In the IPL or for that matter in any other competition, the complete usage of resources depends on the team’s composition. Therefore, at times, despite being an all-rounder, a player’s other skills might not be utilized that much. On that note, in this article, we take a look at four players who were underused as an all-rounder in IPL history.
Since T20 is a short version of the game, it is necessary for teams to employ the best resources for the situation. This is one of the main reasons why if a player is not a genuine all-rounder, the other aspect of his/her game might be left unexplored.
1) Dwayne Bravo
The West Indian cricketer has played more than 160 games in IPL. For a player who is known for his batting skills for his country, it is a big surprise that he has scored only around 1500 runs in the competition. Of course, he has made up for it with his terrific bowling skills. In fact, he is the highest wicket-taker in the competition right now. Nevertheless, it would have been interesting to see how he would have fared had he been promoted up the batting order. He also has won a few games with the bat but it is low when you take into context his batting skills. Therefore, he is on this list.
2) Axar Patel
Axar Patel is one of the players who were underused as an all-rounder in IPL history. The Gujarat cricketer is a bowling all-rounder but he does pack a punch with the bat on his day. On most days, he has been employed as a finisher or promoted to get some quick runs. However, not much investment has happened in his batting skills. If done, it could have actually helped him develop as a more complete all-rounder. That said, Delhi Capitals can still make that happen.
3) Dwayne Smith
Dwayne Smith was a regular wicket-taker for West Indies. He enjoys an average of close to 30 in both the shorter formats. For an all-rounder, this is not bad. However, in IPL, he has only bowled 89.5 overs, which is equal to just one over per game. His batting skills have been put to good use but somehow Dwayne was not used a lot as a medium-pace bowler. He could have made a difference if he was given a consistent run with the ball.
4) Rajat Bhatia
Rajat Bhatia is also one of the players who were underused as an all-rounder in IPL history. In the close to 100 games that he played in IPL, Rajat did not bat close to half of the games. The maximum he was promoted to was to No.4 and that was for just one encounter. For a player who has got 17 FC centuries, it can be said that Rajat was not used fully as an all-rounder. Franchises could have used him as a pinch-hitter, at least, in order to ensure complete usage of resources.
