Rohit Sharma couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was 2015 and India were playing South Africa in an ODI series decider at the Wankhede in Mumbai. The visitors were running riot. Batting first, they systematically decimated the Indian bowling and ended up making a stunning 438. The innings had featured a particularly unhinged AB de Villiers knock. His 119 in 61 balls featured 11 sixes.
But, it wasn’t the carnage sparked by De Villiers that Sharma couldn’t fathom. It was the fact that he had the jam-packed Wankhede dancing to his tune; the capacity crowd chanted his name as he brought up his century.
“What the hell is going on?” Sharma said in bafflement to his teammates on the field.
Indian cricket crowds are as passionate as they are partisan. The opposition is seldom serenaded in the way De Villiers was. But, what Sharma didn’t understand was that it wasn’t ABD, South Africa captain, who was being cheered. It was ABD, Indian Premier League legend.
The IPL’s strength lies in its ability to blend in foreign imports without compromising on its authenticity. The tournament is the perfect encapsulation of the fervour and frenzy that mark Indian cricket. The non-Indian players have only enhanced its flavour.
There’s a select group of foreign players who have had a bigger role in this than others. The foreign players who have defined the league and in the process, redefined Indian cricket. Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan, David Warner, Lasith Malinga and Chris Gayle fall under this category.
You’d be hard-pressed to find an Englishman in the IPL Hall of Fame. Jos Buttler is making a case to be included but he’s not quite there yet. Given England’s white-ball dominance in the last five years, it’s a strange proposition to be encountered by.
You have to go a few years back to understand why. The English Cricket Board (ECB) was slow in its embrace of what they considered a renegade league. Centrally contracted players weren’t allowed to take part in the first season of the IPL; Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas was the only Englishman in the 2008 edition. The ruling, which was supposed to carry over into the second season, was eventually revoked.
Six English players took part in 2009, including Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff who became the highest-paid players in the league at the time. But, it wasn’t quite Vive la Revolution for England in the IPL; eight English players registered themselves for the 2010 auction but just one (Eoin Morgan) was picked.
Dan Weston, who is a senior analyst at Kent and was a part of the Punjab Kings’ auction team last year, believes England’s slow embrace of the IPL left them playing catch-up on the international circuit.
“English cricket, with several exceptions like Kevin Pietersen, didn't really have that attacking brand and as a national team maybe they weren't quite up with the other countries. For example, the West Indies were really, really strong early on in the T20s. England wasn't like that,” he said.
It was a vicious cycle they were trapped in. English players not being picked in the IPL auction led to poor performances for the national team which led to them not being picked up in the auction.
Consider how until 2018, only 16 English players had made an appearance in the league. And there was often an availability issue with those that did take part, with players frequently leaving before the playoffs due to scheduling conflicts.
“I think that it's difficult to build a legacy with that in mind as well. I remember Malinga defending an impossible task on the last over to win the tournament for Mumbai a few years back. And then obviously if you leave early, you don't have the opportunities to do that,” said Weston.
The scheduling conflict has also prevented English coaches from taking up gigs in the IPL, owing to the overlap with the county season. To date, there hasn’t been a single English head coach in the IPL. By contrast, there have been on average nearly four Australian coaches in every season as the Big Bash and Sheffield Shield finish before the league begins. It’s what explains the bias towards Australian players in the early editions of the IPL, notes Weston.
But, the white-ball revolution in English cricket has begun to permeate into the league. Barring India of course, no country had more players in last year’s mega auction (27) than England. There are 13 English players taking part this season, the joint-highest along with Australia.
Sam Curran became the most expensive player in the history of the IPL, after being purchased for £1.84 million by Punjab Kings. The all-rounder proved his worth a couple of nights ago, defending 16 runs off the last over in a tense game against Buttler’s Rajasthan Royals.
Jofra Archer was the season MVP in 2020, Moeen Ali was one of Chennai’s key players in their triumph in 2021 and last year, Buttler scored four centuries on his way to the Orange Cap, for most runs scored. The fact that these performances came in Covid-hit seasons played in predominantly empty stadiums or in some cases outside India took away their sheen.
The common thread that runs through all the foreign IPL icons has been their ability to connect with the Indian crowds. Entertaining is just as important as engaging. Warner made Instagram reels dancing to famous Telugu songs when he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Dwayne Bravo made a cameo appearance in a Tamil film during his time at Chennai Super Kings. De Villiers has spoken of Bangalore feeling like Pretoria and was often found walking around the city.
Now, compare this with Morgan, who during his time with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012 was asked in an interview if he liked Kolkata and flat-out said no before providing details as to why that was the case. Morgan was a part of the KKR’s first title-winning squad and even captained the side to the final in 2021, but he never managed to ingratiate himself with fans.
De Villiers never won the IPL during his time at Royal Challengers Bangalore yet tens of thousands of fans poured into the Chinnaswamy Stadium for his jersey retirement at the start of this season.
So take note, Sam Curran: doing something as simple as taking an auto rickshaw ride around Mohali with your family can do wonders for your IPL legacy.
The World Cups and ICC rankings have been conquered; the final frontier for England's white-ball revolution is the IPL.
