5 T20 overseas stars who lit up the IPL, but briefly

Cameron White

Cameron White has a reputation of being a clean hitter but he failed to live up to the promise in the IPL

Some players are meant for T20 cricket. Cameron White is one such player. A powerful hitter who could clear the boundary at will, White was destined to thrive in T20 cricket. Blessed with an astute cricketing brain, he became the youngest player to lead Victoria in 2003-04. He also captained the Bushrangers team that won T20 Big Bash title three time in a row from 2005-06 to 2007-08.

His reputation earned him an IPL contract in 2008 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he played for the first three seasons. His returns, however, were dismal. He never touched 40 with the bat and failed to take a single wicket with his canny leg spin.

In the 2011 auction, he was purchased by the Deccan Chargers in the auction for USD 1.1 million and was appointed the vice-captain of the team. He re-paid the faith of the franchise the following year when he scored 479 runs with an average of 43.54, and a strike rate of 149.68, with a high score of 78 from 13 innings. He was also the captain of the Australian T20 team at that time.

Next year, he led the newly formed Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise in their debut IPL season. Even though the team did well under him reaching the play-offs, White’s own form was poor. He was thus released by the team and has not had any luck in the IPL auctions thereafter.

At 31, White still has a chance to improve his IPL numbers. However, a slump of form has recently resulted in White losing his contract with the Melbourne Stars, a franchise that he captained for 3 years, in 2015 and the road ahead seems tough for him.

Brad Hodge

A prolific batsman in all formats of the game, Brad Hodge is one of the unluckiest batsmen in the history of cricket. His career coincided with arguably the strongest batting line-up that ever existed. The result was Hodge playing only 6 Test matches (even though he averaged almost 56) and 25 ODIs.

T20 came a little late in Hodge’s career but he took to the format like a duck to water. He was the top run scorer in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons of the Big Bash as his team Victoria won the tournament both times, that too without losing a match. Hodge also became the first man to score a century in Big Bash, scoring 106 off 54 balls in the final of the inaugural season.

His consistency got him a call in the IPL as Kolkata Knight Riders signed him as a replacement for Ricky Ponting in 2008. He played 3 matches for the franchise without much success that season. It was in the second edition that Hodge showed the glimpses of his genius. Hodge, the top run scorer in T20s at the time, scored 365 runs at an average of over 40 for the struggling KKR outfit.

After spending a moderately successful 2011 season with the now defunct Kochi Tuskers, Hodge was bought by Rajasthan Royals in 2012 for USD 475,000. He was brilliant for the Jaipur outfit playing match-winning cameos from time to time. Despite being a top order batsman for the major part of his career, Hodge looked comfortable in his role as a finisher for the Royals.

The 2014 season was not fruitful for Hodge as younger players like Steven Smith and James Faulkner got more opportunities than him. He was subsequently released and found no buyers in the 2015 auction.

David Hussey

David ‘Bomber’ Hussey came into the 2008 IPL auctions as one of the star attractions. The younger Hussey had played a pivotal role in Victorian Bushrangers’ Big Bash title win in 2007-08. He was the second highest run scorer in the tournament with 3 half centuries in 6 matches. He was also named the Player of the Tournament for his match-winning contributions throughout the event. No wonder he was signed for a massive USD 625,000 by the Kolkata Knight Riders.

An aggressive batsman with a strong bottom-hand technique, Hussey had a good year for KKR finishing with 319 runs with 2 fifties. Hussey, however, played only 10 games in the next 2 seasons. He was unavailable for selection for major parts of those seasons having made it the national team by then.

Hussey’s reputation as a T20 batsman had enhanced further by the time he approached the 2011 IPL auctions. He was bought for a whopping USD 1.4 million by Kings XI Punjab, making him the second highest earning foreign player of the auction. After a disappointing 2011 season, Hussey scored 396 runs in the 2012 edition and even led the Punjab franchise in 9 matches.

His form nosedived thereafter as he failed to reach fifty in 12 attempts in 2013 and was subsequently released by Kings XI as they revamped their team. Hussey was roped in by Chennai Super Kings in 2014 as a replacement of Dwayne Bravo but spent bulk of the season on the bench. He was released by the franchise in the following year and failed to attract a bid in the 2015 auction.