IPL's greatest foreign player?

[Manny_Pacquiao]

Of all the foreign cricketers to have played the IPL, who's the best?

If we had to make a poll, here are the contenders:

1. Chris Gayle: has the record for highest ever score of 175. Two time purple cap winner, singlehandedly carried RCB into the 2011 final. Most hundreds in IPL history (6).

2. AB de Villiers: starred in the two highest ever partnerships in IPL history (229 and 215 with Virat Kohli). Many memorable innings for RCB, most notably a 79 not out chasing (from 31/5) in the 2016 qualifier.

3. Sunil Narine: un-hittable since his first season in the IPL. Also became a pinch-hitting opener. Has the lowest economy rate in IPL history. Won 2 IPLs.

4. David Warner: best opener in IPL history. Most runs ever by a foreign player, and most runs ever by a foreign player in a single season (848). A great captain as well, led his team to the title in 2016.

5. Dwayne Bravo: possibly the best ever all-rounder in IPL history. Two time purple cap winner, one of them being the record for most wickets in a single season til date (32). Won 2 IPLs.

6. Lasith Malinga: the best bowler in IPL history. Highest ever wicket taker. Won 4 IPLs.

 

Gayle was the best entertainer, arguably the most memorable foreigner to have played in India. Loved by the crowds, created a lot of hype and interest in the IPL. I can't imagine anyone beating his highest ever score of 175.

However, I cannot ignore Malinga's record. Most decorated player with 4 titles. Highest ever wicket taker in a batsman's game. Consistently good every season. The ideal IPL bowler; a deceptive action, possessing pace, yorker, and a good slower ball. Without him, MI wouldn't have played 5 finals.

Malinga is the best foreign player in the history of the IPL. His overall record will be hard to beat.

[Jimmy Cliff]

Warner. 3 Orange Caps in 5 years is brutal. Not to mention being 2nd highest run scorer when SRH won in 2016. 

[Manny_Pacquiao]

1 minute ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Warner. 3 Orange Caps in 5 years is brutal. Not to mention being 2nd highest run scorer when SRH won in 2016. 

He's a stud.

Australia's greatest ever limited overs batsman, IMO.

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

1 minute ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Warner. 3 Orange Caps in 5 years is brutal. Not to mention being 2nd highest run scorer when SRH won in 2016. 

also he was the captain when they won, great fielder as well 

[Nikola]

Warner was top scorer in 2015, 2017 and 2019. He missed out in 2016 when kohli had great year but warner scored 800 odd runs and won ipl trophy as captain. In 2018 he didn't play so whenever he has play he has huge impact.

 

I would swap bravo with watson. He is pretty decent with ball and has been very consistent at top of the order with bat. 4 IPL tons as batsman and he batted many times down the order as well. I would also like to have andre russel for kind of knocks he has played with bat that can't even be imagined many times. 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Nikola

[Manny_Pacquiao]

5 minutes ago, Nikola said:

Warner was top scorer in 2015, 2017 and 2019. He missed out in 2016 when kohli had great year but warner scored 800 odd runs and won ipl trophy as captain. In 2018 he didn't play so whenever he has play he has huge impact.

You don't think malinga makes a bigger difference?

 

I know IPL is a batsman's game, but a good bowler is priceless, and Malinga is the best one by far. he wins matches on his own.

[Nikola]

3 minutes ago, Manny_Pacquiao said:

You don't think malinga makes a bigger difference?

 

I know IPL is a batsman's game, but a good bowler is priceless, and Malinga is the best one by far. he wins matches on his own.

Didn't watch ipl much when he was at his peak and i would go with my recent memory actually but yeah cause t20 is mostly batsman dominated game and bowler even on his best days can only bowl 4 overs so i will say batsman will more often than not win the contest. 

[Jimmy Cliff]

44 minutes ago, Manny_Pacquiao said:

He's a stud.

Australia's greatest ever limited overs batsman, IMO.

 

Professor Deano still ahead for me among top order batsmen. Won't compare him to Bevan or Hussey who had a different role.

[Jimmy Cliff]

Watto should be a part of this list. MOTS twice and MOTM in the 2018 Final. Almost won the Chuskis the last final single-handedly too.

[Ankit_sharma03]

Add

russell

watson

rashid khan 

[Manny_Pacquiao]

27 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Watto should be a part of this list. MOTS twice and MOTM in the 2018 Final. Almost won the Chuskis the last final single-handedly too.

Yeah, he's close. in hindsight, I should have put him there.

 

He also had a big season for the rajasthan royals when they won in 2008.

 

like warner, i think he owes his career to IPL.

 

Didn't IPL scout these guys before australia did?

[Manny_Pacquiao]

22 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

Add

russell

watson

rashid khan 

 

Russell is a bit of an under-achiever. close, but not worthy of belonging in that list.

[Ankit_sharma03]

19 minutes ago, Manny_Pacquiao said:

 

Russell is a bit of an under-achiever. close, but not worthy of belonging in that list.

how ? he is literally taking KKR on his shoulder....someone like narine has lots his impact post action correction

[Jimmy Cliff]

27 minutes ago, Manny_Pacquiao said:

Yeah, he's close. in hindsight, I should have put him there.

 

He also had a big season for the rajasthan royals when they won in 2008.

 

like warner, i think he owes his career to IPL.

 

Didn't IPL scout these guys before australia did?

Not really. Watson made his international debut way back in 2002. Warner too had already played for Australia before joining DD.

[nevada]

Of all the foreign players I like Warner the most. He consistently plays his best cricket, mindful of entertaining the crowds. No wonder they cheer him on so much. Also, notable mention is Shane Warne, who used imaginative captaincy to lead his relatively inexperienced team to a title in the first edition. 

[velu]

gayle and abbv are boxoffice 

[Manny_Pacquiao]

On 5/1/2020 at 10:43 AM, Jimmy Cliff said:

Not really. Watson made his international debut way back in 2002. Warner too had already played for Australia before joining DD.

Watson was injury prone and needed the IPL to revive his career. i also thought warner got a huge boost from the IPL, he got dropped after some low scores and he wouldn't have returned to the squad if the daredevils didn't play him in 2009.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

On 5/2/2020 at 5:17 AM, nevada said:

Of all the foreign players I like Warner the most. He consistently plays his best cricket, mindful of entertaining the crowds. No wonder they cheer him on so much. Also, notable mention is Shane Warne, who used imaginative captaincy to lead his relatively inexperienced team to a title in the first edition. 

 

Yeah, i forgot warne. Great captain, really embraced the IPL and gave chances to young indian players like jadeja, yusuf, asnodkar, etc.

[MechEng]

How can you miss out Steyn? He's bowled some crazy spells in IPL in 2010-2012, would also reach 157 kph many times in his spells. 

[MechEng]

As per the poll, they're all IPL ATGs. But my personal bias will go for Gayle slightly edging Malinga.