5 Allrounders who have failed to live up to the expectation in IPL 10

IPL has now reached a crucial stage when every match result counts. The balance in the side is the really important for them to get the better of the opposition. Allrounders, those who can score runs with the bat and then chip in to pick a few wickets with the ball are the players who bring in that balance to any team. No doubt, it is the all-rounders who win matches for their teams at T20s and in fierce tournaments like IPL.

Be it RCB’s Shane Watson or Gujarat Lion’s Ravindra Jadeja, expectations are plenty from each of them as the tournament progresses on to the knockout stages. Even after the first three weeks in IPL 10, a lot of all-rounders have simply disappointed fans as well as the team with their dismal performances.

5. Rajat Bhatia:

The 37-year-old all-rounder is a domestic cricket veteran now. He has been picked up by various franchisees in IPL, but his inconsistent performances this season have let the RPS team down. Rajat Bhatia represented KKR, Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant in his IPL career so far.

However, Bhatia didn’t get as much as success in the IPL as expected. When he made his debut in IPL 2008, he was touted as next big thing of the T20 scenes in India, but his performances have been scanty in the last few years.

Yet, Rajat was fortunate enough to have played a lot of IPL matches without making any big impact. He played 95 IPL matches scoring just 342 runs without any fifty and a ton. He has 71 wickets to his credit. Rajat is representing RPS this IPL and scored just 16 along with 2 wickets from 3 matches.

4. Dwayne Smith:

Known for his explosive batting, the West Indian batsman left an indelible impact when he cruised Mumbai Indians to a fantastic last ball finish in a match against Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2012. Chasing CSK’s target of 173, Mumbai Indians fought well with Sachin Tendulkar’s 74 and Rohit Sharma’s 60. However, MI still needed 14 runs from the last three balls of the match. The bowler was Ben Hilfenhaus of CSK, and Smith hammered match-winning 14 runs from the last three deliveries with two boundaries and a six.

The then MI skipper Tendulkar promoted Smith to the opening slot which paid off well as he exploited the power play well in the subsequent matches hitting big sixes and boundaries. He then moved to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Lions and played satisfactorily until last year.

But in IPL 10, Dwayne Smith has had very disappointing all-round performance. He has neither impressed with the bat nor ball until now. The Caribbean batsman scored paltry 94 from 7 matches with just 2 wickets to his credit.

3. Ben Cutting:

Representing SRH from the last two IPL seasons, Ben Cutting is a known name in Australian domestic cricket circuit. He has also represented Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat at Big Bash tournament. Despite heavy expectations, Cutting hasn’t been near his best in this edition of the IPL.

Thus far, Ben has played four matches picking up a single wicket and has scored just 51 runs in three innings. Though his batting strike rate of 196 is quite brilliant, but he failed to succeed as an all-rounder for SRH. Cutting’s bowling economy rate touches 10 RPO and it’s not justifiable in T20 cricket where the margin of victory is very low.

2. Ravindra Jadeja:

Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has an exceptional record at the international level in recent times. He played well against England and Australia across formats at home. Jadeja performed exceedingly well in the last month’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia picking up 25 wickets and garnering 127 runs with the bat as well.

Soon, Jaddu climbed on to the second spot at ICC Test all-rounders rankings after the India-Australia Test series. There were plenty of expectations from the Saurashtra all-rounder in IPL 10. But his performance has continued to be lackadaisical. Out of the five matches that Jadeja has played this season, he scored just 51 runs and scalped 2 wickets for Gujarat Lions so far.

1. Shane Watson:

The former Aussie cricketer was famous for his aggressive style of playing with both bat and ball. When Watson retired last year he was standing at the top of T20I all-rounder’s rankings. Now, Watson is representing Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 10.

RCB hoped for some outstanding all-round performance from this veteran all-rounder but he has disappointed everyone. In fact, Watson had a poor outing with the bat as well last season scoring just 179 from 16 matches at an average of 14 but he recouped his lack luster batting with the ball scalping 20 wickets in the previous edition of the IPL and was the second highest wicket-takers after Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 23 wickets haul.

But, Watson’s performances have deteriorated further this year. He played 5 matches and added just 51 runs to his kitty. His bowling hasn’t been any better as he has just two wickets to show in 15 overs at a high economy rate of around 11 runs per over.