Top 3 finds of the Indian Premier League - Part II

This is a follow up article of Top 3 finds of Indian Premier League. Continuing from where I left, let’s take a look through the top finds of IPL.

Shane Watson

Shane Watson, one of the perfect all-rounders, first came into the picture when he was awarded a contract by the Rajasthan Royals in the first season of the IPL. Shane Watson proved to be one of the most successful players of the inaugural Indian Premier League. He scored 472 runs and picked up 17 wickets, including 4 half centuries. Later, he was adjudged “Man of the Series”, thus becoming the first player to clinch “Man of the Series” in the Indian Premier League. Shane Watson was one of the main weapons of the Rajasthan Royals winning campaign in 2008 IPL. That was the main reason why he was retained by the franchise after the third season of the IPL, when all the teams were revamped. Prior to the IPL, Watson was not able to make his place permanent in Australian team, but because of his wonderful performance with both the bat and the ball in the 2008 edition, he was again awarded with an international call from Cricket Australia. Since then, he has been a regular feature of the Australian team as he averages 36.02 and 42.13 in Tests and ODIs respectively, thus becoming the third player of Australia to come through the Indian Premier League.

Let’s take a look through Shane Watson stats

Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf Pathan, an aggressive all-rounder from Baroda who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, first came into the limelight when he was awarded with a contract by Rajasthan Royals. Yusuf Pathan went on to be one of the hits of the tournament as he scored 435 runs and picked up 8 wickets, including 4 half centuries. Yusuf Pathan was also one of the important weapons of Rajasthan Royals winning campaign in the 2008 IPL. In the finals of that edition, he was adjudged “Man of the Match”. On 13^th March 2010, playing for Rajasthan Royals, Pathan scored a brilliant hundred of 37 balls, making his presence for world cricket. This knock included a record 11 consecutive hits to the boundary (6, 6, 6, 6, 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4, 4). In the 2011 IPL auction, he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping sum of $2.1 million. For his wonderful performance with both bat and ball in the inaugural season of the IPL, he was awarded with an international call from BCCI for One day Internationals. He has proved to be a good international cricketer as he averages 27.00 and 18.15 in ODI and T20 respectively, thus becoming one of the best finds of Indian Premier League benefiting team India.

Let’s take a look through Yusuf Pathan’s stats

Roelof van der Merwe

Roelof van der Merwe, a left arm orthodox spinner and hard hitting lower order batsman, first came to public attention when he was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore. He played an important cameo in the Royal Challengers IPL hunt in 2009, as he picked 9 wickets and scored 122 runs. In the same season, he troubled batsmen with his left arm bowling and that was the main reason why he was signed by Delhi Daredevils in the 2011 player auction. For his good performances with both bat and ball in the 2009 Indian Premier League, he was awarded with an international call from South African cricket board. He has proved to be one of the good players at international level as he has picked 17 and 14 wickets in Tests and ODIs respectively, thus becoming one of the best finds of Indian Premier League to benefit the South African cricket team.

Let’s take a look through Roelof van der Merwe stats