IPL History: Three overseas players whose careers blossomed after playing the league

The Indian Premier League has always been a platform for aspiring and talented cricketers. The game has witnessed a lot of changes in the recent years and also the career of the players playing for it.

There are presently a total eight franchises playing the game. Various players have adorned various jerseys and have represented diffrent teams in the past. They have shone in it which gave them the opportunity to represent their national side.

In the Indian cricket, the number has been quite big but considering the overseas players, only countable players have used the IPL as a ladder to climb to glory and fame. Each season has a new bunch of talented rookies entering the format and making it big.

Here we're going to look at three overseas players who made it big in their career by playing for the IPL.

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#3 Kieron Pollard

Kieron Pollard

The big-hitting Kieron Pollard was born in Trinidad & Tobago. In 2005, Pollard was selected for the U-19 West Indies team which toured Pakistan. He had a good series after which he got selected for the U-19 2006 World Cup held in Sri Lanka where Pollard performed poorly.

Polly's impressive performance in the 2009 Champions League Twenty20 led him to be one of the most sought after players at the 2010 IPL auction. He was in demand by the Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Pollard has played a total of 144 IPL matches in a time span of 10 years. With the bat, Pollard has an aggregate score of 2705 in 133 innings, with an average of 28.47 and 83 as his high score. The West Indies all-rounder has played the rescuer role on many occasions for the Mumbai Indians.

Following his impressive performance in the IPL, he was picked up in the 2010 T20 West Indies squad. Today, Pollard is an global T20 superstar as he plays for various teams in various leagues. Pollard is one of the two players who have played more than 100 ODIs but has never played a Test match.

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#2 Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine made his debut in the first-class cricket debuting for Trinidad and Tobago in February 2009, which did not go as well as expected from him.

In 2011, during the Caribbean Twenty20 competition, Narine played his first T20. Narine then shone in the Champions League T20, where he became the all-time leading wicket-taker in its short history with 39 scalps.

The right arm off-break bowler made his IPL debut in the 2012 IPL season for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Narine has always remained a vital force in the KKR with both bat and ball.

The West Indies all-rounder has played a total of 108 matches and has scalped 122 wickets with an elegant economy of 6.66. With the bat, Narine has scored 771 runs with an average of 17.52 with a high score of 75. He has carried the IPL performance for West Indies too. He has taken 50 T20 wickets for the national side.

Narine also took 92 wickets in just 65 ODIs for West Indies cricket, However, he is no longer a regular member in the national side and has been omitted from the World Cup squad.

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#3 Shane Watson

Shane Watson

Shane Watson played in the IPL for the Rajasthan Royals in the maiden IPL season in 2008. He performed well with both bat and the ball scoring four half-centuries to guide his team to victory in three matches of the tournament and in the semi-finals. He also picked up 17 wickets, won four Man of the Match awards and also the Man of the Tournament award.

On the basis of his IPL performance, Watson was selected to replace Matthew Hayden in the one-day series as part of Australia's tour to the West Indies, after Hayden was injured during the IPL season. He is also the first Australian captain to score a century in T20 international.

Before the IPL he was not the regular member of the Australian side. But post his good show in 2008 season the Australian cemented his place in the ODI side. He went on to score over 5500 ODI runs for Australia, including nine centuries. The all-rounder did really well with the ball too, taking 168 ODI wickets at an average of 31.80.

He is regarded as one of the best Australian all-rounder ever played the limited overs cricket for the nation, thus IPL did play its part in spoting the overseas talents.

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