Cricket is one of the most popular sports of the world and with the constant efforts of International Cricket Council (ICC), it is gaining popularity among other nations as well such as Japan, USA, etc. The increasing number of associate nations is a good sign for the future of cricket and as these associate nations will turn into test playing nations, more cricket will be played in the world.
Playing for the country is a dream of every cricketer but there are times when a player doesn’t get the chance to represent his country despite making many efforts. In such scenario, few players choose to shift to a country where they don’t have to face much competition and it is easy for them to fulfill their cricket goals.
Here is the list of the players who have changed their countries in recent times:
1. Usman Qadir:
The Pakistani cricketer Usman Qadir is son of famous former Pakistani spinner Abdul Qadir and Usman was a part of the Pakistani team which won bronze in the Asian Games 2010. Later on he went to Australia as the former Aussie cricketer Darren Berry encouraged him to play for Australia. Usman played for Adelaide Cricket Club in the 2012-13 season and then he was also signed by Perth Scorchers for Big Bash League. However in 2019, he came back to Pakistan to fulfill his father’s dream of seeing him play for Pakistan.
2. Morne Morkel:
The former South African cricketer played 86 test matches, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is for his country between the period of 2006 and 2018. He also played in the IPL for various teams such as Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals. He served as the bowling coach of the Pakistan cricket team until November 2023 as well.
Morne Morkel is married to Roz Kelly, the Australian sports broadcaster and Morkel has taken the Australian citizenship which has made it easy for him to take part in Big Bash League as a local player.
3. Corey Anderson:
The former New Zealand cricketer played for the country from 2012 to 2018 and in this duration, he played 13 test matches, 49 ODIs and 31 T20Is. He was the youngest Kiwi player in the history of New Zealand cricket to get the contract for playing first class cricket. He became famous after he broke Shahid Afridi’s record of ODI fastest century (37 balls) as he scored a century in just 36 balls in 2014. This record was broken by AB de Villiers who smashed an ODI century in just 31 balls.
Corey’s career was heavily affected because of injuries as he was dropped and later on it became difficult for him to make a comeback in the national team. In 2020, Corey Anderson quit New Zealand cricket in order to play for USA at international level and in 2023, he became eligible for that.
4. Anshuman Rath:
Anshuman Rath’s family basically belongs to Satyanagar, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha but in 1990s, his family shifted to Hong Kong. Anshuman was born in 1997 and as he grew, he started playing cricket over there. Later on he also captained the Hong Kong national team but in 2019, he took retirement from Hong Kong cricket and shifted to India for playing cricket. In 2021, he became eligible to play for India and he played for Odisha in 2021-22 in the domestic level. However, in March 2023, Anshuman Rath joined the Hong Kong squad for playing the Hong Kong Quadrangular Series.
5. Sami Aslam:
Sami Aslam, the former Pakistani cricketer, represented his country at international level from 2015 to 2017 but in November 2020, he brought an end to his cricket career in Pakistan as he desired to represent USA at international level. He became eligible to play for USA in November 2023.
Do you know any other cricketer who changed his country in recent times? Add to the list.
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