International Stars Sparkle at IPL 2023 as Orange and Purple Cap Race Hots Up!

As the IPL juggernaut rages on with the tournament close to completing one month, the recent week saw the foreign players rule the roost creating major impact for their franchises. Ever since Brendon McCullum hit the first IPL century in the first match itself in 2008, many overseas players like Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers have created their own fanfare and thrilled cricket lovers with scintillating displays of their talent. IPL may be a cash cow for many foreign players but their presence has also been a catalyst for Indian youngsters as they learn from them and quicken their journey to the national team.

The first name that comes to mind for IPL 2023 is Harry Brooks who hit this season’s first century for Sunrisers Hyderabad. His first few matches were total failures as he was unable to live up to the hype that was created after the IPL auction where he was bought by Hyderabad for Rs 13.25 crore. But the England batsman silenced his critics by hitting an unbeaten century of just 55 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders in a winning cause.

The Orange Cap for leading run scorers is currently with the South African batsman, Faf du Plessis, with 343 runs. He is also the current Royal Challengers Bangalore captain and has been in fine form. In the last 4 games that he has batted, Faf has scored 3 half centuries and is one of the reasons along with Kohli’s batting that RCB finds itself with 3 wins out of 6 games. He is 38 years old but has proven that old is gold with his form and fitness. Faf ’s presence in a squad full of youngsters should be an opportunity for them to soak his experience and learn the tricks of the trade alongside him.

Then there is the curious case of David Warner, who hasn’t been in the best of form but still manages to be at number 2 in the top run getters table. His natural flair has been missing in Delhi’s poor campaign this year, where the team has lost 5 out of 6 matches and yet to gain any sort of momentum. The absence of Rishabh Pant and misfiring Mitchell Marsh has meant that Warner has had to take additional responsibility to stabilize the innings in the middle. But it does serve as a great example to many young batting talents that flexibility is the key to longevity in international cricket.

Beyond batting brilliance, some overseas players have come up with phenomenal bowling performances in IPL 2023. Among pacers, England’s Mark Wood is bowling fiery spells in every match for Lucknow Super Giants. Starting their campaign at home. In his debut for the franchise, Wood snared the scalps of Prithvi Shaw and Mitchell Marsh on back-to-back deliveries in his very first over. After clinching both wickets, he got more aggressive and fetched a fifer. Since then, he hasn’t looked back and with 11 wickets in 4 matches, he currently ranks second in the race for Purple Cap.

The other pacer who has impressed is veteran Kiwi, Trent Boult, who puts up a swing bowling masterclass in almost every game he plays for Rajasthan. He too grabbed two wickets in his first over against Delhi and ended with superb figures of 4-1-29-3. The left-arm pacer provides crucial breakthroughs at the start, has been a wily threat for all batters and lends a special potency to the Royals attack this season.

Among the spinners, it is Rashid Khan who has provided the most amazing spells. His best performance was against Kolkata Knight Riders where he managed to get a hat-trick. In his first three games, he bagged 8 wickets and though he has slowed down a bit in the last couple of games, the right-arm leggie is at the 3rd spot in the Purple Cap race with 11 wickets in 5 games so far. His wrist spinning abilities in the IPL season have once again underlined why Rashid is one of the most feared and featured bowlers in world cricket!

More than the learning that Indian domestic players find from rubbing shoulders with the overseas stars, it’s the bonhomie that gets created between cricketers from all over the world which has been the biggest gain for the game. It’s a win- win for both the fans and the players as it results in evolution of cricketing skills with each passing year through the IPL experience!

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

SIDDHAARTH MAHAN The writer is a specialist on Sports and Cinema who works as an actor in the Hindi fi lm industry