Top 5 Cricketers Who Started Late But Performed Very Well: Boards often see young players as future stars and sometimes ignore experienced players in domestic cricket who are older. While preferring younger players can be justified, it is unfair to leave out older players with good domestic form just because of their age.

Some cricketers have managed to join the national team even though they were close to or over 30 years old when they made their international debuts.

Here are five such players who made a late entry into international cricket but made a big impact:

Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey is often mentioned when talking about late starters and is an inspiration for those working hard in domestic cricket but unable to join their national team. He made his debut for Australia at the age of 30 and became a legend, earning the nickname Mr. Cricket.

Hussey played 79 Tests, 185 ODIs, and 38 T20Is, scoring over 12,000 runs. He was a key part of the Australian middle order and contributed to many famous wins. He also shined in the IPL, winning the Orange Cap in 2013 while playing for CSK.

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav was ignored by national selectors for a long time despite performing well in domestic cricket and the IPL. After three impressive IPL seasons in 2018, 2019, and 2020, plus many runs for Mumbai in domestic cricket, he finally got noticed.

Now, he is a top batsman in India’s T20I team and is pushing for a place in the ODI team too. In 14 T20Is, Suryakumar averages 39 with a fantastic strike rate of 165.

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal was almost unplayable at his best, with his variations being hard to detect. It was surprising that he did not make his international debut until age 31.

Ajmal was crucial in Pakistan’s 2009 T20 World Cup win and excelled in Test cricket. Between 2008 and 2015, he took 178 Test wickets at an average of 28 and 184 ODI wickets at 22. However, his career declined when he was reported for an illegal action in 2014, making it hard for him to maintain his form.

Ryan Harris

Ryan Harris wasn’t as fast as other bowlers of his time, but he was very accurate. Known as ‘Rhino,’ he made his international debut at 29 in 2009.

His debut Test series in New Zealand in 2010 brought nine wickets, and later that year, he took nine wickets in the Perth Ashes Test. However, injuries affected his career, but he still performed well in the 2013 Ashes, finishing with 24 wickets at an average of 19.58. A knee injury ended his career in 2015, with 113 Test wickets at 23.

Chris Rogers

Chris Rogers found it difficult to break into the strong Australian team. He debuted at 31 in 2008 but didn’t play another Test until 2013. At 36, he performed well against England, South Africa, Pakistan, and India.

Rogers’s average improved over time, ending with an average of 42 after 25 Tests.