The Indian Premier League is one of the greatest Twenty20 competitions in the world. It has changed the cricketing world in many ways and given a boost to Twenty20 cricket. It has given birth to stars who have entered the international stage and given a different dynamic to the teams. For the Indian cricket team, there have been many cricketers who have excelled in the IPL and gone on to get the coveted India cap. Here is a list of some of the players who have made it to the big stage.
When the IPL began in 2008, the tournament and T20 cricket has grown exponentially and is one of the most-watched and followed leagues when all sports are taken into account. While the BCCI had started to become a wealthy board before the IPL itself, the IPL took the organization and the country to newer heights. The IPL teams become major brands and players became world-known personalities. The tournament has helped create stories of rags to riches with relatively unknown players bagging massive contracts who have then gone to make a big name for themselves. Not just that, the IPL has become so important that the Indian selectors sometimes value performances in the event more than even the other tournaments in the Indian domestic cricket calendar like the Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. Consistent performances in one or two seasons in the IPL have ensured that talented cricketers have caught the eye of the national selectors quickly. Uncapped players have either got their first chance to play international cricket due their performances in the IPL. Here is a list of all the players who made it to the Indian cricket team on the back of some stellar performances in the IPL.
1. R Ashwin IPL 2020
)
Ravichandran Ashwin was in the South Zone and he made decent progress in the domestic circuit. However, when he was picked for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, his career changed. Ashwin was the highest wicket-taker of the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 tournament for Chennai Super Kings with 13 wickets and was adjudged as the player of the tournament. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on 5 June 2010, scoring a 32–ball 38 and taking 2/50 in that match which India lost to crash out of the tri-series.[12] His T20I debut came a week later, against Zimbabwe at Harare where he took 1/22 in four overs in an Indian win. Ashwin is now the fastest Indian bowler (also in some records the joint-fastest in the world) to reach the 50-, 100-, 150-, 200-, 250-, 300- and 350-wicket mark in Test cricket in terms of the number of innings. In 2016, he became the third Indian to win the ICC Cricketer of the Year award. (Image credit: Twitter)
2. IPL Ravindra Jadeja
)
Ravindra Jadeja had caught the attention of the national selectors with his strong all-round showing in the 2008–09 Ranji Trophy – 42 wickets and 739 runs – and was picked for the ODI series in Sri Lanka. Ravindra Jadeja was selected by the Rajasthan Royals for the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, and played an important role in their victory. Jadeja scored 135 runs from 14 matches at a strike rate of 131.06, his best score being an unbeaten 36 against Kings XI Punjab. He did even better in 2009, scoring 295 runs at a strike rate of 110.90, and conceding fewer than 6.5 runs per over. Shane Warne, the captain of Rajasthan Royals, referred to Jadeja as a "superstar in the making". Warne also nicknamed him "Rockstar". His all-round utilities got him a spot in the Indian cricket team. His international debut came in the final match of the series on 8 February 2009. Currently, Ravindra Jadeja averages over 35 in Tests and has over 200 wickets while in ODIs, he is nearing 200 scalps. (Image credit: Twitter)
3. IPL Jasprit Bumrah
)
Jasprit Bumrah made his T20 debut against Maharashtra in the 2012–13 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and also helped his side clinch the title with his Man of the Match performance. His figures of 3/14 were instrumental to Gujarat's win over Punjab in the final. However, the 19-year old Bumrah grabbed instant limelight when on his Indian Premier League debut, he finished with figures of 3/32 against RCB. While doing so, he became only the second bowler in the side to take three wickets on debut. Though he played just a couple of games in the Pepsi IPL 2013 for Mumbai Indians, his impressive show in the domestic circuit convinced the Mumbai Indians management to buy him back for IPL 2014 season. Following his wonderful exploits, Bumrah made his international debut in 2016 and has since established himself as the spearhead of the attack. (Image credit: Twitter)
4. IPL Hardik Pandya
)
Hardik Pandya has been playing for Baroda cricket team since 2013. He played a vital role in Baroda winning the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2013–14 season but it was his exploits in the IPL which caught the eye of the Indian selectors. In the 2015 season of the Indian Premier League, he scored a quickfire 21 runs off 8 balls and grabbed three important catches to help Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets and was awarded the man of the match. After the first qualifier against Chennai Super Kings, Sachin Tendulkar called over Hardik and told him that he will play for India in the next 18 months. Within one year he was chosen to play in the Indian squad during 2016 Asia Cup and 2016 ICC World Twenty20. (Image credit: Twitter)
5. IPL Krunal Pandya
)
Krunal Pandya made his first-class debut on 6 October 2016, playing for Baroda during the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy tournament. Within the next few months, he became the leading run-scorer and leading wicket-taker for Baroda in 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He scored 366 runs in 8 matches, making for an average of 45.75 and strike rate of 81.33. This included three half-centuries, with a high score of 78. In bowling, he took 11 wickets in 8 matches with an economy rate of 4.82, an average of 25.09 and strike rate of 31.10. His best bowling score during the eight matches was 4/20. At the 2016 IPL auction, Mumbai Indians purchased Krunal Pandya for Rs 2 crore. He made his IPL debut in April 2016, playing against Gujarat Lions at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. His first wicket came with the dismissal of Dinesh Karthik, who was caught in the deep by Harbhajan Singh. Krunal Pandya's consistency for Mumbai Indians earned him a call to the Indian team and he made his debut against the West Indies in 2018. (Image credit: Twitter)
