5 greatest retired overseas IPL players

When the Indian Premier League started back in 2008, people around were not entirely convinced with neither the sanctity of the idea nor with the future of the league.

However, despite all these doubts, there were players who walked in and were willing to be part of the sojourn right from the inception.

Several established international stars, who had never experienced the T20 format, took the plunge and after jittery starts, they quickly started stamping their authority all over this new product, much like they did in Tests and One Day Internationals.

Now, let us take a look at five retired International players who were brilliant in the IPL over the years.

#5 Jacques Kallis

Arguably the greatest all-rounders to have ever played the game, South African Jacques Kallis took his time to get going in the IPL, but such was his pedigree that he quickly established himself as one of the gun players for the different franchises he played for.

He started his IPL career with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and then moved across to the Kolkata Knight Riders and with his all-around abilities, he was one of the first names to be inked on the team sheet.

In 98 matches with the bat, Kallis scored 2427 runs at an average of 28.55 and with a strike rate of 109.

With the ball, he picked up 65 wickets at an economy rate of 7.89 and with an average of 35.27.

He also won the IPL title twice with the Kolkata Knight Riders.

#4 Daniel Vettori

The former New Zealand captain was another success story in the Indian Premier League.

Vettori was already a clutch player in the limited overs format for his country and he brought all his experience, guile, and talent to the IPL. He was a stellar performer for the Royal Challengers Bangalore after spending time with the Delhi Daredevils.

The Kiwi player was superb with his variations and was like a bank with his four overs as seldom he was expensive.

Also, he was a great captain for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and under his tutelage, Virat Kohli learnt the traits of captaincy.

In 34 matches, Vettori picked up 28 wickets but his economy rate of 6.78 was especially brilliant.

#3 Matthew Hayden

The big burly Australian was probably born in a wrong era as his game was tailor-made for the crash, bang version of T20 cricket and when the IPL took off, the Queenslander was towards the fag end of his career, but this did not prevent him to stamp his authority over the league.

He wore the Chennai Super Kings colour for the duration of his IPL career and was an out-and-out match-winner for the franchise.

He strode out to open the batting and more often than not got the team off to a blazing start and set the perfect platform for the others to walk in an express themselves.

In 32 matches, Hayden peeled off 1107 runs at an average of 36.9 and with a dominating strike-rate of 137.52.

#2 Adam Gilchrist

Another Australian makes the list and this time it is Matthew Hayden’s longtime opening partner in ODI cricket, Adam Gilchrist.

Gilchrist who was with the Deccan Chargers and led them to the title in 2009 was a multi-dimensional player as not only was he a great wicket-keeper, he was a belligerent batsman at the top of the order and was a pragmatic leader.

Under his guidance, players like Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha found their bearings in the IPL.

He then switched sides and led the Kings XI Punjab.

Personally, the Western Australian played in 80 matches and scored 2069 runs at an average of 27.22 and with a strike-rate of 138.39.

#1 Michael Hussey

The man also known as Mr Cricket, Hussey entered his bubble as soon he occupied the crease and then it was virtually impossible to drag him out of the zone.

Such was his range and pedigree, that after dominating Test cricket and ODI for Australia, he waddled into T20 cricket and made it his own over the many seasons of the IPL.

He was critical for the Chennai Super Kings for several years and became almost synonymous with the yellow jersey. He shifted sides and turned out for the Mumbai Indians towards the end of his career.

In 59 matches, he scored 1977 runs at an average of 38.76 and with a strike rate of 122.24.

He has been appointed the batting coach of Chennai Super Kings for the upcoming season.