6 Indian players who have never represented their home team in IPL

The Indian Premier League (IPL) started off with the concept of marquee players for many of the franchisees. The icon players – Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh – were assigned to their respective city’s sides to increase fan support and interest among the locals.Even in the first auction, a lot of emphasis was placed by the franchisees on capturing the ‘local’ players for their respective teams. Anil Kumble, Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman thus went on to play for their home teams in the IPL. This trend continued in the coming seasons, with franchisees focussing on capturing the stars of the state team which their IPL side represents.The Chennai Super Kings wasted no time in picking up Murali Vijay, Ravichandran Ashwin and Subramanium Badrinath. Robin Uthappa and Vinay Kumar went on to represent the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rohit Sharma was later named as captain of the Mumbai Indians, Ashish Nehra and Shikhar Dhawan became regulars for Delhi Daredevils for a bit, Mohammed Shami and Wriddhiman Saha were selected by Kolkata Knight Riders and so on.However, there are some players whose home city boasts of an IPL team, but they have never played for that team in the IPL. We take a look at 6 of the top Indian players who currently play in the IPL and haven’t gotten a chance to represent their home team in the IPL:

#6 Stuart Binny

Domestic Team: Karnataka

IPL Team(s): Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals

Born and brought up in Bangalore, Stuart Binny made his debut for Karnataka in the 2003-04 season. He joined the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) and emerged as one of the tournament's premier all-rounders.

Binny was selected by the Mumbai Indians (MI) on his acceptance of BCCI’s amnesty offer. He was not involved in a lot of matches and was signed by Rajasthan Royals (RR) as an uncapped player in the 2011 season.

Just like his domestic career, Binny came to prominence in the IPL in a slow but steady manner. He has played some crucial knocks for RR, like the unbeaten 41 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) which helped RR reach the playoffs. He made his name as an all-rounder which led to him representing India and subsequently, holding the record for the best ODI bowling figures by an Indian bowler (6/4 against Bangladesh).

Binny is an important player for RR and he won’t be playing for his home IPL team RCB anytime soon.

#5 Ambati Rayudu

Domestic Team: Hyderabad, Andhra, Baroda

IPL Team(s): Mumbai Indians

Ambati Rayudu made his domestic debut for Hyderabad in the 2001-02 season. He was involved in a lot of on-field controversies and went on to play for Andhra the next year. He went on to play for Hyderabad again, the next year and captained the India U19 side. Constant ignorance from the national selectors led to him joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

He came back to official cricket after accepting BCCI’s amnesty offer in 2010. Rayudu was with the Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2010 as a middle order batsman. His performance as a part time wicketkeeper won him a lot of praise from critics.

Rayudu was classified as an uncapped player and thus, was not a part of the IPL 2011 auction. Rayudu rejected offers from Royal Challengers Bangalore before signing for MI again. He had an impressive season, scoring 395 runs in 16 matches, including 4 half-centuries. He has put in a lot of impressive knocks for MI and is an integral part of their middle order currently.

He now plays for Baroda in domestic cricket.

#4 Dinesh Karthik

Domestic Team: Tamil Nadu

IPL Team(s): Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore

Dinesh Karthik, the dashing wicket-keeper batsman from Tamil Nadu, made his first-class debut for his state team in 2002, at the age of 17, on the back of stellar performances at the junior level. It was not long before he made his international debut against England at Lord’s in 2004. He has been in and out of the Indian team since then, but has been a star for Tamil Nadu, having captained them in the Ranji Trophy in 2009-10.

Karthik has represented four different IPL teams, but not the Chennai Super Kings. He was part of the Delhi Daredevils (DD) side for the first three seasons and joined the Kings XI Punjab for the 2011 season. His stint at the Preity Zinta-owned side didn’t last long as he was traded after a year to the Mumbai Indians.

It was during this period that Karthik shone for MI which led to an international recall. He was an important contributor to MI’s success during these two seasons but was not retained by MI for IPL 2014. His performances caught the attention of Delhi and he wore the DD jersey again in 2014.

Karthik is now a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), possibly CSK’s biggest rival.

#3 Ishant Sharma

Domestic Team: Delhi

IPL Team(s): Kolkata Knight Riders, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad

Ishant Sharma has played only 14 first-class games for Delhi owing to his early rise in international cricket. He played for the Indian senior team at the age of 19 and after his memorable tour of Australia in 2007-08, he was picked up for a whopping $950,000 by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), beating off competition from the Delhi Daredevils, who were keen to pick up their rising star.

Ishant had a forgettable stint with KKR and was released by them after three seasons. His waning international performances led to him being selected by the Deccan Chargers for $450,000. He went on to represent Sunrisers Hyderabad and was re-signed by them in 2014 for Rs. 2.6 crores. It is highly unlikely that Ishant will get to wear the Delhi colours anytime soon.

#2 Harbhajan Singh

Domestic Team: Punjab

IPL Team(s): Mumbai Indians

Harbhajan Singh, the former captain of the Punjab state cricket team, has been a regular for the same since 1997. It is, therefore, a surprise that the wily off-spinner has never played for his home IPL team, the Kings XI Punjab.

Harbhajan has been a Mumbai Indians (MI) loyalist since the IPL began. He was selected by the Mumbai-based side for the first edition of the IPL for a whopping $850,000 and has never been released by them.

He is an ex-captain too, leading the side in the first edition of the IPL and the 2011 CLT20, which MI won. He has become a senior figure for MI over the years and has become a key figure, both with bat and ball. His best moments with the Mumbai Indians include Man of the Match performances in the 2011 and 2013 CLT20 finals, which inspired MI to emerge victorious on both occasions.

It is highly unlikely that MI will let Harbhajan leave for any other IPL team anytime soon.

#1 Virat Kohli

Domestic Team: Delhi

IPL Team(s): Royal Challengers Bangalore

It is hard to believe that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) signed Virat Kohli for just $30,000 on a youth contract in 2008. Born and brought up in Delhi, Kohli was part of the West Delhi Cricket Academy before making his first-class debut for Delhi against Tamil Nadu at the age of 18.

He came into the spotlight when he emerged as the leading run-getter for Delhi in the Inter-State T20 tournament. He captained the victorious India U19 side in 2008, playing many memorable knocks in the tournament which led to him signing for RCB and not the Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural edition of the IPL.

Kohli didn’t have a great first tournament, averaging just 15. However, he grew as a player in the subsequent editions of the IPL and was the only player retained by RCB after IPL 2010. He went to become the permanent captain of RCB in 2013. He has become the adopted son of Bengaluru and looks set to be the same for years to come, resisting any attempts by Delhi to sign their local star.