5 Current players whose form is slowing fading away

There’s an old adage, form is temporary, but class is permanent. Even as class has its own place of importance, it’s form that gives teams victories. Hence, it’s essential to be in remain in rhythm and contribute for the players to be indispensable members of their respective teams.

Over the years, a number of match-winners have emerged and it didn’t take time for them to hog the headlines. However, even they have experienced rusty phases in their career. As they moved ahead in their journey, the cricket pitch presented them with loads of questions.

And they have shown signs of giving up the ghost. But the rusty run doesn’t mean that they won’t ever storm back to their best. For that to happen, polishing of skills and removing chinks from their armour will be of vitality.

In the article, let’s take a look at five players, who are losing form with the progression of their career: –

1. Mustafizur Rahman

When Mustafizur Rahman burst on to the scene in 2015, he was deemed to have a bright prospect. Albeit he has been absolutely unplayable at times, he has leaked runs alarmingly of late. He was Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker in the World Cup, but has seen a dip in form ever since.

Owing to injuries and poor form, the speedster has never been able to cement his spot in the Test team. Even in T20Is, opposition batters have started to get under his skin. In his career, Fizz, as he is popularly known, hasn’t learned the art of shaping the ball back into the right-hander.

Rahman was a key bowler for Rangpur Rangers in the BPL, but lost his form again in the series against Pakistan. The seamer needs to add more variations in his repertoire in order to taste more success for the Tigers.

2. Faf du Plessis

Since South Africa’s poor show in the 2019 World Cup, the pressure on Faf du Plessis has only mounted. Not only did he flounder as a skipper, but also as a batsman. Being one of the Proteas’ stalwart, his slump didn’t rub off positively on the team.

To start with, the 35-year-old from Pretoria faced the axe as the skipper in the T20I and ODI format where Quinton de Kock replaced him. In February, South Africa lost the home Test series against England by a margin of 1-3 after winning the opening game in Centurion.

To add insult to Faf’s injury, he could manage only 151 runs in the series at an average of 18.87. Thereafter, du Plessis put forth his decision to give up even Test captaincy. Even in the T20Is against Australia, the veteran could only churn out a mere 44 runs.

3. Hasan Ali

Hasan Ali became the Emerging Player of the Year 2017 after his jaw-dropping spells for Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in England. But the speedster couldn’t carry on with the form and lacked badly in effectiveness. The 25-year-old was dealt with a body blow as he was dropped midway from the 2019 World Cup.

It was after he gave away 84 runs in his nine overs against India at the Old Trafford. It’s almost been 10 months since Hasan last donned the national colours. Injuries at regular intervals haven’t helped his cause either.

Recently, the bowler plied his trade for the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Even there, he couldn’t stamp his authority, picking up eight wickets in nine game at an economy of 8.59. A comeback into the Pakistan setup won’t be a cakewalk for the player.

4. Hazratullah Zazai

Back in October 2018, Hazratullah Zazai sent the cricket fraternity into frenzy after smashing left-arm spinner Abdullah Mazari for six sixes in an over during the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League (APL). Then in February 2019, he smashed 162 off 62 against Ireland with the help of 11 fours and 16 sixes.

It was also the second highest individual T20I score after Aaron Finch’s 172 versus Zimbabwe. However, Zazai hasn’t been able to show enough consistency. The 21-year-old is a kind of batter, who prefers to throw the kitchen sink at everything from the outset.

Owing to his approach, he has gotten a number of scores in the 20s and 30s, but hasn’t converted the starts. In 16 ODIs, the Paktia-born averages 22.56 and has to work on it in order to establish himself as a top-order batsman.

5. Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler has been one of the major reasons behind England’s sheer dominance in the ODI and T20I sides. His prowess to clear the ropes with utter ease has taken the Brits to victories on number of instances. The Somerset-born cricketer has tasted success both at the top and middle order.

But the 29-year-old player has been going through a bit of lean patch in recent times, especially in Test cricket. In the Test series against South Africa, Buttler crawled to 115 runs at a disastrous average of 16.43.

Nevertheless, Paul Collingwood, the Brits’ assistant batting coach, stated that Buttler would be ‘backed to the hilt’ since he brings an X-factor and has the ability to win his team games regularly. In February, Buttler scored 57 in a T20I versus the Proteas, but got out cheaply in the first two games.