5 cricketers who played for unusual teams

It’s always of major surprise for the cricket community when a player associated with one team decides to don the colours of another team. The circumstances and the reasons for such decisions hold entertaining stories in themselves.

Be it for a break from the national team or to get back form or fitness, or to restart careers after retirement, this list takes a look at five such players who turned out in other local/foreign colours after having donned the jersey for their respective national teams.

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1. When Rahul Dravid played for Scotland

Dravid in action during his stint in Scotland (Image courtesy: Yahoo)

It was in 2003 that Rahul Dravid represented the Scottish Saltires when he turned up to play in the county circuit for three months. The then India coach John Wright had convinced Gwynne Jones, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Cricket Union, that Dravid and not Tendulkar was the ideal player to have in the Scottish league.

“The person who is really going to do things for you, on and off the field, is Rahul Dravid,” said Wright.

Thus it was that Jammy accepted the offer and ended up playing 11 National Cricket League games and a one-off game against Pakistan in June 2003. Rahul Dravid has always been vocal about how his time in County helped him.

He failed to lead the Scottish club to victory, managing only a single win out of the 12 matches he played in. Still, his sublime form resulted in a superb individual performance throughout his time with Scotland where he scored three centuries and amassed 600 runs at an average of 66.66.

2. Ramesh Powar played for Sefton Park

Ramesh Powar had scalped 442 First-Class wickets in his 15-year-old domestic career

Ramesh Powar was a part of the Indian ODI team as an off-spinner. He had always proved himself successful in domestic circuits and was an important part of Mumbai’s Ranji triumph in the 2002-03 season. In July 2005, he was signed on as a late replacement by Sefton Park in place of the injured Vinayak Mane who was unable to travel due to a hip surgery.

Sefton Park are one of the founding members of The Liverpool and District Cricket competition which later became a part of the ECB Premier Leagues. Powar played ten games for the side and contributed with 325 runs at an average of 32.5. He also was effective with the ball and picked up 25 wickets at an average of 21. Besides Powar, Zimbabwe’s Brendan Taylor and West Indian Marlon Blach have also played for the club.

3. Michael Clarke played for Kowloon Cantons

Michael Clarke is action for the Kowloon Cantons

Following his retirement from international cricket in August 2015, Michael Clarke tried to make a comeback to T20 cricket by playing for Kowloon Cantons in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz. It was the first time the Hong Kong league could boast of having a player who had been a Test captain overseeing a famous Ashes whitewash, the 2015 World Cup victory and had been at the top of the ICC batting rankings.

In the interim gap between retirement and his foray into the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, Clarke played for Sydney club Western Suburbs. However, his comeback did not go as planned as he could only manage six runs in his debut against Hung Hom Jaguars before being dismissed by Jangzeb Khan.

The former Australian captain showed glimpses of his brilliance against the Island Warriors where he scored 15 off 10 balls before rain played a spoilsport. He also bowled 1.2 overs conceding 12 runs before the match got washed out. Kowloon Cantons and the Woodworm Warriors were the joint winners of the event.

4. Mohammad Asif playing club cricket in Norway

Mohammad Asif

After returning from his 5-year ban, back in 2015, Mohammad Asif joined the Christiania Cricket Club in Oslo to work on his fitness and prepare himself for Pakistan’s upcoming domestic season. He joined the Norway based club trying to make a comeback to the national team.

Christiania Cricket Club, founded in 2008, with an estimated $280,974 in yearly revenue. Amir had apparently chosen the club because of the good training facilities and weather conditions in Oslo. “My dream is to make a comeback and play for three to four years. I want to play a good standard of cricket again – that’s my dream,” he had said back then.

5. Kevin Pietersen plays for Piers Morgan's XI under Newick Cricket Club

Kevin Pietersen plays for Piers Morgan’s side

Kevin Pietersen's tryst with village cricket reached new levels just before Ashes 2015 when he posted a video of himself playing for the East Anglian seventh division side Filchester CC in a bid to impress the selectors of ECB for his inclusion in the national side.

Pietersen has consistently played with his friend, Piers Morgan, in his traditional family team called Piers Morgan's XI. This unofficial side is registered under Newick Cricket Club. A friendly involving Morgan’s team and Newick County XI is played every year, and the former English captain has consistently participated in the annual event since 2008.

Piers Morgan, a self-professed lover of cricket, has often spoken of the friendship he shares with Kevin Pietersen and how that helped him to enlist the batsman into his club.