Worst XI of 2024: Combined performances across formats

The year 2024 ended with a hope of a new beginning in 2025. In cricket, the entire year was filled with power-packed performances across formats with star players scoring tons of runs and claiming wickets. There were a few newcomers as well who set their base in the sport with some good performances in 2024. The Indian cricket fans surely have a lot to remember this year including India's T20 World Cup victory to India's terrible home series defeat. 

Just like India, all the cricket-playing nations have something to remember this year. Just like how there are players who have had a terrific year like Joe Root or Harry Brook, there are several players whose years didn't go as it's expected from them across formats. Let's have a look at those players from a statistical perspective. 

Also Check:Top 5 cricketing moments of 2024

Here's the worst playing XI of 2024 across formats:

Top Order:

 Devon Conway, Andy Balbirnie and Aiden Markram will form the top order of the worst playing XI for their terrible performance in the entire year. Playing for New Zealand, Conway's performance across formats hasn't been good at all as he played 26 innings and scored just 546 runs at an average of 21.84.

Ireland's Andy Balbirnie didn't have a great year either. He played 19 games and scored 452 runs, averaging 22.60. South Africa's skipper Aiden Markram also played in 32 games across formats and scored 952 runs at an average of 26.44. 

Middle Order

The middle order seems even more interesting with the likes of Virat Kohli, Litton Das, Ben Stokes and Glenn Phillips. The legendary players of modern-day cricket, have failed to impress the fans with their performance. Kohli has played 23 games and scored 655 runs, averaging 21.83. This is his lowest score in cricket since the time he started his career. Stokes didn't have a good year either with just 602 runs in 13 games, averaging around 28.66. 

Bangladesh's wicketkeeper Litton Das is another middle-order batter who hasn't been impressive at all. He has played around 35 games and scored just 709 runs with an average of 17.72. This is by far the worst average of any player in the season. Lastly, Phillips' average is slightly better than the rest of the players as he scored 873 runs in 31 games. His average was 29.10, across formats. 

Bowlers

The bowlers in this playing XI are Tim Southee, Shoaib Bashir, Mohammed Sirajand Naseem Shah. In 2024, Southee played in 20 games and claimed 34 wickets. Meanwhile, England's newcomer Bashir played only Test cricket and took 49 wickets in 15 games, averaging 40.16.

Siraj on the other hand played 22 games and claimed 40 wickets at an average of 33.85. He was terrific in a few games but wasn't that effective in the rest. Pakistan's Naseem Shah's year was full of ups and downs as he was dropped from the team several times due to his bad performances. In 20 games, he claimed just 29 wickets at an average of 35.44. 

Worst XI of 2024 across formats: Devon Conway, Andy Balbirnie, Aiden Markram, Virat Kohli, Litton Das (wk), Ben Stokes, Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Shoaib Bashir, Mohammed Siraj, Naseem Shah