Let us look at five cricketers who have played for unusual teams in order to make some money, to make a comeback in international cricket, to get more recognition and many other reasons.during their respective careers.
Rahul Dravid – Scotland (Scottish Saltires)
Not many people are aware of the fact that former Indian captain Rahul Dravid turned up for Scotland in as many as eleven games in 2003.
Dravid has actually played for Scotland in the year 2003, Dravid offered his services for the Scotland side and played 11 ODI matches. The batting legend scored 600 runs for the Scotland side in the 11 matches that he played and scored his runs at an average in excess of 60. Dravid last played an international match for India in January 2012.
Dravid went on to play 11 games for them and only ended up winning one. However, he smashed three centuries and left with an average of 66.66 and credited this experience as one that helped him in his cricketing career.
Dravid’s 45,000-pound contract was funded majorly by NRIs living in Scotland as the country wanted one of the Indian international cricketers to prepare them for the future.
“I enjoyed the friendships with players, officials, something I maintain till today. For both me and my wife it was a special three months to get love and warmth of the people of Scotland. I would have loved the game to have been at the Grains, though,” Dravid had said in 2007.
Ramesh Powar – Sefton Park
Ramesh Powar played for Sefton Park in the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition, signed as a late replacement for the injured Vinayak Mane in July 2005. He scored 325 league runs at 32.5 in ten games and took 25 wickets at 21 apiece.
Powar was first selected in the Indian squad for their tour of Pakistan. He did not return to the ODI side again until early 2006. His recall came on the back of 63 domestic wickets in 2005-06. It was the second season in a row that he had taken over 50 wickets.
He ended up playing for the Sefton Park cricket club in Liverpool and picked up an impressive 25 wickets in addition to the 325 runs that he scored.
Michael Clarke – Kowloon Cantons
Following his retirement from international cricket 2015, Michael Clarke made a comeback in T20 cricket by playing for Kowloon Cantons in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz. It was the first time a player of Clarke’s caliber who was a World Cup winner, Ashes-winning captain represented the Hong Kong league. Hongkong league got international fame when cricketers like Clarke participated in it.
He played for the Kowloon Cantons in the Hong Kong league but was not able to show his true form in the tournament owing to rainy conditions. Clarke did manage a good 15 off 10 balls before rain played spoilsport. He also bowled 1.2 overs conceding 12 runs before the match got washed out and they ended up winning the tournament.
Kevin Pietersen – Piers Morgan XI
The South African-born has played 273 international games for England and scored more than 13,000 runs. It includes 32 centuries across formats. He was no doubt one of the star cricketers in T20 cricket. KP played for multiple T20 teams around the world. However, none of them would be as unusual as Piers Morgan XI.
KP has unofficially played for Piers Morgan’s team. The TV show host, who is a cricket fan has his own squad called the Piers Morgan XI. He is registered with the Newick XI and every year they play an unofficial match against each other. Morgan ensures that Pietersen gets a bit of the action whilst they are having this match.
Mohammad Asif – Christianiana Cricket Club
Asif was suspended along with Salman Butt and fellow paceman Mohammad Amir. Pakistan bowled no-balls to order at Lord’s. He was found guilty of corruption by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in February 2011. Asif was sent to prison in November of the same year following a criminal trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Asif represented Christiania Cricket Club which is a club in Norway. His main motto was to improve his fitness and remain fit to make a comeback in international cricket. But sadly, that didn’t happen. Asif’s last international game remains to be the forgettable and tainted one against England at Lord’s in 2010.
