The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League is here and Wisden looks into an XI of international players who played T20I cricket but have never played in the IPL.

Marcus Trescothick

The England opener played a bit after the IPL began but never became a part of the league. England players weren’t too common in the IPL in early years and the league missed out on an elite opener who hit two T20 hundreds and struck at over 150 in an 89-match career.

Paul Stirling

The Ireland player has enrolled for the auction multiple times but hasn’t found takers. A veteran of 233 matches, Stirling has a strike-rate of 142.54 in T20s including a hundred and 41 fifties. He also adds value as a part-time bowling option, having taken 72 wickets in the format with a best of 4-10.

Babar Azam

Pakistan players are unlikely to ever be a part of the IPL in the future and you have to feel Babar Azam misses out here. A classical batsman in the Virat Kohli mould, Babar would be an asset for most teams in the IPL, with his 5,999 T20 runs coming at an average of 45.1 and a strike-rate of 128.07 with four hundreds.

Joe Root

Root may not be a part of the England T20I setup currently, but the middle-order batsman has a decent T20 record, averaging in the mid-30s with a strike-rate close to 130. More than raw numbers, Root’s ability to counter spin and play all around the wicket makes him a surprising player to have never played in the most popular T20 league in the planet.

Mushfiqur Rahim

Rahim has been part of the auction for a record number of years, still finding no takers. A more than handy wicketkeeper batsman with a good T20 record, Rahim’s ilk is still popular in T20 cricket and it’s odd that he has never played in the IPL.

Grant Elliott

A finisher and handy middle-order batsman with an ability to roll his arm over with a few dibbly dobblies, Elliott never played in the IPL. With an ability to take on pace at will in the death overs, Elliott will be a valuable asset to this team.

Craig McMillan

Craig McMillan was among the cream of early T20I batters and if it were not for his role in the ICL, the New Zealand player would have found takers in the Indian Premier League. The dashing middle-order batsman is a fine death overs batsman and can bowl handy medium pace too. He ended his T20I career with a stunning strike-rate of 159.82.

Adil Rashid

Adil Rashid was a part of the IPL auction in 2021 but found no takers with Indian spinners in abundance. The No.4 ranked T20I bowler in the ICC bowling rankings, Rashid has been phenomenally consistent in the shortest format of the game. With more than 200 wickets in the format, the England spinner could still squeeze into the league in future years.

Graeme Swann

Swann’s record for England in the shortest format of the game is incredible. His 51 wickets in T20Is came at an average of 16.84 and an economy of 6.36. If he were playing at a time England players had as much access to the IPL as now, Swann would have surely found takers. Sadly, none of his 98 wickets in T20 cricket came in the IPL.

Stuart Broad

Broad is no longer in England’s limited-overs setup, but even at a time when he was a key member of the squad, he never got a game in the IPL. The tall England seamer is one of the two fast bowlers in this squad with his career tally of 100 wickets at 21.44 and an economy just above 7 worthy of a quality T20 bowler.

Mohammad Amir

Still one of the best T20 bowlers in the world, Mohammad Amir, like Babar, will likely never play in the IPL because of where he hails from. The left-arm fast bowler has 220 T20 wickets at an average of 22.5 and a best of 6-17. If only…

Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match awards, player interviews, analysis and much more.