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The Indian Premier League is undoubtedly the biggest T20 league in world cricket, and it is the dream of every cricketer to play in the IPL once. While, the nature of this league has transformed unknown faces into overnight heroes, it has also shown the door to the legends of the game.
It is not guaranteed that this league will embrace you if you have achieved enormous success at the international level or while playing in other T20 leagues.
A lot of stars have failed to make it big in the IPL, and thus, in this countdown, we will present to you the ten international stars who could only play one IPL match in their entire career.
(Honorable mention - Mohammad Ashraful)
1. Abdur Razzak
Bangladeshi left-arm spinner, Abdur Razzak who played 154 ODIs, 13 Tests and 34 T20Is for his nation in his career could, unfortunately, feature in only one IPL game in his career.
He represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their away encounter versus Rajasthan Royals. The Challengers won the toss and elected to field first hence, inviting Rajasthan to bat.
The home team's openers put on a solid opening stand of 109 runs before Anil Kumble sent Swapnil Asnodkar back. Shane Watson joined the well set Graeme Smith as the Aussie-Protea combo took RR's total to 197/1 in 20 overs.
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Razzak bowled just 2 overs but failed to impress his skipper as he conceded 29 runs at an economy rate of 14.50.
With the bat, Razzak remained not out on 0 at the end of the innings. RCB had lost that match by 65 runs and Razzak was given a chance again.
Since then, Razzak has never featured in the IPL.
2. Younis Khan
The Test specialist, Younis Khan, was amongst the 11 Pakistani cricketers who played in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. He was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL auction of 2008. However, the Jaipur franchise included Younis in their playing XI only once.
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The eventual champions, Rajasthan Royals had many match-winning stars in their batting line-up like Graeme Smith, Shane Watson, Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan. Hence, Younis could not find a place for himself in the stacked batting order.
In his only IPL appearance versus Kings XI Punjab, the veteran could score only 3 runs off 7 balls before he was cleaned up by Irfan Pathan. Rajasthan lost the match by 41 runs and we never saw Younis Khan play again in the IPL after that night.
3. Andre Nel
South Africa's promising right-arm fast bowler, Andre Nel made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians in the 2008 season of the Indian Premier League.
He was included in the playing XI for the away fixture versus Delhi Capitals. Batting first, Mumbai Indians scored 176/8 in their 20 overs thanks to a fantastic 66 run knock by Sanath Jayasuriya.
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Andre Nel lost his wicket for a duck in that innings as he was run out by Virender Sehwag before he could face a delivery. With the ball, Nel bowled 3 overs and conceded 31 runs at an economy rate of 10.33.
The Proteas pacer was successful in dismissing Gautam Gambhir; however, his side Mumbai Indians could not win the match as Delhi pulled off a five-wicket win in the final over of the chase.
4. Damien Martyn
Former Australian batsman, Damien Martyn had announced his retirement from international cricket a long time before he made his IPL debut in the year 2010. He surprised everyone by enrolling his name in the auction, and it was Rajasthan Royals who picked this Aussie veteran in the auction room.
He made his IPL debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Batting first, RR got off to a horrific start as they lost three wickets for just 38 runs. Damien Martyn then tried to stitch a partnership with Yusuf Pathan, but the Australian's strike rate did not help the team's cause. Ultimately, he could score only 19 runs in 24 balls before Praveen Kumar rattled his stumps.
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RR were shot out for 92 in that innings as RCB comfortably won the match by ten wickets. This match was Damien Martyn's only IPL appearance in his career.
5. Mashrafe Mortaza
The captain of the Bangladeshi team, Mashrafe Mortaza played his only IPL game in the year 2009. He was included in the Kolkata Knight Riders playing XI for a game against Deccan Chargers.
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KKR batted first at Johannesburg in a noon encounter and posted 160/5 on the board thanks to Brad Hodge and David Hussey's good knocks. Mashrafe got a chance to bat late in the innings and scored only 2 runs.
