5 Indian players who haven’t featured for their IPL home franchise

The 18th season of the Indian Premier League is just days away as we will witness some of the top names play. When the tournament began in 2008, the main motive was have to have home team icons play for their home franchises. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman were some of the icon stars for their respective home sides. 

There have been few players who haven’t been able to play for their home side during their IPL career. Two biggest examples are that of Harbhajan Singh and Dinesh Karthik. Harbhajan was picked by Mumbai Indians where he played for ten seasons and led the side in two seasons. Harbhajan won three IPL titles and also went on to win two T20 Champions League Titles. This was followed by stints with Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders but sadly couldn’t play for Punjab during his IPL career. 

Dinesh Karthik is one of the few players who has been part of most IPL teams. The 39-year-old began by playing Delhi Capitals and then moved to Punjab before few seasons in Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions, and finally with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Dinesh Karthik ended his IPL career without playing for his home franchise Chennai Super Kings. 

Here are the five current Indian stars who are yet play for their home IPL franchise:

5. Washington Sundar

Young all-rounder Washington Sundar made his IPL debut in 2017 with Rising Pune Super Giants. Sundar, then was purchased by RCB where he played 31 matches before heading to Sunrisers Hyderabad where he played 18 matches. In 2025, the 25-year-old will play for Gujarat Titans after being picked up in the IPL 2025 Auctions in November. Sundar plays for Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit and is yet to appear in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings. 

4. Tilak Varma 

The 22-year-old batting sensation Tilak Varma who plays for Hyderabad in domestic circuit is yet another player who hasn’t been part of his home franchise. Varma was picked by Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2022 season and has become a key member of the side. MI retained Varma for the coming season of the league and so far the left-handed batter has played 38 matches in the IPL scoring 1156 runs and has also gone onto play for India in the T20I and ODI format. 

3. Yahasvi Jaiswal 

Mumbai’s batting sensation has been a key player for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL ever since his debut in 2020/21 season. Jaiswal has already played 53 matches in the league scoring 1607 runs with two centuries. Both of his centuries in the IPL has come against Mumbai Indians both at home and away. The left-handed batter’s fans will hope that one day he can play at the Wankhede Stadium donning the Blue and Gold jersey in the IPL. 

2- Shubman Gill 

India’s ODI vice-captain, Shubman Gill plays for Punjab in the domestic circuit but hasn’t managed to play for PBKS in the IPL. The 25-year-old is set to lead Gujarat Titans for the second successive season. Gill started his IPL journey with Kolkata Knight Riders making his debut in 2018 before moving to Gujarat ahead of the 2022 season. So far, Gill has played 103 games in the IPL scoring 3216 runs with four centuries and 20 fifties with an average of 37. 

1. Virat Kohli 

The biggest player not to play for his home team in the IPL is none other than former India skipper Virat Kohli. In 2008, Delhi Capitals had picked up Pradeep Sangwan ahead of Kohli and RCB didn’t waste time in drafting in the right-handed batter. Kohli since then has stayed put at RCB where he has been their biggest star. The 36-year-old has played 252 IPL matches for RCB scoring 8004 runs with eight centuries and 55 fifties with an average of 38. Kohli has also played 15 games in the Champions League scoring 424 runs with two half-centuries.