IPL 2014: Top 5 misses

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 is just a week old, and already some of the players wouldve given their former team owners enough reason to sulk. While the teams made some smart buys earlier in the year during the auction, a few bad slip-ups might just cost them big time later in the tournament. Here is a list of the top five misses this year.

#5 Zaheer Khan From Royal Challengers Bangalore to Mumbai Indians

Vijay Mallya let an old warhorse go in what is termed as a young mans game. After two matches for Mumbai Indians, Zaheer Khan has three wickets at an average of 14.67 and an economy of 5.50. More than his own figures, Zaheer is considered to a key strategist when the team takes the field. Even as Mumbais batting has failed them thus far in the tournament, Zaheer seems to be an excellent buy!

#4 Parthiv Patel From Sunrisers Hyderabad to Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Sunrisers Hyderabad owners can be pardoned for not retaining the Gujarat wicket-keeper, for even the Royal Challengers Bangalore wouldnt have expected him to perform the way he has so far in the tournament. When all the limelight was hogged by the quartet of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh, it seemed like Patel was only making up the numbers. However, he averages 94 in the 7th edition of the IPL, till date.

#3 Dwayne Smith From Mumbai Indians to Chennai Super Kings

There are two sides to the Dwayne Smith story: Firstly why would the Mumbai Indians let the West Indian go after he proved himself every time he got an opportunity? Secondly, MS Dhoni took the risk of playing him ahead of Samuel Badree and Ben Hilfenhaus, which proved to be a master stroke.

The Chennai skipper has also shown faith in Smiths medium pace, which is a good sign. He has repaid the faith of his skipper handsomely so far, scoring 95 runs and picking two wickets in two matches.

#2 JP Duminy From Sunrisers Hyderabad to Delhi Daredevils

JP Duminy is the ultimate T20 package on offer: a reliable batsman who can score at a good pace, a more than handy bowler and a brilliant fielder. He has already scored two crucial half-centuries for the Delhi franchise in this tournament and is turning out to be their most reliable bet in a strong batting line-up which has otherwise failed to fire.

#1 Glenn Maxwell From Mumbai Indians to Kings XI Punjab

I was fortunate to witness Glenn Maxwell play in the nets during last year's IPL -- when he had become the million-dollar joke -- and was left marvelling at the ease with which he was hitting shots, trying to be innovative with as much brilliance and without looking ugly while he failed. There wasn't much of a difference while he batted with a change in grip, too. Watching him bat this year has left me convinced that his batting talent (purely 'talent' and not 'application') is currently only next to AB de Villiers. The Ambanis would be surely ruing the miss of letting the Australian all-rounder go, while Priety Zinta has got enough reasons to jump with delight after watching him score 3 brilliant match-winning half-centuries.