4 players who unnecessarily prolonged their IPL careers

The IPL is a tournament for the youngsters. Players who are on the wrong side of the 30s do not have a huge demand in the league. However, in the past, there have been some players who have continued to play the IPL even after crossing the age of 40.

They say, 'You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain'. These players could have bowed out respectfully, but instead, they waited for their form to decline and they did not get a fitting farewell.

However, this does not make them any less and still, they will always be remembered as legends who served the game beautifully. Let us take a look at 4 players who stretched their IPL careers too long.

#4 Adam Gilchrist

Gilchrist did not have a very successful stint with the KXIP

The legendary wicket-keeper batsman was the mainstay of the Deccan Chargers batting line-up for the first three seasons of the IPL. He led the Chargers to the title victory in 2009 in the second edition of the IPL played in South Africa.

However, after joining the Kings XI Punjab in 2011, his form did not go that well. There were many occasions when Gilchrist opted out of the playing XI and handed over the captaincy to someone else. In his last season, Gilly scored just 294 runs averaging a mediocre 22 with the bat.

It is fair to say that Gilchrist, who had already retired from international cricket before the start of the IPL overstayed in the league for too long. Perhaps the right time for him to bow out would have been after winning the title with Deccan Chargers, thereby ending his career on a high.

#3 Zaheer Khan

Surprisingly, Zaheer continued to play in the IPL after international retirement.

Zaheer Khan's IPL career was an interesting one. Often marred with injuries, Zaheer still gave his very best and proved to be one of the fiercest competitors on the field. Throughout his IPL stint, he kept on shifting from Bangalore to Mumbai before being picked by the Delhi Daredevils in 2015.

In 2016, Zaheer, who had already announced his retirement from international cricket by then, took over the leadership role of the Daredevils. He failed to turn the tables as Delhi could not make it to the semi-finals under his leadership. As a captain, Zaheer won only 10 out of 23 matches.

Having retired from international cricket and thereby having no chance of playing for India again, it can be asked, was it really necessary for him to continue playing the IPL? His teammates Virender Sehwag and Ashish Nehra opted to quit the IPL after their international retirements and open up a slot for a youngster. Maybe, Zaheer could have done the same!

#2 VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman, India's test legend, had a highly unsuccessful IPL career

VVS Laxman was one of the legends of Indian cricket who stayed in the IPL for long when he was not able to perform as well as he would have liked. The right-hander spent 3 years at the Deccan Chargers before his move to the Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

Laxman was never a T20 player and was highly unsuccessful with the bat in his little stint in the IPL. His figures of 332 runs from 22 games at a strike rate of 106 and an average of 16 clearly suggest so.

With age not on his side and not having played white-ball cricket since 2006, Laxman found it very tough to adapt to the standards of the cash-rich IPL. His biggest challenge was his inability to score quickly and hit big sixes, which is a must-have for every IPL batsman.

Knowing that he doesn't belong here, Laxman should have bowed out straight away. But instead, he chose to play 4 seasons of the IPL with his career going nowhere. Perhaps, the end of 2009 season would have been the best time for him to quit as his team Deccan Chargers had clinched the IPL title that year.

#1 Sourav Ganguly

Ganguly failed to replicate his international success in the IPL.

The Prince of Kolkata was one of the greatest captains India has ever had. However, in the IPL, he did not do justice to his reputation at all. Ganguly was the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the first three seasons of the IPL. After he failed to lead the KKR to the semi-finals in the first three years, the Kolkata Knight Riders axed him from the side and Dada subsequently joined the Pune Warriors India.

At the Pune franchise, Dada was never the pick of the batsmen and failed to live up to the expectations again. Ganguly's IPL figures are dismal, 1349 runs from 59 matches at a poor strike rate of 107.

The Kolkata Knight Riders stint should have ideally been the last of Dada in the IPL as his form was fading away and there was no point in stretching his IPL career when he was not playing international cricket either.