The IPL has become the engine room for the Indian cricket team and the main platform for young Indian cricketers to present themselves at the international level. The examples of Deepak Chahar, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and others, prove that IPL allows young players to impress the selectors and make it through to the national team.
Sachin Tendulkar has recently highlighted the success of the Indian fast bowlers in the IPL and appreciated the league’s role in empowering the Indian cricket team. Although, not every IPL star could save their level of performance at the international level.
Here's a look at some players who succeeded in the IPL but failed to play with the national Indian team.
1. Jaydev Unadkat, 24 wickets in IPL 2017
Jaydev Unadkat did not have a single wicket in the 2015 and 2016 IPL seasons. His best season came after moving to the Rising Pune SuperGiants in 2017. Unadkat managed to obtain an economy rate of 7.03 while scoring 24 wickets in 12 matches.
He rejoined the Indian T20I team thanks to his performances in the IPL season of 2017. Nevertheless, Unadkat picked only 10 wickets in six T20Is and had an economy rate of 9.88 in 2018. That led to his exit and the loss of his prospects in the national team in the coming years. Currently, Unadkat is part of the RR setup in IPL 2021. His exploits haven’t been too encouraging for people to pick him as one of their main bets at one of the IPL 2021 betting sites.
2. Mohit Sharma, 20 wickets in IPL 2013
The former CSK bowler Mohit Sharma racked up 20 wickets in his debut IPL season and won the Purple Cap award picking up 43 wickets in 31 games a year later. He had a steady performance playing for the Chennai Super Kings team in the 2013 IPL before making his T20I debut at the T20 World Cup in 2014.
Nonetheless, the right-arm medium pacer with more than eight runs per over economy took only six wickets in eight T20Is. This fact has raised the question of his continued presence in the national team.
3. Karn Sharma, 15 wickets in IPL 2014
The leg-spinner Karn Sharma took 11 wickets at an economy rate of 6.60 in 2013 and won his debut match for Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier. He managed to score 14 wickets in 14 games, which impressed everyone in 2014.
Sharma got an invitation to the Indian cricket team and made his ODI debut. However, he was unlucky to play both matches against Sri Lanka without wickets with an economy rate close to seven runs per over. The only Test match against Australia didn’t give Sharma a chance to impress the Indian team’s management in 2014.
4. Sandeep Sharma, 31 wickets in IPL 2014 & 2015
Sandeep Sharma was a great bowler playing for Punjab Kings. The right-arm pacer bowled 6 maidens and scored a total of 31 wickets in IPL 2014 and 2015.
His debut in T20I was against Zimbabwe in July 2015. Sharma took only one wicket and conceded runs at an economic rate of 10.43. It seemed difficult for him to have any influence on both matches.
5. Murali Vijay, 2 centuries in 3 IPL seasons
Murali Vijay was starring for Chennai Super Kings during the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons. The right-handed batsman made two centuries and scored 1228 runs for this period.
Vijay’s debut match was in T20I against Afghanistan within ICC T20 World Cup in 2010. He tried to show that he deserved his place in the national team. However, Vijay took only 14 runs off 12 balls in a solitary T20I against South Africa. He showed a miserable strike rate of 96.43 and scored 108 runs in six T20Is in 2010.
