The IPL has transformed from a two-month entertainment show to one of the most prized, coveted competitions for T20 players around the world. It has created numerous stars – Chris Gayle and Shane Watson found their true calling in the IPL’s formative years – and has turned local boys into household names.
Against this backdrop, Sportskeeda lists 5 erstwhile cricketers we would have loved to see in the IPL.
Vivian Richards
With shoulders broadened and a brutal swagger, Vivian Richards, wielding the bat like a mace, would’ve easily been the most successful batsman in this format. A stunning strike rate of 90.20 in ODIs has often egged awestruck fans to label him the best ODI batsman of all time. And rightly so, for his mere presence on the field was enough to instil fear into the bowler.
The windmilling arms, the stare into the bowler’s eyes...you knew the king was on strike. And he ruled over his kingdom with such pomp – timing, placement, power, finesse included – that he’d make his opponents bowl where he wanted them to bowl. Full delivery outside off stump? Flayed through cover. Pitched on the pads? Flicked with the help of those Caribbean wrists to midwicket.
T20 would’ve been a cakewalk for him; he’d make the likes of Chris Gayle look pedestrian.
Wasim Akram
The Sultan of Swing. Four overs may not be enough to create a spell that record books would remember for too long but Akram, with his bag of tricks – outswinger, inswinging yorker, short ball aimed at the throat – would ensure that batsmen would forever be on their toes while facing him – literally.
One of the finest exponents of swinging the new ball, Akram would’ve been a challenge on flat and seaming pitches alike, with a fast arm action and subtle wrist movement giving him deviations off any pitch. He’d be the go-to bowler at the death as well – with some yorkers that’d make Malinga’s toe crushers seem playable.
Akram is a pretty handy lower order batsman as well – he has a top score of 257 in Test cricket.
Kapil Dev
Of players who have played more than 200 ODIs, only three – Shahid Afridi, Virender Sehwag, and Adam Gilchrist – have a strike rate higher than Kapil Dev’s 95.07. His value to the side purely as a pace bowler cannot be undermined, for at a bowling average of 23.79, he was easily the best fast bowler India ever produced.
With the bat, he could take the game away from you in a matter of minutes – as Zimbabwe so unfortunately discovered during the 1983 World Cup where they were served a brutal 175 run onslaught by Kapil Dev. He had the ability to change gears when he wanted to, and had an arsenal of amazing outswingers in his bowling armoury to confirm him as one of the best all rounders of all time.
T20 would’ve loved his six hitting ability – Kapil once hit four sixes on the trot to help India avoid a follow on – but it would’ve lapped up his accurate yet deadly bowling a lot more.
Abdul Qadir
A wrist spinner is always in the game in this format. As the 2016 IPL showed, wrist spinners – Amit Mishra, Yuzvendra Chahal, Imran Tahir – were the recipe for success, and Qadir was one of the finest exponents of leg spin. A googly enveloped with mystique and a leg break designed to bamboozle the best, Qadir was Pakistan’s spin weapon in the 1980s.
Imran Khan got the best out of him, and with the natural aggression of a Pathan inside him, he was always on the attack. He would’ve deceived some of the best batsmen around with his flight in the middle overs of a T20.
Kris Srikanth
Undoubtedly one of the most popular Indian batsmen in the 1980s, Srikkanth came to the crease with one option his mind – attack. He tore into some of the most fearsome attacks of his time – West Indies included – and remains one of the few Indian batsmen who could play the short ball with impunity.
Srikanth's ability to stamp his authority on bowling attacks, akin to Sehwag, would’ve been a crowd puller for T20. Fast hands and great hand eye coordination meant that he could pull or drive at will, thereby cementing his spot as one of the most aggresive openers to have ever played the game.
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