The eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League surpassed all expectations, with players like Mayank Markande, Prasidh Krishna, Ishan Kishan, Ambati Rayudu and Siddarth Kaul performing beyond expectations. However, some stalwarts failed to rise to the occasion and instead of leading the team to success, they proved to be liabilities for their respective franchises.
We list below the Under-performing XI from IPL 2018. The players mentioned below turned out for at least 5 games and have been match-winners in their own right in the recent past. But, instead of performing under pressure, they floundered miserably, pushing their teams into a deeper hole.
Openers: Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma
A lot was expected from former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir after he made his way back to his home side, Delhi Daredevils. However, his performances in IPL 2018 left much to be desired, with just 85 runs in 6 matches. A strike-rate of 96.59 is unacceptable in the format and even with regards to his leadership skills, he failed to get his team going. By the time he forewent his captaincy, Delhi were already languishing at the bottom of the table and even Shreyas Iyer’s efforts to get his team back rolling failed to push the side from a bottom-position finish. Gambhir also is the captain of the side.
The other big disappointment was Rohit Sharma, who failed to cross 300 runs for the first time in 11 years. He managed only 286 runs in 14 games, and his poor form further added to the middle-order woes in Mumbai Indians. The opener has been in great form in international cricket in the last one year, and it was natural to expect high performances from him, but he left his squad miserable disappointed.
Middle-order: Manish Pandey, Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell
Manish Pandey could muster up only 284 runs in 15 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad and even though he scored 3 fifties, he hardly performed when the team needed him the most. Bought for INR 11 crores, Pandey was touted to be a player to watch out for, but his bad form led to his eventual axing from the SRH team.
Indian star Yuvraj Singh performed even worse, scoring 65 in 8 matches at a strike-rate of 89.04 and an average of 10.83. Bought by Kings XI Punjab for his base price of INR 2 crores, this season held great importance for the left-hander if he yearned of making a comeback to the national team. However, a below-par showing has effectively pulled curtains on his career and it would be interesting to see where Yuvi goes from here.
Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell too had horrendous runs for Kings XI Punab and Delhi Daredevils, respectively. The former scored 134 in 10 innings, while Maxi played 2 games more for his 169. Both have been dangerous players for their national team Australia in the past, and fans expected yet another encore in this edition as well. However, the duo performed terribly and despite that, the unwillingness of their two Australian coaches, Brad Hodge and Ricky Ponting to drop them led to rumours of an Australian bias in the IPL.
Wicket-keeper: Wriddhiman Saha
It was the season of Indian wicket-keepers stealing the show in the IPL. While MS Dhoni showed glimpses of his former destructive self, Dinesh Karthik displayed his mature and renewed style of play that he has imbibed in his game in the last few years. Punjab opener KL Rahul made this season his own and youngsters like Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson too stood out.
However, Test keeper Wriddhiman Saha had a torrid year as he as able to make only 122 runs in 11 matches at a poor average of 15.25 and a strike-rate of 119.60. He took only 5 catches and effected one stumping to go with his poor show with the bat and the SRH franchise would have expected better returns from their premier player.
All-rounders: Washington Sundar, Keiron Pollard, Ben Stokes
After troubling the opponents with his finger spin in the Nidahas Trophy, much was expected from young Washington Sundar but with only 4 wickets in 7 matches and 65 runs with the bat, Sundar was a major disappointment for the Royal Challengers Bangalore side. With Sarfaraz Khan and Pawan Negi too not performing for the RCB unit, Virat Kohli would have expected a lot from Sundar, but without much variations, the player massively disappointed.
The two foreign recruits from whom a lot was expected were Mumbai Indians’ Keiron Pollard and Rajasthan Royals’ Ben Stokes. The West Indian did not bowl in any game and scored only 133 runs in 9 matches - his lowest run tally in any edition of the IPL. Stokes, bought for a mammoth INR 12.5 crore scored 196 runs with a strike-rate of 121.73 and picked up 8 wickets at an average of 37.87 to be in the list of the flops of IPL 2018.
Seamer: Jaydev Unadkat
The Rajasthan Royals seamer was bought for a whopping sum of INR 11.5 crores but with just 11 wickets at an economy rate of 9.65, Jaydev Unadkat proved to be a liability for his new franchise. His bowling lacked the sting and his pace never troubled the rivals, instead allowing them to score easy runs off him in the Powerplay overs.