Cricket Legends That Never Played IPL

Legends who never played IPL [Source: @adi25611, @ICC, @sport24cricket/x]

Cricket is adorned with countless celebrated icons whose influence has transcended eras and continents. However, some storied careers have unfolded in a way that has certainly left fans wondering about the paths not taken.

Speaking on the subject, some of the biggest names from the 21st century never stepped into the world of franchise-based T20 cricket, a format introduced in the mid-2000s that quickly turned into a global cricketing marvel.

At the heart of that surge now stands the Indian Premier League (IPL), cricket’s biggest carnival and the world’s second biggest sports league ever. The scale and the global pull of the IPL make it even more striking that a handful of the game’s most revered names from the past couple of decades have never graced the tournament.

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Here, we take a look at some of cricket’s biggest icons whose careers somehow ran (or still runs) parallel to the IPL era, yet never intersected with it.

5. James Anderson

James Anderson, a veteran of 188 Tests and over 200 white-ball games retired from the sport with nearly 1,000 international wickets in his collection. Yet, for all the grounds he conquered and milestones he ticked off, the IPL remained a chapter that was never written in his career.

Anderson, however, did come close. But reports have it that the legendary fast bowler rejected multiple IPL offers to prolong his Test career for England.

He played 35 T20 games for Lancashire, 19 T20Is for England and only pursued a franchise stint a year after drawing curtains on his international career, doing so for the Manchester Originals in The Hundred 2025 season.

4. Mushfiqur Rahim

Bangladesh’s legendary all-format cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim applied his name among the IPL’s auction roaster numerous times in his career. However, the seasoned pro failed to attract even a single bid from any of the franchises.

In any case, with nearly 16,000 international runs to his name across all formats, Mushfiqur remains one of the best wicketkeeper-batters the world had to offer this century. The former Bangladesh captain did manage to carve his legacy in his nation’s very own franchise league, the BPL. With 153 BPL caps to his name, Rahim has listed 3,690 runs so far at a healthy average of nearly 36.

3. Paul Stirling

Not quite an all-format icon, but certainly one of the greatest T20I batters of his generation, Paul Stirling has long been Ireland’s white-ball talisman. The prolific opener has played 163 T20I games for Ireland, and is currently one of the format’s biggest run-aggregators to date with nearly 4,000 runs to his name.

Stirling has also tonked 25 fifty-plus scores in T20Is, and 59 across all forms of T20 cricket. In spite of his penchant of scoring big runs and establishing himself in other T20 leagues like The Hundred and the BPL, the hard-hitting batting all-rounder never found his name in any IPL squad sheet for any franchise.

However, unlike others on this list, Paul Stirling still has both age and intent on his side, keeping the door to the IPL slightly ajar.

2. Stuart Broad

Much like James Anderson, his longtime pace mate Stuart Broad also declined offers of playing in IPL to prioritize his Test career for England. One-half of Test cricket’s most proficient pace portmanteau, Broad also never actively pursued franchise cricket in other leagues, and only played 23 T20 games in BBL and T20 Blast combined.

One can say that rejecting IPL offers turned out well for the former cricketer, as he concluded his Test career with 604 wickets and with an overhaul career tally of 847 sticks. He was also a part of the England team that lifted the 2010 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

1. Brian Lara

Even though Brian Lara was not entirely a pre-T20 dinosaur, most of his prime had passed before the IPL riches began reshaping world cricket. In all honesty, the cricketer did apply his name for an IPL auction back in late 2010 for the 2011 season. Putting himself in the highest price band, no franchise bought him.

One of the greatest batters of all-time, Brian Lara eventually joined the IPL, albeit as a member of the SRH coaching staff in 2022. He was appointed as team’s batting coach and worked alongside the likes of Dale Steyn and Tom Moody.

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