5 IPL cricketers who have missed out on Team India selection
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a stepping stone for a number of cricketers around the world. The pool of talent that comes out of the T20 league has also helped Indian cricket grow leaps and bounds. It’s also a chance for a number of players to present themselves to the world.
Plenty of cricketers have gone on to represent the Indian team after impressing one and all in the IPL. However, lady luck hasn’t quite smiled on a few players. Despite playing in the high-profile tournament, they couldn’t go on and wear the Indian jersey going ahead.
In the article, we take a look at five IPL players, who couldn’t/haven’t play/played for India: –
Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav made his IPL debut for the Mumbai Indians (MI) back in 2012, but he started tasting success when he was with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Though he mostly batted lower down the order, he was able to play some cameos under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership.
In 2018, the 29-year-old again went to the Mumbai franchise where he batted at the top of the order, scoring some useful runs for his team. In 85 IPL matches, Surya has 1,544 runs with seven fifties. Despite scoring runs, he has been a tad unlucky to not represent India yet despite playing for India A a lot of times.
Rajat Bhatia
Rajat Bhatia wasn’t intimidating, but his clever pace-variations foxed the best in the business. On slow and low decks, Bhatia was a handful and was hard to get away. He started playing in the IPL in 2008 and last played in 2017. In 95 matches, he managed to pick 71 wickets at an economy of 7.41.
Bhatia was no mug with the bat either. Though he didn’t have intriguing numbers with the bat in the IPL, overall, in first-class, List A and T20s, the now 40-year-old managed 21 centuries and 50 half-centuries. He could have been a valuable addition to the Indian team, but he never got an opportunity.
Sheldon Jackson
Sheldon Jackson has been a prolific run-scorer for Saurashtra in the domestic circuit. Having scored around 8,500 runs for the team with 25 tons and 42 fifties, he has shown his class. He also played a major role in Saurashtra’s win in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy where they beat Bengal in the final.
As far as the IPL is concerned, he played for the Knight Riders in 2017 where he could only score 38 runs with a top score of 16. Since then, he hasn’t gotten a chance in the league. Jackson is nearing 34 and his aspirations for representing Team India is slowly, but surely, fading away.
Shreyas Gopal
Shreyas Gopal has been a part of the IPL since 2014, but in the last two seasons, he has given a good account of himself. In 31 games in the tournament, the leg-spinner got 38 wickets at a decent economy rate of 7.5. Last season, he played for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and did exceptionally.
In a game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Gopal also picked up a hat-trick. The leggie accomplished the milestone, getting rid of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis. Overall, he has 333 wickets in domestic cricket. However, to his dismay, he is yet to don the national jersey.
Ranadeb Bose
Ranadeb Bose was a fulcrum of the Bengal’s fast-bowling unit, picking up 454 wickets with 27 five-wicket hauls and six 10-fers. But he hardly got to play in the IPL. Back in 2009, he played a solitary match for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) where he gave away 24 runs in the two overs he bowled.
Then in December 2011, he played his last competitive match in the Ranji Trophy. The now 41-year-old was also picked for India’s tour of England in 2007. Unfortunately, he didn’t play a match and never got a recall. After hanging his boots, Bose also became the bowling coach for the Bengal team.