With the ball Mortaza bowled 4 overs and conceded 58 runs at a hammering economy rate of 14.50. He even bowled 2 no-balls and 2 wides in his spell. Deccan Chargers pulled off a close victory in the end thanks to Rohit Sharma's last-ball six.
Mortaza's bowling performance did not allow KKR to win the match and hence, he could never feature in an IPL playing XI after his horrendous debut.
6. Brad Haddin
Another Aussie to feature on this list is the veteran wicket-keeper batsman, Brad Haddin. Just like Mortaza, Brad Haddin played his one and only IPL game for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Haddin played his debut IPL game versus Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens in the year 2011.
He opened the innings for the home side and played a quickfire knock of 18 runs which featured 2 fours and 1 six. Syed Mohammad dismissed him in the 5th over as Haddin's only IPL innings came to an end. KKR reached 171/5 in their 20 overs riding on Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan's knocks.
However, they lost the match by a huge margin of 9 wickets due to Chris Gayle's whirlwind innings of 102 runs off 55 balls.
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Unfortunately, this turned out to be the first and last match of Brad Haddin's IPL career.
7. Doug Bracewell
Belonging to a family of cricketers, New Zealand's all-rounder Doug Bracewell made it to the Indian Premier League in the year 2012 when he was picked up by the Delhi Capitals.
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He made his debut on 5th match of the 2012 season against Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB batted first in that match and posted 157/8 on the board with AB de Villiers being the top scorer of the innings.
Bracewell bowled 4 overs in that innings and emerged as the pick of the bowlers for Delhi with figures of 3/32. Virat Kohli was his first-ever IPL wicket while he dismissed two tail-enders to complete his three-wicket haul.
While batting for Delhi, Bracewell remained unbeaten on 12 runs, but he could not take his team over the line, which could have been the reason why he never made it to an IPL playing XI after that match.
8. Darren Bravo
While Dwayne Bravo has been one of the most successful players in IPL history, the same cannot be said of his brother Darren Bravo. Bravo played his only IPL match for Kolkata Knight Riders versus the Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 2017.
Steve Smith's side were sent into bat first by KKR, and the skipper led his team from the front as his half-century powered Pune to a defendable total of 182 in their 20 overs. However, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa's mega partnership for the second wicket nullified Smith's efforts ultimately as KKR achieved the victory with ease in the end.
When both Gambhir and Uthappa departed, KKR required mere 4 runs and debutant Darren Bravo did the remaining part to take his team home.
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However, he was excluded from the playing XI after that game and Bravo has never played in the IPL ever since.
9. Akila Dananjaya
Akila Dananjaya, the Sri Lankan off-spinner had made his T20I debut for Sri Lanka way back in the year 2012. However, it took him six years to make his IPL debut, and he received his first IPL cap in 2018 when he donned the Mumbai Indians jersey against Delhi Capitals.
Playing at the Wankhede Stadium, the home side were put in to bat first by opposition captain Gautam Gambhir. Some fine knocks from Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis and Ishan Kishan ensured that Mumbai reach 194 in their 20 overs. The debutant Dananjaya scored 4 runs off 5 balls while coming out to bat late in the innings.
Dananjaya was given the ball in the 2nd over of Delhi's chase. However, he proved out to be very expensive in his 4-overs spell as he leaked 47 runs without taking any wicket.
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Being an overseas spinner, Dananjaya was removed from the playing XI after that match, and the Sri Lankan is still waiting to play his second IPL match.
10. Michael Neser
Australian fast bowler, Michael Neser who has represented his nation in two ODIs, played his only IPL game for Kings XI Punjab in the year 2013. Unfortunately for Neser, he got a chance to debut against the hard-hitting RCB side. Neser crumbled under pressure and leaked 62 runs in his 4 overs.
He was given the responsibility to bowl 2 of the final 3 overs of RCB's innings with AB de Villiers and Moises Henriques at the other end. Neser conceded 33 runs in his 2 overs and helped RCB reach 190 in their 20 overs. However, a miraculous century from David Miller helped KXIP win the match by 6 wickets with 12 balls to spare.
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Though KXIP won the match, they did not include Neser in their future fixtures pertaining to his expensive bowling figures.
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