IPL 2014: Worst XI

If there is any team that a sportspersonwould not want to be part of, it has to bethe worst XI.Here,we throw thespotlight on the under-achievers ofIPL 2014.Players who didnt playenough muchhavent ben includded. This side provided they maintaintheircurrent formcouldeasily give away 250 runs and get bowled out for below 75.Watch out forsomebig names.

#1 Chris Gayle

Royal Challengers Bangalore

196 from 9 innings, Average – 21.77, Strike Rate – 106.52

The West Indian power house certainly didn’t enjoy his time in this IPL and was struggling to the maximum even while facing some ordianary bowling.

His struggle affected his team’s base so much that they were not able to get going in the powerplays and lost more wickets than any other team in this IPL. The Jamaican’s struggle was the root cause for that. Some part of his failure may be attributed to his problematic back but the bowlers will not feel intimidated to bowl at him if he continue to play like this.

#2 Murali Vijay

Delhi Daredevils

207 Runs in 11 innings, Average – 18.81, Strike Rate – 107.81

The former Chennai Super Kings player failed big time playing away from his home state and badly missed the strong CSK middle order that has always covered up his failures in past years.

It is no hidden fact that he enjoyed the extended run he recieved when at Super Kings that contributed to his success at the franchise and also he had extremely benefitted by the presence of Michael Hussey at other end to take his time when struggling for form. With Delhi Daredevils this season, Vijay, neither had the time nor the form.

#3 Jacques Kallis

Kolkata Knight Riders

151 Runs from 7 innings, Average – 25.16, Strike Rate – 117.05

4 Wickets from 8 matches, Average – 46.50, Economy – 8.45

The legendary South African all-rounder failed to make any kind of impact apart from a single notable innings of 72 that gave some respectability to his numbers. The worst part was that he himself lost confidence and took the decision to step down for the better interest of his team.

#4 Stuart Binny

Rajasthan Royals

123 Runs in 12 innings, Average – 12.30, Strike Rate – 101.65

Bizarre performances! An automatic pick for our team. Stuart Binny played all the games except the last one for the Royals and returned back with nothing but extremely disappointing figures.

Many questioned the logic behind him constantly batting at no.4, that too above some world class international batsman even as he continued to fail everytime. What is the most surprising fact is that he has been included in the Test squad for the upcoming tour of England!

#5 Darren Sammy (captain)

Sunrisers Hyderabad

108 Runs from 9 innings, Average – 15.42, Strike Rate – 118.68

3 Wickets from 8 innings, Average – 52.33, Economy – 11.21

How can someone who has been struggling to keep himself in the playing XI be handed the captaincy. He is neither a quality batsman nor a wicket taking bowler and his limitations were exposed very well in this season. He did nothing but to swing his bat innumerable times.

#6 Parthiv Patel (WK)

Royal Challengers Bangalore

205 Runs from 12 innings, Average – 20.50, Strike Rate – 110.81

The left-hander was too bad to miss out from this team. He made some decent contributions early in the tournament before showing certain qualities that our scouts informed that lead to him being snapped up by us as a wicket-keeper. He overcame close competition from Aditya Tare, given the fact Parthiv had more opportunities at the top and also, Tare’s match winning six against Rajasthan Royals went in the latter’s favour.

We are very much confident that he can make the transition from being an opener to RCB to a finisher at our Worst XI.

#7 Mayank Agarwal

Delhi Daredevils

115 Runs in 8 innings, Average – 14.37, Strike Rate – 126.37

After a poor season from Delhi Daredevils, you cannot just ignore one of their worst batsman from the team who got the wooden spoon.

Mayank Agarwal lost out on all of his minimal reputaion as a decent T20 batsman this season.

#8 Irfan Pathan

Sunrisers Hyderabad

4 Wickets in 10 innings, Average – 51.25, Economy – 8.66

55 runs in 6 innings, Average – 27.50, Strike Rate – 101.85

The bowling all-rounder of this team. Being in and out of the side, his deliveries were also in and out of the boundary rope. Being drafted in to bowl at the death he went off the radar after a good couple of matches and never found back his rhythm.

His slower deliveries no longer trouble the batsmen and is becoming an easier target to get hammered these days. Welcome on board, Irfan.

#9 Pragyan Ojha

Mumbai Indians

4 Wickets in 12 innings, Average – 95.00, Economy – 8.26

His figures demand for his inclusion. With an astonishing average of 95, he can be a valuable batsmen... Oh! Wait, that is his bowling average.

He might bowl some excellent Test match deliveries that have troubled the best in the business in the longest format. But, he fared very poorly in this format which is not very kind on bowlers.

#10 Mohammed Shami

Delhi Daredevils

7 Wickets from 12 innings, Average – 52.71, Economy – 8.38

After a break-through international season, and touted to be the next best thing in Indian bowling along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he hardly appeared like the bowler everyone was applauding.

At good pace, his deliveries just rushes on to the bat only to get blasted out of the park.

#11 Ashok Dinda

Royal Challengers Bangalore

5 Wickets from 9 innings, Average – 54.00, Economy – 8.70

The Bengal bowler can definitely bring value to our side – with his short balls that hardly rise above the jump of his delivery stride these days.

Once known as a good bowler along with Irfan, he is definitely becoming a regular in our Worst XI. With his trademark hit-me-out-of-the-park deliveries, he is not someone to miss out from our bowling plans.