The Indian T20 League has been a second home of sorts for several overseas players over the years. Several big shots have come to India and shone in the league to create a rapport with the crowd. While the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Lasith Malinga, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and David Warner have a fan following of their own, some of the overseas players have been underrated or not given as much fanfare as these aforementioned names.
Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler's stocks rose in the last couple of seasons and the fact that he went against Ravichandran Ashwin in that infamous mankading incident did not favour him either, but the England wicket-keeper batsman has had a rollicking time with Rajasthan in the Indian T20 League. His quick starts have been quintessential to keep Rajasthan away from the bottom rung of the table. In the last two seasons, Buttler has 548 and 311 runs respectively in the Indian T20 League at strikes rate of 155.24 and 151.70.
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Imran Tahir
Imran Tahir is one heavily underrated T20 bowler despite shining across several franchise leagues and international cricket since making his debut. The Proteas leg-spinner has 79 wickets in 55 Indian T20 League matches at an average of 20.33 and an economy of 7.88. Last season, he picked up 26 wickets in 17 games for Chennai and bowled at an economy rate of 6.69. His impact in Chennai's surge to the finals was nothing less than massive.
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Shane Watson
While Shane Watson has been around since the start of the Indian T20 League, he hasn't quite become a name like Chris Gayle or AB de Villiers despite a mind-blowing record in the Indian T20 League. The Australian all-rounder has 3575 runs in the league at an average of 31.08, a strike rate close to 140 and four centuries. He also has 92 wickets and a hat-trick to his name in the league. His knocks in the Indian T20 League 2018 and 2019 finals show why Watson is a standout player in the big games. It's a shame he isn't regarded as one of the greatest overseas players in the league's history.
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Feature image courtesy: AFP / Sajjad Hussain
