 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Rediff.com/Harish Kotian lists the big stars who failed to live up to fans and franchises' expectations.
Every year, the Indian Premier League throws up hits and misses and this season was no different either.
While K L Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Kane Williamson, Andrew Tye and Rashid Khan gleamed like diamonds in the heat and the dust of IPL battle, some big stars, who were hired for big bucks, failed, and failed miserably.
The top 10 flops in IPL-11:
Ben Stokes
Bought for an astounding Rs. 12.5 crore (Rs 125 million) by the Rajasthan Royals at the IPL Players Auction in January, the English all-rounder struggled to repeat his super showing of last year when he was rated the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
This year, Stokesy scored just 196 runs in 13 games at an average of 16 without a single half-century to go with his 8 wickets at an economy rate of 8.
Stokesy had troubled times coming into the IPL -- charged with assault and dropped for the Ashes series -- and that may have affected his performance in the planet's top T20 league.
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj's stock tumbled further as he endured a nightmarish IPL.
The veteran left-hander struggled big time, scoring just 65 runs in 8 games with a highest of 20.
Once known for his superb hitting -- including that world record of six sixes in an over -- Yuvi was a pale shadow of his former self.
His batting woes were evident in Kings XI Punjab's defeat against the Mumbai Indians when he failed to take his team past the finish line with 17 needed from the last over for victory.
Jaydev Unadkat
Unadkat was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for a whopping Rs 11.5 crore (Rs 115 million), but failed to deliver.
The left-arm pacer enjoyed his team management's backing right through the tournament even as he struggled.
Unadkat played all 15 games for Rajasthan as he finished with just 11 wickets.
The most glaring aspect of his bowling was his economy rate: 9.65.
Rohit Sharma
India's premier batsman in limited overs cricket had a below par IPL.
The Mumbai Indians captain failed to inspire his team by his batting -- the defending champions failed to advance to the play-offs.
Rohit scored 286 runs in 14 games at an average of 23 with just 2 fifties, which was primarily responsible for Mumbai's struggles this season.
Glenn Maxwell
The Delhi Daredevils went in for a complete overhaul this season, but they still finished at the bottom.
Despite his poor showing in last year's IPL when Kings XI Punjab team mentor Virender Sehwag had criticised the Australian all-rounder, Delhi went all out to bag Maxwell for Rs 9 crore (Rs 90 million).
Maxi had poor returns to show for the investment with 169 runs in 12 games at an average of 14.
Manish Pandey
Manish switched from the Kolkata Knight Riders to the Sunrisers Hyderabad who paid a huge Rs 11 crore (Rs 110 million) to acquire the Karnataka right-hander to bolster their middle order.
It turned out a costly mistake for the Sunrisers as Manish scored a mere 284 runs in 15 games, hitting three fifties.
The first Indian to hit a century in the IPL, way back in 2009, Manish failed to find his rhythm with the bat and was dropped for the final against the Chennai Super Kings after his run of poor scores.
Kieron Pollard
The West Indian all-rounder was retained by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 5.4 crore (Rs 54 million) using the Right to Match option.
Despite his poor form, Mumbai showed faith in Pollard for MI's early games, a decision which hurt them as his lack of runs weakened the middle order.
Dropped for a few games, Pollard made a strong comeback with a quickfire half-century (50 from 23 balls) against the Kings XI Punjab, but failed in the next game -- the must-win game against the Delhi Daredevils.
Pollard scored a lowly 133 runs from 9 games and played no role with the ball.
Ravichandran Ashwin
The Kings XI Punjab also went in for a major overhaul, hiring many new players.
The Kings handed Ravichandran Ashwin the captaincy after buying him for Rs 7.6 crore (Rs 76 million).
Just like his team, Ashwin started off well, but his performances tapered off quickly in the second half of the tournament.
Ashwin bagged just 10 wickets from 14 games and went for over 8 per over, while scoring 102 runs.
Punjab, who started off with a bag winning 5 of their first 6 games, slipped big time when it mattered, winning just 1 of their remaining 8 games, failing to make it to the play-offs.
Chris Woakes
Renowned for his skills in the death overs, Woakes, who was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 7.4 crore (Rs 74 million), struggled on the slow Indian wickets.
Woakes picked up just 8 wickets from 5 games and went for over 10 runs per over before he was assigned to the dug out.
Aaron Finch
The big-hitting Aussie was a huge disappointment this IPL.
Finch, who was bought by the Kings XI Punjab for Rs 6.2 crore (Rs 62 million), scored a mere 134 runs in 10 games at an average of 16 without a single half-century.
Photographs: BCCI