STEVE SMITH

It will be a surprise for many to find Steve Smith in this list, as he made 311 runs in 14 games, averaged 25.91, and had a strike-rate of 131.22. He made 3 half-centuries as well and his highest score was 69.

However, the issue with Smith was that until he opened the innings, he was a good batsman, who could help anchor the innings, while others played around him. The problematic part was that RR’s playing XI was filled with such batsmen who could play anchor, but the big-hitters were only a few like Stokes, Buttler, and Tewatia.

"Absolutely no chance" - Steve Smith rules out playing in BBL 10

Smith also found it hard to make tough decisions like leaving out Uthappa, Unadkat, and Gopal and trying out new blood like Markande, Jaiswal, and perhaps giving a longer run to Miller. It was even suggested that Smith should drop himself to give RR a better try at qualifying for the playoffs.

His decision to give Unadkat the penultimate over while defending a good total against RCB was criticized as a rampaging AB de Villiers took him to the cleaners and pocketed the game for the red team. Smith will have to be more proactive as the captain next year if the RR management continues with him and take the tough decisions for the benefit of the team.