IPL 2019: One player each team would have liked to have
The World's biggest T20 league has ended, and it lived up to the expectations. The 12th edition was the most closely contested IPL till date as the difference between the 4th placed and 8th placed teams was just 1 point. Sunrisers Hyderabad became the first ever team to qualify with just 12 points from 14 games. The top 3 teams finished on 18 points each, showing how competitive the tournament was.
Mumbai Indians emerged as champions, defeating Chennai Super Kings by 1 run in the final. The final was a fitting end to this season's IPL, which had seen nearly half of the games go to the last ball.
Other than Mumbai Indians, all the teams had weaknesses that were exposed throughout the tournament. Even runners-up, CSK had a lot of weaknesses. All the teams would have loved to have a player, who could have strengthened them as a team. On that note, let us have a look at 1 player that each team would have liked to have at their disposal.
#1 Chennai Super Kings - D'arcy Short
D'arcy Short played for Rajasthan Royals in 2018 but failed to produce the kind of impact that was expected from him. He scored a paltry 115 runs in 7 innings at an average of 16.42. As a result of his poor showing, he went unsold in the 2019 auction.
However, he has been in a rich vein of form over the past few months. In the 2018/19 BBL, he scored 637 runs in 15 games at an average of 53.08 and had a strike rate of 140.61. He also picked up 10 wickets with his chinaman bowling and had a strike rate of 22.2.
In the JLT One Day Cup (Australia's domestic 50-over tournament), he scored a record-breaking 257. He smashed 23 sixes in that innings. He scored 77 runs in 2 games in the T20I series in India, showing that he has worked hard on his style of play against spin bowling.
Shane Watson was in poor form for most of the tournament and scored runs at a poor strike rate. They didn't have any other quality players who could have replaced him, and having D'arcy Short would have helped them. He can be devastating at the top of the order and on a turning pitch in Chennai, his chinaman bowling could have caused problems for batsmen.