5 IPL greats who are at the fag end of their careers

The IPL has evolved tremedously through the years. Players were bought based on their reputation in the earlier years of the IPL. But with time teams have become shrewder when it comes to buying players in the auctions. High profile players have gone unsold in auctions while unknown players have earned huge bucks.

With this trend continuing over a long period of time, it has become imperative for every player to keep performing each year in order to get picked by the franchise the next year. Moreover, with age, players lose their shine and it becomes difficult for them to keep up with their own high standards.

We will look at 5 such players who were once cult figures for their respective teams in the IPL, but are now in danger of losing out on an IPL contract next year.

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#5 Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf sending one over the ropes

Yusuf Pathan was the Man of the match in the final against CSK in the first season of the IPL.

He played for Rajasthan Royals from 2008 to 2010 and was the second most expensive player of the 2011 auction, when he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a jaw-dropping price of $2,100,000.

The hard-hitting all-rounder played a crucial role in KKR's title victories in 2012 and 2014. Apart from his destructive batting in the middle overs, he also provided the team management the option of few over of off-spin bowling every now and then. He has been an integral part of the KKR set-up for the past seven years.

But with time, the elder Pathan lost his form and questions were raised on his place in the side, owing to which he wasn't retained by KKR in the auction this year. In IPL 2017, Yusuf scored 143 runs in 15 matches with an average of 17.87. Apart from this, his utility as a bowler has reduced over the years.

Even though Yusuf was bought by SRH for 1.9 crores, a bad season might bring down the curtain to Yusuf's IPL career.

#4 Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan will be playing alongside MS Dhoni in this year's IPL

The Indian off-spinner was Mumbai Indians' senior most player till last season as he was with the team since the first edition of the IPL. Harbhajan SIngh was the face of Mumbai Indians in the initial years. He even captained the side in a couple of seasons and lead the side to the Champions League T20 title in 2011.

Bhajji was amongst the most consistent performers of the team. He won a lot of matches for the team with his economical bowling and hard-hitting batting at the end of the innings. There was a time when a Mumbai Indians playing XI was unthinkable without Harbhajan, but things have now changed.

Harbhajan hasn't been able to pick the number of wickets he would have liked to in the past couple of seasons. He took 9 wickets in 14 matches in 2016 and 8 wickets in 11 matches in 2017. Towards the end of the last season, the Mumbai Indians preferred Karn Sharma over the veteran. Additionally, with the emergence of players like Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai Indians did not show any interest in retaining the 'Turbanator' in the 2018 auction.

Fortunately for him, CSK bought him on his base price of 2 crores. He will have to put up a good show for CSK to prolong his IPL career.

#3 Shane Watson

Watson has struggled against the spinners

Shane Watson was a forgotten name in Australian cricket till 2008. His initial playing years were plagued with injuries and he wasn't in the selectors' scheme of things. But it all changed for Watson after his IPL exploits in 2008. He had a spectacular debut season for Rajasthan Royals and ended as the Man-of-the-series of the tournament.

The Australian all-rounder continued his good run in the IPL in the following seasons and replaced Shane Warne as the captain of the side. But unfortunately, Rajasthan Royals was suspended for two years in 2015 and Shane Watson was up for grabs for the other IPL teams. RCB bought Watson in the 2016 auction owing to his all-round abilities and strong IPL record. However, Watson wasn't able to repeat his brilliance for RCB. In 2016, he scored 134 runs at an average of 13.75 which was not what the team management expected from a player of Watson's stature. However, his bowling came to his rescue as he took 20 wickets in the season.

The following year, things just got worse. Watson took only 5 wickets and scored a paltry total of 71 runs in 8 matches. After having two middling seasons with the franchise, he wasn't retained in the 2018 auction.

Even though CSK has shown faith in Watson, he must know that overseas players cannot afford to have an average season.

#2 Yuvraj Singh

To be in contention for next year's World Cup, Yuvraj needs to fire in the IPL

Yuvraj Singh has aspirations of playing the 2019 World Cup and wants to use the IPL as a platform for putting his name back in reckoning. But a below par season can end Yuvraj's IPL career too.

Yuvraj has never been able to set the IPL on fire despite his special talent, and with age and extended lean run, Yuvraj might just find it difficult to feature regularly for his team next season. Having played for five different IPL teams, he hasn't been able to put up consistent performances.

Returning to cricket after winning the battle against cancer, Yuvraj has lost his old touch. Even though Yuvraj performed decently for SRH in the last two seasons, not many IPL teams showed interest in buying Yuvraj in the 2018 auction and he was bought by Kings XI Punjab at his base price of Rs. 2 crores. Yuvraj and his fans will hope that he puts up a stellar show in this IPL and saves his career.

#1 Chris Gayle

Gayle has struggled to get going in the Powerplays

Chris Gayle has entertained the crowds in a way that nobody else has. The big-hitting Jamaican has played some sparkling innings for RCB in the IPL. Gayle is arguably the greatest IPL player of all time. He has shattered almost every batting record in the IPL and is the most feared batsman. Gayle has five hundreds to his name in the IPL, which also includes his 175 not out against Pune Warriors India in 2013.

However, in the last couple of seasons he has been off colour due to loss of form and dodgy fitness. His mediocre form resulted in his exclusion from the playing XI a couple of times in the last season. He scored a total of 427 runs in 19 matches that he played in last two editions of the tournament.

Apart from the numbers, it was the way Gayle batted that concerned RCB management. He wasn't able to give quick starts to the team and it was a big reason for RCB's dismal performance last season. The dashing left-hand batsman was not retained by the franchise in the auction this year.

In the first round of the auction Gayle went unsold only to be bought by Kings XI Punjab at the fag end of the auction. If Gayle's lacklustre form extends to this season as well, it will bring a sad end to a glorious career.