The lowest ranked cricketers on EA Cricket VIVO IPL

EA Cricket is one of the most popular cricket games on this planet. Having been released more than 10 years ago, the game still has a good user base and with time, players have developed patches to add newer things to EA Cricket. The VIVO IPL patch in the game has been a massive hit, and here are the lowest ranked players in the game.

1) Marcus Stoinis

The Australian all-rounder has made a name for himself as a limited overs specialist with handy bowling and batting abilities from the No.7 spot. Stoinis plays fist class cricket for Victoria in his native Australia and is contracted to the Melbourne Stars in the domestic Big Bash League. Previously, the allrounder also represented Western Australia in first-class cricket and the Perth Scorchers in earlier editions of the Big Bash League.

Stoinis has developed a reputation for some high-octane batting while also being quite useful with the ball. In this edition of the VIVO IPL, the Australian is contracted to the Kings XI Punjab. He has been a woeful disappointment for the Preity Zinta-owned outfit with a meagre return of 17 runs and 2 wickets from a total of 5 matches played.

While big things were expected of the Australian, he has failed to rise to expectation. On the IPL version of EA Cricket, Stoinis is also one of the lowest ranked players in the game, with a batting rating of 65 and a bowling rating of 67 which seems fitting when one considers his performances in this IPL season.

2) R Sathish

R Satish fits the stereotypical description of a journeyman sportsperson. The teams he has played for include Assam, Chennai Superstars (ICL), ICL India XI, Kings XI Punjab and a couple of more IPL teams including the Mumbai Indians. Playing as an all-rounder, the Tamil Nadu born cricketer has scored 722 runs in 67 T-20 games without scoring even a single half century.

A player of considerable talent would never be moved from one team to the other in such a fashion and that is evident with the number of teams he has played in. The all-rounder was never good enough to reach the highest levels in cricket and moved to the ICL when the breakaway league started in 2006.

He was brought back into the fold with the introduction of the IPL when he was signed by the Kings XI Punjab after his return to official Indian cricket. Sathish has had a pretty ordinary career and that is evident with his ratings on EA Cricket VIVO IPL where he has been given a batting skill rating of 72 and bowling rating of 65, which is hardly impressive for someone who is an all-rounder and has won the IPL with the Mumbai Indians.

3) Ravindra Jadeja

An unlikely and rather flawed inclusion on the list, Ravindra Jadeja has been a regular fixture for the Indian and his IPL teams. He was also a crucial part of the Chennai Super Kings team which reached an unprecedented 6 IPL finals until their removal from the IPL.

The Saurashtra born all-rounder is a handy batsman and proved himself to be more than useful with the ball in the Test series against Australia earlier this year. For some puzzling reason, however, Ravindra Jadeja is very underrated on the VIVO IPL patch for EA Cricket.

Ravindra Jadeja the batsman is pretty useful down the order for some quick runs at a high strike rate and can stem the flow of runs when he is bowling too. EA Cricket however only rate his batting and bowling skills at 69 which is subpar compared to the all-rounder’s actual talent and really does not convey the real picture.

4) Jiwanjot Singh

Jiwanjot Singh is a Punjab Ranji player who is a right-handed batsman while also being able to bowl some nifty off-break when the situation demands it. The all-rounder has played all of 2 T20 games for his state team.

Jiwanjot is currently not on the roster of any team in the IPL but has still been included in the players’ list in the VIVO IPL patch for EA Cricket. Considering his minimal experience in the field, he seems to be a little undercooked to face ruthlessly talented IPL players. The Punjabi is one of the poorer players in the game with a batting rating of 77 while bowling is rated at even lower levels.

Jiwanjot currently plays for the Punjab Ranji team for whom he has played 57 matches, scoring 8 centuries and 18 half-centuries in the process.

5) Mark Wood

Another player who is not in the current edition of the IPL but still features in EA Cricket VIVO IPL patch is English strike bowler, Mark Wood. Not one of England’s traditional strike bowlers with a less than intimidating frame to go with his blinding speed, Mark Wood made his debut for the Three Lions against New Zealand in 2015, consistently bowling at speeds of above 90kmp/h.

Wood has become famous for his mounted horse celebration that has become all rage in the United Kingdom. Initially started as something to stave off boredom, the celebration is now exhibited to audiences worldwide.

Being one of England’s Test strike bowlers, he should be adept at placing the ball where he wants but the rankings given to him on the game show his accuracy to be only 75, which is a massive underrating for a bowler of his calibre.