Worst XI of 2024: Players who struggled the most across formats

Virat Kohli and Aiden Markram. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

2024 was a high-octane year for international cricket. There were loads of action-packed moments for the cricket fraternity to savour. Plus, there were a handful of newcomers setting foot and establishing themselves as almost-full-time assets for their respective nations. 

Apart from the aforementioned bracket of players, loads of mainstream players already linked with the game for long put in exceptional performances as well. However, there were several players who had a forgettable year irrespective of the format in consideration. Surprisingly, a lot of renowned players did not have a memorable 2024.

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Below is the Worst XI of 2024 across all formats:

Openers: Devon Conway, Andy Balbirnie

Devon Conway. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Devon Conway did not play any ODIs in 2024. However, his form in Tests and T20Is was not of major prominence. The Kiwi opener could garner only 386 Test runs in the 18 innings he featured. Eight of those innings entailed single-digit scores. Conway copped a golden duck in his first T20I of 2024. Apart from the sole fifty which came against Australia, there were no other significant performances from the southpaw’s end.

Andy Balbirnie played only two Tests in 2024. Although he managed an unbeaten half-century against Afghanistan in what was Ireland’s maiden Test win, that was about it. Balbirnie’s first ODI was an arduous struggle for him, accruing only four off 18 deliveries. He was dismissed for a single run in two of the subsequent four ODI innings he played in 2024. Balbirne was in decent T20I nick ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, he could not register even one score at a rate greater than a run-a-ball in the tournament. 

Middle-order: Aiden Markram, Virat Kohli, Litton Das (wk)

Virat Kohli being caught by Beau Webster (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

The longest format of the game for Aiden Markram was not an issue per se. It was his white-ball form, T20Is in particular, which makes him an inclusion to this ill-famed list. His T20 World Cup 2024 campaign consisted of only two maximums. Normally an attacking player who goes about his batting with flair, a strike rate of only 119.71 across the entire year was quite underwhelming. 

What started as a promising year for Virat Kohli in Tests after he scored a skillful 46 in Cape Town ended up as a calamity for the ace Indian batter. In the 17 innings after that, he could only surpass the previously-mentioned score thrice. His batting average dipped woefully low too. The three-match ODI series were the only series he was a part of. His scores read 24,14, and 20. There was not a single half-century in the 10 T20I innings Kohli played apart from his 76 in the T20 World Cup 2024 final.

Each Test series, other than the ones against India and the West Indies, had at least one knock off the bat of Litton Das which was praiseworthy. However, a lot more than 394 runs in 16 Test innings was expected from the wicketkeeper-batter. The one-day format was an absolute catastrophe for him. His tally was a miserable six in the five ODI innings. 12 of his 20 T20I innings were played at a strike rate south of 100.

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All-rounders: Ben Stokes, Glenn Phillips

Ben stokes (Source: Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Having retired from ODIs after the 2023 World Cup and opting out of the T20 World Cup 2024 due to professional reasons, Ben Stokes played only Tests in 2024. Stokes’ Test form on Indian and Pakistani soil was quite mediocre. He failed to register even one half-century in the subcontinent aside from the first innnings of the first Test against India in Hyderabad. His batting average equates to a meagre 14 excluding the above-mentioned innings.  

The all-round magic of Glenn Phillips didn’t click in 2024. He only played three ODIs throughout the year. His T20I form was on the dim side. Other than a few innings here and there, Phillips was not able to contribute much. 2024 was when Phillips played most of his Test cricket. However, he did not have a lot of performances to boast about – both with bat and ball.

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Bowlers: Tim Southee, Naseem Shah, Mohammed Siraj, Shoaib Bashir

Mohammed Siraj.(Photo Source – Getty Images)

Tim Southee could manage to claim only 17 wickets in the 273.1 overs bowled in Tests in 2024. An uncharacterstic average of 59.11 was just another indication of age catching up with a red-ball great such as him. His pace and natural ability to swing the ball seemed to have dropped quite drastically.

The white-ball form of Naseem Shah throughout 2024 would be something he would want to leave behind without delay. Out of the six ODI games Naseem played, he conceded runs at an economy of six on five occasions. The speedster travelled the distance in T20Is too. He conceded runs at an economy equal to or greater than 11 on four separate instances.

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Although Mohammed Siraj picked up a few crucial wickets in Tests in 2024, he erred quite a bit on a lot of occasions. Usually decently tight with his lines, 2024 was an unusual year for him due to the number of release balls he bowled. He performed quite unsatisfactorily in the nine limited-overs games he played. There were no extraordinary performances either.

Shoaib Bashir made his international debut in 2024. Barring the four innings where he scalped a four and three five-wicket hauls, the off-spinner displayed erratic control. Needless to say, the 21-year-old has a lot of potential in him, and would hope for a much better 2025 with the ball.

Worst XI of 2024 across all formats

Devon Conway, Andy Balbirnie,  Aiden Markram, Virat Kohli, Litton Das (wk), Ben Stokes, Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Naseem Shah, Mohammed Siraj, Naseem Shah