There have been a few cricketers who have been able to make an entry into the national team after a brilliant performance in IPL for their respective franchises. So, here’s the list of a few cricketers who have been an IPL star before making their national debut.
1) Shaun Marsh
The Australian cricketer was the player of the tournament in IPL 2008 before he made his national debut. He played 11 matches for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2008 and opened the batting for them. He scored 616 runs @ 68.44 with 1 ton and 5 fifties in 11 matches for Punjab in 2008.
His brilliant form with the bat in IPL 2008 made Australian selectors take note of him. Just days after wrapping up a successful IPL 2008 campaign, Marsh was included in the limited-overs squad for the tour of West Indies.
However, Marsh could not manage to cement his place in the team. Over 12 years, he could manage to play just 73 ODIs and 15 T20Is for Australia.
2) Jasprit Bumrah
India’s No 1 bowler Jasprit Bumrah had earned an IPL contract long before he played a single first-class match. He was chosen to play an IPL match for Mumbai Indians in 2013 when he was just 19 years old. In his debut IPL match against RCB, he picked up 3/32, including the wicket of Virat Kohli.
Mumbai found a future star in him and retained him for the next season as well. With a strong showing in domestic cricket, he was called up for the tour of Australia in 2016 and made his limited-overs debut. He ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the 3-0 T20I series sweep against Australia. Now, Bumrah is one of the best pace bowlers across all formats currently.
3) Ambati Rayudu
Rayudu served Mumbai Indians diligently from 2010 to 2017 and was part of three-winning IPL campaigns for them. After making a lot of noise in IPL and domestic cricket, Rayudu finally made his national debut in 2013 ODI series in Zimbabwe when few senior players were rested.
However, his inconsistencies saw him lose his place in the squad. But after a brilliant winning campaign with CSK in IPL 2018 where he scored 602 runs @ 43.50 in 17 games, he was back to claim the No 4 spot for India for some time.
But he lost it again after he was snubbed for World Cup spot on more than a couple of occasions and retired in frustration.
Photo courtesy: Jasprit Bumrah's Facebook page
