IPL 2018: 5 players who will come back harder after a poor start to the season

The tournament that has provided us with so many talented cricketers over the years, has also been the area of disappointment for many. With the end of almost the first quarter of the tournament, there are many positives and negatives to talk about for the cricket pundits.

Yes, it is too early to talk about the failures but their performance has been disheartening for the fans and their respective franchises.

Here are 5 cricketers who will come back stronger after the early blues in the cash-rich league.

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#5 D'Arcy Short

The flashy left-handed Australian opener, D'Arcy Short was one of the young guns under the spotlight when the IPL 2018 begun. The leading run-scorer of the Big Bash League turned out to be a downfall so far for Rajasthan Royals, who grabbed him for ₹ 4 crores.

Short represented RR on three occasions so far, where he managed to score only 21 runs at a strike rate of 87.5, the highest score being only 11.

His inclusion came at the sacrifice of another youngster Rahul Tripathi, who dropped down in the batting order after showing success as an opener for Rising Pune Supergiants.

#4 Andrew Tye

The hero of 2017, scalping three hat-tricks in the year, Andrew Tye had a contrasting 2018 edition of the IPL so far. The Australian T20 specialist picked three wickets from the equal number of games so far but the major concern was the leakage of runs.

Tye, who as expected to lead the pace-bowling attack, has been very expensive for Kings XI Punjab with an economy rate of over 9. He almost slipped the game against Chennai Super Kings through, giving away 19 runs in his last over.

Signed by KXIP for ₹ 7.2 crores for his death bowling abilities, Tye has been a letdown thus far.

#3 Manish Pandey

One of the most extravagant buys in this year's IPL, Manish Pandey was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹ 11 crores. The notable reason for his big bucks was the fulfillment of the middle-order woes.

Evident in the games up to this time, the story remains the same for SRH as they continue to rely heavily on their top-order batsmen and their lethal bowling lineup. Manish Pandey has only scored 15 runs so far and his knack of being inconsistent could prove costly for the one-time champs.

#2 Ben Stokes

The man of the tournament of the last season, Ben Stokes was the most expensive cricketer for the second tie in a row, roped-in for ₹12.5 crores by Rajasthan Royals.

The English all-rounder has been a poor show, both with the bat and ball in the ongoing edition of the IPL. He has picked up only 1 wicket at an economy rate of 10.60 and scored just 48 runs at a strike rate of just 117 in the three games so far.

After the injury concerns & some setbacks, RR is heavily reliant on his services to secure a place in the top 4.

#1 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma hasn't been able to find the batting rhythm in IPL 2018 so far, which has affected his captaincy as well as Mumbai Indians.

The skipper has scored only 44 runs in three games so far at a poor strike rate of 102, not even crossing the 18-run mark yet. Rohit hasn't settled to one batting position and that could be the reason for his downfall.

MI captain needs to find the sweet spot of the bat as soon as possible if they want to stay in the contest, losing their first three games on the trot.