Johnson Charles IPL team name: Is Johnson Charles playing IPL 2023?

West Indies batter Johnson Charles set the stage on fire in the second T20I against South Africa in Centurion today. A career-best knock in the shortest format allowed him to register a maiden T20I century to leave the home team clueless after captain Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to field citing how defending a target can be tough at this venue.

Less did Markram (0/22) know that they would have to attempt the highest successful run-chases in the history of T20Is primarily due to Charles scoring an eye-catching 118 (46) with the help of 10 fours and 11 sixes.

Coming in to bat at No. 3 in the first over itself, Charles put together a 58-ball 135-run second-wicket partnership alongside all-rounder Kyle Mayers (51). Charles, who had hit five fours on the first nine balls that he faced, hit two fours and as many sixes in the fifth over of the match being bowled by South Africa all-rounder Marco Jansen (3/52).

It was on the penultimate delivery of the eighth over when Charles hit South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (0/33) to complete a 23-ball half-century. Not looking to drop down the gears in spite of taking everyone’s breath away, Charles hit two sixes and a four in the next over bowled by Markram.

Prince Charles of Centurion 👑 👑👑SAvsWI

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) March 26, 2023

In the following Shamsi over, the right-handed batter hit two more sixes. An unstoppable and effortless display of batting involving sheer force and clarity of role, Charles hit a six off South Africa pacer Sisanda Magala (0/67) to register the fastest-ever T20I century for a West Indian batter. Overall, a 39-ball hundred saw him bringing up the joint second-fastest century in the history of the format.

Johnson Charles IPL team name

Any batter who manages to pull-off a blinder of an innings a handful of days before the start of an Indian Premier League season is bound to allure eyeballs from the biggest T20 league in the world.

Charles, 34, however, isn’t part of the imminent 16th season of the IPL. In fact, the West Indian batter has never been able to fetch an IPL deal throughout his 15-year old T20 career.

Readers must note that Charles has had stints in the Caribbean Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League, Afghanistan Premier League, Pakistan Super League and Sri Lanka Premier League thus far. Coming fresh on the back of a match-winning century in a successful run-chase in a BPL 2023 league match earlier this year, Charles seems to be in an authoritative form in this format.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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