5 biggest disappointments of IPL 2014

There are absolutely no second thoughts about the fact that Twenty-20 is the most unpredictable format of the gentleman’s game and the IPL has been no different. But there were a few things that we can guess about the game in advance like the playing XIs (defintely not the Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals), the batting order of some teams and by the playing conditions you can even gamble on a winner.But sometimes your prediction and strategy might turn out to be an utter failure. Ask some people who play fantasy cricket, they will tell more stories about failures and disappointments than any coaching staff.You lose nothing but a mere few points for your failures but not the same for the franchises. IPL is a serious competition and one of the closely contested ones in the world. Even the best strategy on the day can appear as a technical blunder against an individual brilliance.Here we take a look at the five biggest things in this IPL 2014, which we expected at the start to be immensely successful, but turned out to be nothing more than a disappointment for the teams and for the passionate followers of the game.Special mentions:Corey Anderson – Made no big impact in any game when the whole world expected him to be firing from all cylinders.Pragyan Ojha – Once a purple cap holder now averages nearly 100 runs per wicket.Stuart Binny – From 11 innings he has scored just over 100 runs with average of under 13 at a poor strike rate.

#5 Is he the real Dale Steyn?

The No.1 bowler in the world irrespective of the format, is known for giving worst time to the batsmen but has been at the receiving end more often at this year’s IPL. With the Hyderabad side filled with Indian bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma, the pacy South African was expected to be leading them by working out the batsmen which makes the job easier at the other end.

But the story has been following a different script this season and add to that he was taken on by AB de Villiers and MS Dhoni for 23 and 24 runs respectively. Three of his most expensive IPL overs have come in this IPL.

He still has 11 wickets to his name in 13 matches so far, but gives away more than 35 runs per wicket at nearly 7.5 runs per over.

#4 The decline of Jacques Kallis

Finally it seems age is getting the better of this warrior who has been involved with the game for many long years. The South African all-rounder has been an automatic pick for any team in the world for all these years. But he has missed 5 games for Kolkata Knight Riders this season, inlcuding straight 4 games where he voluntarily stepped down for the better interest of the team, as per the assistant coach Vijay Dahiya.

Batting in 7 innings of the 8 matches he has played, Kallis made 151 runs and picked up 4 wickets at a bowling average of 46.5 with an economy rate of 8.45.

It is no doubt that he is one of the legends of the game and has retired from Test cricket last year with an eye on the 2015 World Cup. Although you cannot judge anything based on the T20 cricket, this is definitely not a good thing for that particular ambition of the 38-year old.

#3 Kevin Pietersen never arrived for Delhi Daredevils

‘The explosive batsman after the fall out with the England Cricket Board (ECB), is available for the entire season,’ was the big news circulating the media and the Delhi Daredevils were very much happy to get him on board as their captain. But the South African born ex-England international missed the initial few matches due to a finger injury and after taking the field, hasn’t made any trademark blistering knocks which you would normally associate with KP.

Playing in 9 matches so far, he has managed only 192 runs.

With a no big scores this season, one may assume that the right-hander who turns 34 next month, might be on the end of his career if he can’t find back his magic touch that made him a player to watch out for in any format.

#2 Mumbai Indians\' problems

The retirement of Sachin Tendulkar has affected the Mumbai franchise big time. It can be noted that the side hasn’t done well everytime they missed the master batsman in the past. If we recollect their history, they succumbed to five successive losses in his absence during the inaugural season as well.

The over-population of legends in the Mumbai camp has been questioned as they failed to make any big impact, leaving the Mumbai side at the bottom after 5 straight defeats. Having tried 6 opening combinations this season reveals that there are too different directions being taken by this squad, causing some concerns.

Somehow they are still alive and kicking, courtesy some inspirational performances from Ambati Rayudu and the late addition to the squad Lendl Simmons that is still keeping them on the end of the rope for the final playoff spot.

They can even make the playoffs and might even win this IPL, but that doesn’t change the fact that they have under-performed big time.

#1 Where are the West Indian power-hitters?

Next to the Australians and the South Africans, the members representing the island nations havebeen a vital-cog for their IPL teams and are mostly capable of winning matches on their own.

Chris Gayle, Kieron PollardandDarren Sammy!

With astonishing averages of67.55, 61.08 and59in 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions ofthe IPL, Gayle,after missing the initial few matches with fitness concerns,is scoringat below22runs per dismissalat a weak strike rate of 106.52in9matches this season. Youvegot tobelieve me with this. Royal Challengers Bangalore who are known to be enjoying flying startscurrently holds the record as the team with the lowest run rate in the powerplays. 2 of the lowest totals in thisIPLafter six overs belongs to RCB.

Even though Mumbai Indians were criticized for holdingback KieronPollard everytime,he hasnt made significant impact for them in games where he was promoted. He has nothing more than a single half century to show this season.

Darren Sammy has just been managing to keep his place in the team, thanks to Shikhar Dhawan for stepping down as captain at Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Dwayne Bravos absence is neutralized by Dwayne Smith at Super Kingswhich savedthe West Indian reputation along withLendl Simmons who found unexpected success with Mumbai Indians.