Big Bash League is one tournament that is suffering from a lack of popularity. Adding to this, a few new T20 tournaments have arrived on the table. Hence, some popular players had to leave the tournament to take on a fresher challenge. If this continues for long, BBL might go further down the pecking order. It is high time that Cricket Australia makes a move to address the same. On that note, here, we take a look at two popular players who left BBL midway to take part in other leagues.
1) Alex Hales – International League T20
Alex Hales is a proper freelance cricketer who takes part in multiple T20 leagues. Recently, he earned a chance in the England Team for the 2022 T20 World Cup. He did well and helped his side win the competition.
Although he had a slow start in the BBL, he made up for it with some good knocks. However, he left the competition midway to represent the Desert Vipers in the newly formed ILT20. He has already left an impression with a solid knock a few days ago. Interestingly, despite having a good chance, Hales has not chosen to play for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023. It needs to be seen if he would change his mind in the future.
2) Rashid Khan – SA20
Rashid Khan is also one of the popular players who left BBL midway to take part in other leagues. In the recent BBL seasons, Rashid Khan has been one of the popular stars. However, he left the competition to captain MI Cape Town in the SA20 League. A captaincy opportunity in a new league would have surely attracted him.
On the other hand, Rashid might consider his presence in BBL from the next season. He has already communicated the same due to the decision taken by Cricket Australia to not play Afghanistan due to political reasons.
For your viewing pleasure, all six of @rashidkhan_19's historic wickets in his 300th T20 match!
He leaves #BBL11 in the lead of the BKT Golden Arm standings! 👑 pic.twitter.com/Zct68mOoxl
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 12, 2022
