5 Former cricketers who would have been excellent IPL Stars

T20 cricket is often associated with the current crop of players. There has been a radical change in gameplay due to the same, most visibly, the rate of scoring has boosted up incredibly.

However, there are some players from the previous generation or so who had a style of play that would have augured well with the shortest version of cricket. In this article, we discuss hypothetically five players from the past who never played T20 cricket but could have succeeded brilliantly in it.

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#5 Bishan Singh Bedi

Bedi was an exceptionally wily bowler who thrived on an equal contest between the bat and the ball

At the advent of T20 cricket, the general consensus was that this format would ruin the chances of success for spinners.

However, over the years, we have seen how the spinners have evolved themselves to suit with the demands of the game and have become an attacking option to scalp wickets instead of a rather pragmatic recourse.

Bishan Singh Bedi’s bowling style certainly suggested of a bowler who always looked to provide flight and a higher trajectory to the ball. He invited the batsmen to play their strokes and then reaped rich rewards through the same.

Bedi was an exceptionally wily bowler who thrived on an equal contest between the bat and the ball; which could only be possible if the bowler was brave enough to adopt a fearless approach towards bowling.

His career economy rate of 3.54 RPO in ODIs is exceptional, though the fact that he played only 10 ODIs. However, Bedi could certainly have been someone who would be utilized in the earlier overs on an innings by a captain to notch some wickets.

He had the ability to generate turn from flat batting tracks as well, which is quite a rare commodity to have as gradually off-spinners are focusing more on bowling at a higher pace and lateral trajectory to block the flow of runs and to put it out bluntly, survive in a batsman-friendly sport.

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#4 Curtly Ambrose

Curtly Ambrose would have always troubled the batters with a back of the length fast delivery

Despite the dominance of spinners in the shortest format, the onus has always been on the pacers to bowl the most difficult overs.

In such a case, someone like Curtly Ambrose would have been a lethal player to have in the team.

A technically perfect fast bowler, with a high arm action and huge stature, it would have been difficult for batsmen to take him on during the field restriction overs.

He would have always troubled the batters with a back of the length fast delivery, which would have been tougher to hit straight down the ground.

Moreover, with his height and built, he would have created movement off the ball in dry pitches as well. Ambrose could have been used in the middle overs at times to break off partnerships, through bouncers as the fielders would be in the deeper areas of the field in that stage of the match.

The former pacer could bowl the yorkers at a high pace and a consistent rate in the death overs, thus making him a complete package from a fast bowler’s perspective. Ambrose had an economy rate of 3.48 in ODIs, and he would definitely have been an asset for any team in T20 cricket.

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#3 Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram had the ability to execute the Yorkers to perfection

Wasim Akram had actually said jokingly that he would have prolonged his career by some years if he would have known about the invention of IPL!

However, keeping that aside, the Pakistani pacer could hypothetically been the best T20 player had this format existed during his playing days. Firstly, southpaw pacers always have an advantage in the early stages on an innings.

Add to it his prodigious and unparalleled ability to swing the ball both ways; Akram could have always given the team crucial wickets upfront.

More importantly, it was his insane talent to reverse swing the ball by a meter or two during the death overs that would have propelled him to greatness in this form of the game as well. Pacers these days tend to rely more on slower deliveries and cutters to deceive the batsmen in the final part of an innings.

However, these slower deliveries often become predictable for the batsmen and the bowlers are left short of options eventually due to their inability to execute the Yorkers to perfection. However, with Akram, that would never have been a problem.

He had the knack of deliveries fuller deliveries in the blockhole consistently and that was a wicket-taking option as well. He had an economy of 3.89 in ODIs, and one can actually bank on him to produce equally brilliant figures in T20s as well.

Moreover, the former Pakistani captain could strike some meaty blows with the bat and could have been handy at the number 7 position in the batting order.

Hence, his efficiency as probably a pace-bowling all-rounder would have made him a much-sought-after player in the T20 circuit.

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#2 Sir Vivian Richards

Sir Vivian Richards was way ahead of his time

Someone who was way ahead of his time, Sir Vivian Richards introduced an attacking brand of gameplay which was otherwise unknown to the layman.

Richards was an aggressive stroke player, whose intent was always to put the bowler on the backfoot. He tended to dominate his adversaries with extreme ease, as Richards had the ability to change the course of the game and disrupt the momentum of the bowler within minutes of arriving on the crease.

Even against the spinners, he had the ability to absolutely cream the deliveries and muscle it over the ropes.

He was one of the finest timers of the ball, as Richards’ gameplay was an amalgamation of sweet timing and absolute brute force at occasions.

He had an average of 47.0 and struck runs at a rate of 90.2 in ODIs. His strike rate was absolutely insane and unheard of at that period of time, and the bowlers naturally found it very difficult to bowl to him.

In T20s, Richards would have been an ideal opener to have. He would notch runs at an excellent scoring rate during the field restrictions and then would clear the ropes with ease in the middle overs.

Also, he would have liked the ball to come to his bat at a decent pace and that is more possible whilst playing in the first six overs. Either way, he definitely would have been a legend of the T20 game.

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#1 Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev would have been the most in-demand player of the auctions

Finally, the recipe to success in the shortest version of this sport is to be multi-talented and equally good in all aspects of the game.

There is a reason why Andre Russell is currently considered to be the most valuable player in the T20 format. Similarly, Kapil Dev could have been an almost identical player, who would have delivered high impact performances with his multiple skills.

Dev was an asset to have whilst bowling both early on and late in the innings. He was a great swing bowler and had a tendency to scalp some crucial wickets upfront. His in-swingers were a major threat to the right-handed batsmen, especially when they weren’t set in the initial part of their innings.

Thereby, he was excellently proficient at bowling the wicket-taking deliveries in the death overs as well. Dev could execute the Yorkers to perfection, and that would have made him one of the most desired bowlers in this T20 age.

Additionally, he was a brilliant batsman, a clean striker and brilliant at running between the wickets too. The Haryana man could clear the ropes at will, possessing a strike rate of 95.1 in ODIs, which was simply absurd at the time in which he played the game.

Also, it was his fielding that set him apart from his peers too. The World Cup-winning captain was very fit, quick and agile on the field and being extremely strong in all three facets of the game would have given him a definite edge over any other player in the T20 circuit.

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