Caribbean Premier League 2017: 5 players who disappointed in Week Two

The second week of the 2017 Caribbean Premier League has just come to a close, with a few more jaw-dropping encounters enthralling audiences from across the globe. Teams have fought tooth and nail to get the better of each and have left no stone unturned in their efforts.

Trinbago Knight Riders are currently leading the table and have performed exceptionally well. There have also been players from the other teams who have played their part. However, some of them couldn’t quite live up to the expectations their teams had from them.

As we move along, we take a look at five cricketers who disappointed in the second week of the Caribbean Premier League.

---

#5 Babar Azam - Guyana Amazon Warriors

Ever since Babar Azam has made his international debut, he has shown a tremendous level of consistency with the willow. Nevertheless, he couldn’t quite replicate the same form in the second week of the Caribbean Premier League.

In 3 games, the Pakistani batsman scored a meagre 37 runs at strike-rate of below 100. Against the Trinbago Knight Riders, he was trapped plumb in front by Sunil Narine for 2 runs. He couldn’t get himself going either against the St Lucia Stars as he perished cheaply to Shane Shillingford.

He looked promising against the Jamaica Tallawahs with a score of 23, but couldn’t capitalise on the good start as Kesrick Williams got rid of him after Azam tried to accelerate the scoring rate.

#4 Chris Gayle- St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

Chris Gayle has been disappointing for the Patriots

Over the years, Christopher Henry Gayle has developed himself into the most powerful hitters of the cricket ball in limited overs cricket. Nevertheless, his campaign with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots- in the second week of the Caribbean Premier League has been a tad jittery.

The skipper of the Patriots team was off-colour, to say the least as he couldn’t quite live up to his reputation and was dismissed for a couple of cheap scores in their two games in the week. Against St Lucia Stars he perished for 12 runs when his stumps were castled by Jerome Taylor.

In their next contest against Trinbago Knight Riders, Gayle tried to play an out-of-character innings and curbed himself from going for extravagant strokes early in his innings. However, Sunil Narine found the outside edge of his bat and he went for 4 runs in 13 balls.

#3 Lendl Simmons- Jamaica Tallawahs

Lendl Simmons after his dismissal against the Warriors

Lendl Simmons has been a consistent and reliable player for whichever team he has represented over the years. Nevertheless, the second of the Caribbean Premier League has been a touch disappointing for the West Indies opening batsman.

In a couple of games, Jamaica Tallawahs played, Simmons was unable to hit his straps and struggled big time. In the two encounters against the St Lucia Stars and the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Simmons could only score 17 and 20 runs respectively.

Against the Stars, Timil Patel got rid of him when he attempted to clear the extra cover region. Against the Warriors, he got a few away to the boundaries, but his strike-rate was still below 100. He was dismissed by Rashid Khan with a ball that spun past the inside edge to castle into the stumps.

#2 Brendon McCullum- Trinbago Knight Riders

Brendon McCullum has been a tad out of touch for the Knight Riders

Brendon McCullum is known for taking the aggressive route while batting and not shying away from playing his strokes. However, the same approach has led to his dismissal quite a few times, which has drawn criticisms from experts and fans.

The second week of the Caribbean Premier League has been an absolute disaster for the swashbuckling Kiwi batsman. In 3 games, he could only muster 20 runs at a dismal average of 6.67. Against the Guyana Amazon Warriors, he perished for a golden duck.

He followed it up with another low score against the Barbados Tridents as he was cleaned up by Wayne Parnell for 4 runs. Against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Baz got off to a blistering start but Mohammad Nabi showed him the door for 16 runs.

#1 Mitchell McClenaghan- St Lucia Stars

Mitchell McClenaghan has been rusty for the stars

Mitchell McClenaghan has been in and out of the New Zealand team, but there’s no denying the fact that the left-arm fast bowler has been a genuine wicket-taker. However, this hasn’t been the case for the lanky fast bowler in the second week of the Caribbean Premier League.

In 11 overs, he bowled during the next 3 games, he could churn out only a couple of wickets while conceding runs at a hemorrhaging rate of 10.09. In the Stars’ fourth game against St Kitts and Nevis, he was carted around the park by Evin Lewis and ended with figures of 4-0-40-0.

He bowled decently in the next game against the Guyana Amazon Warriors as he got rid of a dangerous-looking Jason Mohammed. The match against Jamaica Tallawahs turned out to be a disaster for McClenaghan as he went for 39 runs in his 3 overs.