Five overseas stars who improved their image in India with IPL

#1 Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

From being the burly swashbuckler of Indian bowling to the infamous Monkeygate scandal, Andrew Symonds was arguably the most hated cricketer in India. His fearless devil-may-care attitude occasionally irritated even Cricket Australia but the skill-set he offered was too wide to keep him out of the team.

Earning the title of 'best fielder I have seen' from an acrobat like Ponting testified to his skills. Symonds belonged to the earliest batch of players whose game was tailor-made for T20s. As a result, he was scooped by the Deccan Chargers for a hefty sum in the inaugural auctions.

Though he could make little impact in that season and missed a chunk of the South African leg due to international assignments, he played some critical knocks once he was back and helped Chargers lift their maiden title in 2008.

The best part was when he was bought by Mumbai in the 2010 auction. Symonds shared some light moments with his old nemesis Harbhajan Singh in the Mumbai camp, and them coming to terms later became a great advertisement for the gentleman's game. From there, Symonds took a special liking to Indian culture. He has since featured in a television reality show and even played a cameo in Akshay Kumar's Patiala House.