IPL 2018: 5 players who should have played for a different franchise

IPL auctions are a tricky thing to get right and many teams must be realizing it again at this stage of the tournament. Analysts have found strengths and weaknesses of all the teams by now and there's little one can do now about changing those. The middle order woes of KXIP, the impregnable bowling of SRH, the death over stigmas of RCB etc. are some of the attributes that won't go away overnight. However, the situation would have been different if the squads were balanced better and certain players who are not at all utilized in their current teams, were playing for teams that so badly need them right now.

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#1 Chris Jordan- RCB

RCB, like every year, has struggled with their pace bowling attack, especially at the death. Their death bowling has been reliant upon Mohammad Siraj and Tim Southee/Chris Woakes and none of them are specialists for the job. While Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee have usually bowled well up front, they have leaked quite a lot of runs in the latter half of the match.

On the other end hand, SRH has an army of extremely skillful bowlers and one of them is Chris Jordan, who has played just one match in this season so far. Jordan is a world-class T20 death overs specialist who can also hit the ball a long way. Despite bowling in slog overs, he has an economy under 8.5 in the 100+ T20s he has played. Jordan also has scored nearly 800 runs at a strike rate of 122 in those matches. He could have played for RCB in place of Woakes/Anderson/de Grandhomme. RCB would have certainly benefited a lot from his experience and expertise, which is currently not at all utilized at SRH.

#2 Parthiv Patel - Mumbai Indians

Parthiv Patel didn't get to play for RCB until de Kock had to miss out.

Mumbai Indians had put huge hopes on Ishan Kishan keeping in mind his hard-hitting abilities. But his performance with bat and even with gloves has been below par. He has managed to score just 238 runs in 11 innings so far and has failed at some critical junctures. Apart from one or two sparks, he has failed to give MI the consistency at the top which they desperately seek. His glovework too has not been up to the mark.

While Parthiv, bought by RCB this year, had to sit out for more than half of the tournament due to Quinton de Kock. He proved his value as soon as he got an opportunity for RCB because of de Kock missing out. Parthiv has scored 3700+ runs in 178 T20s he has played, with a strike rate of 122. Pretty sure MI would have loved to have their ex-gloveman in the team, opening alongside Suryakumar and giving them quick starts that Lewis hasn't been able to produce consistently. This would have allowed MI to play one more foreign player (possibly Duminy or Adam Milne) in all their matches, which could have made a huge difference in those close matches that they have lost.

#3 Saurabh Tiwary - Kings XI Punjab

Mumbai Indians have not used Saurabh Tiwary even once in this IPL

A good lower order Indian batsmen is a priceless commodity in this IPL and who would know it better than the Kings XI Punjab? After getting explosive starts by Rahul and Gayle, they happen to get dispersed very soon. No one apart from Karun Nayar has been able to provide stability to their middle order and a proven finisher like Saurabh Tiwary could have played at 5 or 6 and would have been an asset of tremendous worth for the KXIP.

Saurabh Tiwary has been a reliable lower middle order batsman in IPL for years. And his numbers for Jharkhand would suggest that he is currently going through some good form. Tiwary also boasts an average of 29.34 in T20s. Unfortunately for him, he is stuck in a team that has immense depth in their middle order- Mumbai Indians.

#4 Mohammad Nabi - Delhi Daredevils

Mohammad Nabi has just played one match for the SRH so far

The only specialist off-spinner Delhi Daredevils have in their team is Jayant Yadav, who is quite unlikely to feature for them in this season. Their key spinners- Amit Mishra and Shahbaz Nadeem have done more than a decent job for them this year. What they have missed badly is another spinner who can turn the ball away from left-handers and someone who can give them a good finish with the bat. While Dan Christian and Chris Morris both have failed to do their job, Mohammad Nabi could have been an ideal candidate for the Daredevils.

Nabi has an amazing economy of 6.85 in 162 T20s he has played so far. He scores at 21.65 runs per innings with a strike rate of nearly 140. He is much more suitable for the Delhi track compared to Christan and Morris. He would have used the slow wicket of Feroz Shah Kotla to his advantage and his batting ability would have provided Delhi a vital boost in the death that they are desperately seeking this IPL.

#5 T Natarajan - KKR

TNPL sensation T Natarajan hasn't played a single match in IPL 2018 so far

KKR has procured an exciting pool of young talent this year. However, what they have missed out on is a death overs specialist Indian bowler. After Vinay Kumar struggled in the first two matches, they have often had to rely upon Narine and Chawla to bowl in the slog overs. The TNPL star- T Natarajan, who stunned everyone when he got a great price by KXIP last year, was not retained by them this year. He went to SRH, who happen to have a very well balanced bowling line up where Natarajan hasn't found a place yet.

Natarajan has proven his worth time and again in TNPL for Dindigul Dragons. With his accurate yorkers and sharp left arm cutters, he would have been a valuable addition for KKR, who would have considered playing him above Mavi or even Johnson who hasn't performed as per his reputation so far.