Virat Kohli of RCB. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Indian Premier League (IPL) is the largest sporting event in India as it has made a place in the hearts of Indians not just as a cricket tournament but as a festival. In the last 15 years, 15 franchises took part in the league, of which 10 actively play in the tournament every year. Regarding city-wise participation, 12 cities have got a chance to be a part of the competition so far.
In the inaugural edition, top names such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Yuvraj Singh represented their respective home cities with the aim of helping their respective franchises to have a large fan following. However, after the third season, the scene changed as many prominent players went to different franchises based out of their cities.
At present, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant are playing for their home city based franchises in Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals, respectively. On the other hand, there are also some players who haven’t got a chance to play for their cities after 15 IPL editions.
Here are the five players who haven’t represented their home cities yet
5. Dinesh Karthik
In the maiden IPL edition, Dinesh Karthik joined Delhi Capitals (DC) and scored 145 runs in 13 matches as a lower-middle-order batter. Following his first season, the franchise backed the wicket-keeper batter for the next couple of seasons as well. After the third season, DC released him and he became part of five more franchises till 2021.
In 2011, Punjab Kings (PBKS) showed faith in him but broke ties with him before the next season. Similarly, Mumbai Indians (MI) also bought the veteran to reinforce their batting line-up in the fifth and sixth seasons but parted ways with him later. Following his experience and skills, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) signed Karthik in 2018 and appointed him as their skipper.
After representing different franchises in 14 IPL seasons, Karthik finally joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the second time in 2022. Earlier, he played for the three-time runners-up in 2015 as well. Witnessing his super keeping and batting skills, many franchises gave him a chance but his home team CSK never did that due to the availability of the star-batter MS Dhoni. However, it will be interesting to see if Karthik becomes a part of CSK after Dhoni’s retirement. Like the former India captain, Karthik could also be an ideal match-finisher and wicket-keeper for CSK.
4. Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill began his IPL career in 2018 after delivering a notable batting performance for India in the 2018 U-19 World Cup. From 2018-21 he served Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as an opener and scored 1,417 runs with 10 half-centuries in 58 games, at a strike rate of 123.00. With these numbers, he is also the eighth-leading run-scorer for the franchise.
In 2022, Gill could’ve represented his city-based franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) after getting released from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). As he has played a lot of cricket for Punjab in domestic cricket since 2017, he could’ve been proven a great addition to the PBKS squad if the franchise had shown interest in him. The right-hander’s T20 record for his local team is sensational as he has accumulated 2,779 runs with two tons and 17 half-centuries in 101 games, at a strike rate of 130.83.
However, recognising his match-winning capability, Gujarat Titans (GT) snapped him up to represent them in their debut IPL season. For his new team GT, the youngster contributed to the victory as he showed up with his bat scoring 483 runs with four fifties in 16 games at a strike rate of 132.32.
3. Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer has established himself as a reliable batter in the IPL. Since 2015, he is active in the league and has racked up 2,776 runs in 101 matches at a strike rate of 125.38. Back in 2015, he made his debut in the league for Delhi Capitals (DC). In his maiden IPL season, he looked impressive amassing 439 runs with four fifties in 14 games at a strike rate of 128.36.
In February 2016, Mumbai Indians (MI) showed interest in acquiring Iyer through the trading window but DC refused to do so. After six years, MI had a chance to rope him into their squad at the 2022 mega auction as the 2020 runners-up released the 28-year-old after availing of his services in seven IPL editions from 2015-21.
However, that didn’t happen as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fetched him at the auction for a whopping sum of 12.25 crore. At present, he is the skipper of KKR and will be seen leading the side in the sixteenth edition of the tournament.
2. Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is a premier bowler of Mumbai Indians (MI) due to his exceptional skills. The swashbuckling player’s maiden IPL appearance came in 2013 and since then, he hasn’t represented any franchises other than MI. The talented right-arm pacer rose through the ranks in the 2016 edition of the tournament, as he clinched 15 wickets for his team in 14 matches at an economy of 7.80.
The 29-year-old is the second most-successful bowler for MI after former Sri Lanka player and MI stalwart, Lasith Malinga. In his 10 years of league career, Bumrah has hunted 145 batters in 120 contests at an economy of 7.39. In domestic cricket, the ace India bowler’s home team is Gujarat, where he was born and brought up.
Last year, the people of Gujarat got an IPL franchise named Gujarat Titans (GT), which went on to win the title in their maiden season under Hardik Pandya. As Bumrah is from Gujarat, many GT fans would want to see the local boy representing their franchise in the future. However, in the present scenario, it seems unlikely for GT supporters to watch Bumrah playing for their favourite team.
1. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is the most successful batter in the international circuit as the veteran has showcased his mettle in all three forms of the sport. Discussing his IPL record, the 34-year-old is the leading run-scorer with 6,624 runs with five tons and 44 half-centuries in 223 matches at a strike rate of 129.14.
In 2008, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) picked Kohli following his heroics as a batter and skipper in the 2008 U-19 World Cup. Before the inaugural season, Delhi Capitals also got the opportunity to include local boy Kohli in their squad. However, DC chose the bowler Pradeep Sangwan instead of Kohli as they had enough batters in the squad.
From 2013-21, Kohli led RCB and delivered some incredible moments to the franchise’s fans with his leadership skills. The spunky India player delivered his best league performance in 2016 as he piled up 973 runs in 16 games with his bat and also guided RCB to the final of the competition with his captaincy.
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