IPL 2018: 4 most overrated overseas players

Clearly, cricket isn’t the same game as it was twenty years ago as the T20 format has brought a new dimension to the game.

The success of IPL 2008 marked a new beginning in cricket as it gave an opportunity for the Indian fans to see their favourite stars from across the globe in their own city.

Overseas players are definitely a highlight in the Indian Premier League. They add spice, quality, and an excitement factor to the game and also make the games competitive and brings global visibility. Since the rules allow only four overseas stars in a matchday squad, teams are very specific about the player they want to buy.

Franchises often make the mistake of rating players based on a very few performances. Some of the most overrated players in the previous IPL tournaments includes Richard Levi, Corey Anderson, Tymal Mills, Tyron Henderson, and Ajantha Mendis.

On that note, let’s take a look at the four most overrated players in IPL 2018.

#4 Chris Woakes

Woakes needs to have a better IPL this time around to justify his price tag

Chris Woakes will be playing his second IPL tournament in a row, after making his IPL debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017. The English all-rounder was purchased by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 7.4 crore.

Though Chris Woakes is in stunning form for the England national team, all his exploits came in One Day Internationals and Tests. In T20Is, the 29-year-old has only taken seven wickets from eight games, at a bowling average of 36.14 and an economy rate of 9.37. He did not play most of the games in the Natwest T20 blast 2017 either.

Also, Chris Woakes did not have a great IPL 2017 too. He took 17 wickets from 13 games at an economy rate of almost 9. His batting performances were below par as he scored a total of 46 runs at a strike rate of only 98. He is definitely one of those overrated T20 cricketers from England.

#3 Marcus Stoinis

Marcus Stoinis' record in T20s is very poor

Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore went head to head for the Australian all-rounder but the Kings XI Punjab used their right-to-match card and brought him back for a huge sum of Rs 6.2 crore.

The 28-year-old is a permanent fixture in Australia’s ODI side and has done exceedingly well for the team with an ODI average of 62.88 and a strike rate of 104. However, he is yet to establish himself as a T20 player and his recent T20 performances were awful to the least, except for a couple of decent knocks in Big Bash League 2017/18.

In seven T20I’s, Stoinis has scored a total of 20 runs at a strike rate of 83 and in IPL 2017, he scored only 17 runs in 5 games, at a strike rate of 70, and took only 2 wickets at an economy of 10.47.

#2 Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer is under huge pressure because of his price tag

Jofra Archer has rapidly become one of the most sought-after bowlers in T20 cricket. He came into the limelight during the Big Bash League 2017/18 where he took 16 wickets in 12 games.

He joined the Hobart Hurricanes as a late replacement for Tom Curran and produced some scintillating performances. Archer possesses a great deal of pace and can bowl toe-crushing yorkers on a consistent basis.

However, playing cricket on Indian pitches will offer a completely different challenge for him. He is far too inexperienced and just in the very early stages of his career. The catastrophic failure of Tymal Mills in IPL 2017 did not teach the Rajasthan Royals think-tank a lesson. They paid Rs 7.2 crore for the 22-year-old rookie, which is definitely overpriced.

#1 Glenn Maxwell

Maxwell never proved his mettle on Indian pitches

It is a big mystery to see how many times IPL franchises keep making the same mistake. Glenn Maxwell is definitely one of the most destructive batsmen in cricket right now, however, he lacks the consistency and struggles a lot against the wrist spinners.

This will be his seventh IPL tournament. He has played 57 games so far and scored a total 1228 runs at an average of 25. He has scored only 6 scores of 50+ and only twice he crossed 300 runs in a tournament. Though he scored 300 runs in the BBL, his record outside Australia is poor.

Maxwell was bought by the Delhi Daredevils for a whopping amount of Rs 9 Crores for IPL 2018 and only the Delhi think-tank know why. Rs. 9 crore is definitely a lot of money for the Aussie batsman as he has done nothing spectacular in India in the past to justify his huge price tag.