IPL 2014: 10 most under-rated players

The IPL extravaganza ended with the Kolkata Knight Riders chasing a mighty target that was put on board with relative calmness and almost easily in the final. Just like every other season, there was many awards and of-course the IPL trophy was presented after the conclusion. With the winning team and the award winners taking the centre-stage, the world, as normally, ignored the runner-up and the close competitors for the awards. No offences against them, it is natural and there is no place for soft corners in professional sport.In these days of short memories, even some match-winners of the last IPL season were forgotton just like that. Many have even faded away from being an international prospect to bench-warmers in the IPL.Who is going to remember someone who played a crucial 10-ball 20 or an unknown bowler who gave an important breakthrough or a substitute fielder who gave his everything to save some crucial runs and pull out a stunning catch.Here we try to register some of the memories and players who went unnoticed through the IPL season and deserve more credit for their performances.Players who got some little acknowledgement for their roles were not included. We do not represent these players as a team and the order doesn’t reflect that we rank them; each person is rated equally.Special Mention: Suryakumar Yadav

#1 Shakib Al Hasan

Kolkata Knight Riders

227 Runs from 11 innings, Average – 32.42, Strike rate – 149.34

11 Wickets from 13 innings, Average – 30.36, Economy – 6.68

The Bangladesh all-rounder has forever been living under the shadows of Sunil Narine at the Kolkata based franchise and whatever runs he scores will be always be supportive ones but not the highlighted innings of the match.

227 runs from 11 innings is not a big-deal but the match situation at which you do that without throwing your wicket matters. With Robin Uthappa, the orange-cap winner along with Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan was enjoying the limelight, his importance went unnoticed.

His innings of 60 from 38 balls that played second fiddle to Robin Uthappa’s 83* against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Eden Gardens is one to point out to add with his spells that tied the batsmen down after the powerplays.

#2 Mitchell Starc

Royal Challengers Bangalore

14 Wickets from 14 innings, Average – 28.71, Economy – 7.49

The Aussie quick was in excellent form and not many expected him to so effective after a mediocre World Twenty-20 in Bangladesh. He always bowled at the front and at the death.

He has bowled 127 dot balls and with innate atheltic ability he pounched on to 9 catches in the tournament. Only 3 players have more catches than Starc.

He delivered everytime when he was required even with his team suffering a poor run. He also has a highest score of 29 to his name.

#3 Ambati Rayudu

Mumbai Indians

361 Runs from 14 innings, Average – 25.78, Strike rate – 125.78

One of the retained players at Mumbai, he is also the reason behind the rise of Mumbai Indians during the later stages. Even though Mumbai found more fuel much later, his back to back half centuries against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad was largely forgotten as Lendl Simmons took the focus away by some streaky fifties and yes, a hundred.

#4 Karan Sharma

Sunrisers Hyderabad

15 Wickets from 14 innings, Average – 25.06, Economy – 7.42

The other half of the twin leggies who played crucial roles for the Sunrisers last season was persisted with as the main leg-spinner after Amit Mishra went off the mark. But that is definitely not enough appreciation for some one who always picks up wickets when the team needs them.

He tied down the power packed Super Kings batting order with an intelligent spell of 2 for 19 and also induced a run-out when CSK made a score of 185-3 from their 20 overs. The next best bowler of his team had an economy rate of 8.75. It was quickly forgotten as Warner’s monsterous 90 took Sunrisers to a memorable win.

Earlier in the tournament, he has also battled with his 3-17 against RCB at Bangalore along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar but it was not enough at all as Steyn was hammered by AB de Villiers for 24 runs.

#5 Harbhajan Singh

Mumbai Indians

14 Wickets from 14 innings, Average – 25.42, Economy – 6.47

The turbanator from Punjab has been at his best after some average seasons at the IPL, but his controlled line and length couldn’t bring him enough acclaims as either Mumbai didn’t enjoy a best run or someone else might have pulled off a better show on the night.

His best spell reads at 2 for 13 from 4 overs which shows that he had been consistent in all the matches.

#6 Piyush Chawla

Kolkata Knight Riders

14 Wickets from 11 innings, Average – 21.64, Economy – 7.67

He is part of the Knights’ three way spin attack that spins venom at the batsmen. The Indian leg-spinner hardly got the credit with Narine and others taking the limelight. Being the attacking bowler who Gambhir turns to in middle overs, he troubled the batsmen more.

He was most effective against the best batting line-up of this IPL on two occasions in the league stages. He returned with match figures of 3-19 on both the matches against the powerful batsmen before claiming 3 more wickets in the two playoff matches this season against the runner-ups.

He should also be remembered for his invaluable knock of 13* from 5 balls chasing 200, including a sensational pull off Mitchell Johnson that went decisive for the Knight’s in the final.

#7 Karanveer Singh

Kings XI Punjab

11 Wickets from 5 innings, Average – 14.90, Economy – 8.20

Coming into the side later in the competition he became a regular for the Kings’ in the playoffs. In the final he picked up 4 important wickets with his leg-spinners, despite being expensive. He’s someone who is relatively unknown among the top level; coming into the settled side and making a place for himself is definitely not easy.

In his first 2 matches he ended his 4 overs with 2-16 and 2-22.

#8 Rishi Dhawan

Kings XI Punjab

13 Wickets from 13 innings, Average – 28.07, Economy – 7.71

One of the 3 former Mumbai Indian players at Kings XI Punjab was on the mark with his wicket-to-wicket line and made some silent contributions that were crucial for the Kings.

He was vital in the middle overs, not giving anything to score for the batsmen. Yes, he was expensive a couple of times but for a medium pacer in IPL, that’s the harsh reality.

He also have a highest score of 23* not out apart from a final over heroics against Delhi Daredevils under pressure, taking the team home after Akshar Patel’s 42.

#9 Varun Aaron

Royal Challengers Bangalore

16 Wickets from 10 innings, Average – 18.68, Economy – 8.15

The 24-year-old fast bowler from Jharkhand is known to operate at a quicker pace that other Indian quicks and it was evident in his success this year. But again, with the focus mainly on the batting stars of RCB and with the side failing so many times, he went out of the limelight he deserved greatly.

His best game came againts Kolkata Knight Riders, when he struck thrice to restrict them to 150 at Sharjah where the famous Chris Lynn’s catch ruined the match for the Challengers.

#10 Steve Smith

Rajasthan Royals

147 Runs from 7 innings, Average – 36.75, Strike rate – 133.63

Known as a wonderful fielder, the Ausralian took 9 good catches in the field, and batted in 7 of the 10 matches he played.

Coming at far lower down the order more often, his knocks with the bat went missing from the important pages. Together in the company of James Faulkner, he chased down 191 with 7 balls to spare from a situation where they needed more than 12 runs an over. He is definitely someone who should not be overlooked and underestimated by his numbers.