The Aussie effect over the years on the Indian Premier League

Australian captains leading teams to win

The Indian-dominated IPL has had either Indian or Australian winning leaders so far in the fourteen editions. Rajasthan Royals (RR), led by Shane Warne, were the first champions of the inaugural edition before Adam Gilchrist's Deccan Chargers (DC) took over the throne in South Africa in the second edition in 2009. Adam Gilchrist remained the top scorer until 2012, after which he withdrew from the tournament.

Apart from Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab has enjoyed the services of Australian players as their leaders. KXIP had a total of three Australian skippers over the time, starting from Adam Gilchrist in 2011, followed by David Hussey and George Bailey. While David Hussey led the team for a short tenure, George Bailey took the leadership in 2014, lasting for two seasons. 2014 turned out to be the best season for KXIP, where they sailed to their maiden IPL final. However, he could not earn that victory tag as the captain, but his service to the team remains special. Punjab has been one of the sides where Australians have contributed in a bundle.

When Australian batters' shots echoed stadiums

In the inaugural edition of IPL 2008, Brendon McCullum (former New Zealand skipper) stole the limelight of the show by scoring the first-ever three-digit score in IPL. When this trend of dominating bowling settled on the field, it was Australian batters who adapted the trend. And following this, the next four tons in the IPL came from the Australian players. The likes of Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh were the century-makers. These Australian batters made considerable contributions to the success of their franchises and made them a brand name. 

Michael Hussey played his last match in 2015 for Chennai Super Kings, but he's still among the top 5 contributors with the bat for the franchise, having scored 2213 runs in 64 matches. David Warner has been the leading run contributor for Sunrisers Hyderabad (4015 runs in 95 matches) and is also in the top five scorers for his first and recent franchise Delhi Capitals (1456 runs in 57 matches). Shaun Marsh and Glenn Maxwell, too, are in the top five contributors with the bat for Punjab Kings, having scored 2477 runs in 71matches and 1383 runs in 70 matches, respectively.

Australia players in IPL 2022: 

Pat Cummins (KKR), Josh Hazlewood (RCB), David Warner (Delhi Capitals), Nathan Ellis (PBKS), Sean Abbott (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Jason Behrendorff (RCB), Mitchell Marsh (DC), Matthew Wade (GT), Nathan Coulter-Nile (RR), Riley Meredith (MI), Daniel Sams (MI), Aaron Finch (KKR, replacement), Glenn Maxwell (RCB, retained), Marcus Stoinis (LSG, drafted).

If West Indies are the muscle power to the team, then Australians are the strongest pillar stabilising the whole team. By the end of this season of the Indian Premier League, we would see many such decisive innings by Australians, be it from Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins or other Aussies who are not in their national teams.