10 IPL players you didn't know have played for India 

IPL is considered to be a stepping stone for domestic Indian players to get into the Indian side. Since its inception, IPL has given some big names to Indian cricket.

IPL is a fantastic opportunity for budding cricketers to catch everyone's attention. A cameo of 30 runs or a couple of crucial wickets can make a relatively unknown player an overnight star. Also, this paves way for selection in the national side.

The likes of Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal are the by-products of the IPL. All these players got into Team India after performing consistently in the IPL. However, there are a few players who weren't able to make full use of the opportunity of representing India.

Most of us won't even remember them being in the national side. Here are 10 such Indian players in IPL 2019 you might not know have played for India.

---

#10 Dhawal Kulkarni

Dhawal Kulkarni with Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya

Rajasthan Royals has struggled in this year's IPL and one of the major reasons for their lacklustre performance has been the team's bowling. Dhawal Kulkarni is a senior member of that bowling unit.

Even though he hasn't set the stage on fire this season, Kulkarni has been effective in his long IPL career. The Mumbai lad has played ODI cricket for team India in the past too. He has played 12 ODIs and has 19 wickets to his name.

#9 Gurkeerat Mann

Gurkeerat Mann

Gurkeerat Mann came into limelight after some strong performances for Kings XI Punjab. He then performed consistently for India and was selected in the Indian team for the ODI series against Australia in 2016. Unfortunately, he could not do much in the three games he played scoring just 13 runs before getting dropped from the side. He is currently a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

#8 Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur plays for Chennai currently

Shardul Thakur has been a consistent performer for Mumbai in the domestic circuit. On the virtue of his domestic record Thakur made it to the Indian team. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2017.

Thakur was a part of India's limited overs squad for the next few series. However, he failed to impress and has been out of India's ODI side for over a year now. The 27-year-old made his Test debut against West Indies last year but, after bowling just 10 balls, was ruled out of the match because of an injury.

#7 Karn Sharma

Karn Sharma is also a part of the Chennai team

Another CSK player whose international career went quite unnoticed is Karn Sharma. Sharma was exceptional playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 and 2014, which led to his selection in the Indian team. But after playing just one Test, one T20 and a couple of ODIs, Sharma was dropped from the side. Since then his IPL graph has gone down too.

#6 Barinder Sran

Barinder Sran

Since the retirement of Zaheer Khan, India has struggled to find a proper left arm seamer. This search led to the selection of Barinder Sran. Sran had a good season with his stateside Punjab and was selected for the tour of Australia.

Even though Sran did bowl well in patches, he lacked consistency. Sran picked up 7 wickets in 6 ODIs at an average of 38.42. He was bought by Mumbai Indians at the auction for IPL 2019.

#5 Jayant Yadav

Jayant Yadav with Manish Pandey

Jayant Yadav broke into the Indian Test team in 2016 for the important home series against England. Yadav played in 4 Tests for India and performed well both with the bat and ball. He also has a Test century to his name.

But because of the rise of the other Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jayant Yadav was sidelined. Before playing Test cricket for India, Yadav played a solitary ODI against New Zealand, the game after which Dhoni resigned from the captaincy.

#4 Mandeep Singh

Mandeep Singh

Mandeep Singh is one of those unlucky domestic batsmen who hasn't been able to cement a place in the Indian side because of the presence of heavyweights like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and others.

Mandeep has been extremely consistent in the IPL and after a long wait, finally made it to Indian T20 squad for the tour of Zimbabwe in 2016. The right-hand batsman did reasonably well scoring 87 runs in 3 matches at an average of 43.50. However, he wasn't able to add to his international caps.

#3 Pawan Negi

Pawan Negi

Pawan Negi has attracted a lot of attention because of his potential as an all-rounder. Negi became the costliest player at the 2016 auction when he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for 8.50 crore. Negi was named in India's squad for the Asia Cup in 2016. He played one match against the UAE and currently, Negi has been playing for RCB for the last two years.

#2 Sandeep Sharma

Sandeep Sharma

Sandeep Sharma might not have express pace but he does have the ability to swing the ball. This particular trait helped him pick a lot of wickets playing for Kings XI Punjab owing to which he was selected in the Indian T20 side way back in 2015.

Unfortunately, Sharma looked ineffective in the two matches that he played for India. He took just 1 wicket while giving away runs at a poor economy of 10.42. Sharma hasn't played for India since then.

#1 Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson is one of the most promising talents in the country. When he has the willow in his hands he oozes class. Samson has played some mind-blowing innings in the IPL and it's still a mystery why he hasn't got many chances in Indian colours.

Even though he deserves more chances at the international level, not many of us remember that he has actually played for India in a T20 match against Zimbabwe where he scored 19 runs. With some strong performances in the IPL, Samson will be hopeful for a comeback to the national side sooner rather than later.