for them to get an IPL contract.

We take a look at five top cricketers who stand an unlikely chance of snapping an IPL contract:

Joe Root:

Joe Root will go down as one of the best Test batsmen produced by England. As far as ODI cricket goes, Joe Root consistently scores at more than run a ball, maintaining a strike rate of 87.40. When it comes to T20 cricket, the 29-year old is a handy batsman but falls short in front of the abilities that contemporary T20 batsmen possess.

The English Test captain has not played a T20 international since May 2019. In 72 T20s, Root has a strike rate of 125.69 and averages 30.54. He entered the IPL auction in 2018 for the first time but went unsold. With the Yorkshire batsman falling out of England’s T20 plans, his chances of bagging a million-dollar IPL contract looks bleak.

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Stuart Broad:

England senior paceman Stuart Broad, who recently crossed 500 Test wickets, is another Englishman on this list. It was through the T20 format that Stuart Broad shot into the limelight as Yuvraj Singh carted him for six sixes in an over in Durban in 2007. However, the Nottinghamshire bowler put those behind to become one of the prolific wicket-takers.

As far as IPL goes, the 34-year old was part of Kings XI Punjab in 2009 but could not play the edition due to injury. Even though he is the highest wicket-taker in T20s for England, Broad has not played in the shortest format since 2014. He has confined himself to only Test cricket that makes it highly unlikely for the former English T20 skipper to bag an IPL contract.

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Mahmudullah Riyad:

Mahmudullah Riyad is one of the senior Bangladesh cricketers across formats and is their T20 skipper. Mahmudullah Riyad is also level-headed and a responsible cricketer with credible finishing abilities and off-spin bowling capable of breaking stubborn partnerships. He took over the T20 captaincy in 2018.

Despite featuring in 87 T20Is and 214 T20s, the 34-year old’s striker rate has only touched the 120-mark. At present, most finishers like MS Dhoni, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, and Jos Buttler have strike rates of more than 140. Hence, it looks unlikely for him to bag an IPL contract.

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Mushfiqur Rahim:

Bangladesh keeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim is arguably amongst the top-notch batsman produced by the nation. Mushfiqur Rahim is their highest run-getter in Tests and fourth-highest in ODIs and T20Is. While his averages are in the mid-30s in Tests and ODIs, Rahim averages 20 and 28 in T20Is and T20s respectively.

In nearly 300 games in domestic and international short-format matches, the 33-year old has only 29 fifties. Rahim’s T20 strike rate is also only 130, which does not look sufficient enough for IPL. Unless the gloveman raises his power-hitting abilities, he is unlikely to snap an IPL contract.

Babar Azam:

Pakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam is the number one ranked T20 batsman and has held the position since more than a year now. In 38 T20Is, Babar Azam averages a daunting 50.72 and scored 13 half-centuries so far. The 25-year old has equally also excelled in various conditions, whether in seaming or spinning decks.

The elegant and prolific right-handed batsman will unequivocally be an invaluable addition in the IPL. However, since Pakistan players are not allowed in the extravaganza, he would not ply his trade for any of the franchises. The same is not going to change any time soon either.

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