IPL 2018: One player that each franchise regret buying this season

We are almost done with one-third of the group stage games in IPL 2018. The race for a top-four finish is getting intense each passing day. Sunrisers Hyderabad is unbeaten in the tournament while Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Daredevils are off to a poor start.

Unlike previous years, franchises had an opportunity to completely revamp their squad and some of them did. Every team went with a strategy in the IPL auction and managed to assemble a good squad. As the season enters an important phase, franchises are already doing a retrospection on whom they should have bought and whom they should not have.

On that note, let’s take a look at the one player that each franchise regret signing this season

#1 Chennai Super Kings: Mark Wood

Wood gave away 49 runs in his first game

Chennai Super Kings’ return to IPL produced a blockbuster inaugural game of IPL 2018 when they beat Mumbai Indians by 1 wickets in the penultimate ball of the chase. Bought by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 1.5 crores, Mark Wood was expected to lead CSK’s pace attack in IPL 2018. A lot was expected of Mark Wood as Chennai Super Kings did not sign any experienced seamer other than the Englishman.

However, his first game in IPL ended is a disaster. Mark Wood finished his debut IPL game with figures of 4-0-49-0. His debut game turned out to be his only game for Chennai Super Kings so far in the IPL 2018. Chennai Super Kings has leaked more than 190 runs twice in their first 3 games and their decision to buy Mark Wood does not look good at the moment.

#2 Delhi Daredevils: Amit Mishra

Mishra was dropped after the first game

The second highest wicket-taker in IPL history seems way past his prime right now. He was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a huge Rs 4 crores in the 2018 action. He was picked in the auction by Delhi Daredevils as their no.1 spinner in their squad.

However, Gautam Gambhir’s primary spinner Amit Mishra was brutally punished by the Punjab batsmen in their first game. Mishra leaked 46 runs in his 4 overs and bowled only four dot balls in his entire spell.

He was left out of Daredevils’ eleven in the subsequent games. But a lack of a genuine spin option is hurting Delhi badly. Shahbaz Nadeem is expensive and Rahul Tewatia is relatively inexperienced to lead the spin attack. Daredevils are currently eighth in the table this season after four games.

#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore: Brendon McCullum

McCullum lost his place to Anderson in RCB's fourth game of the season

Brendon McCullum came into the tournament with a huge reputation and a vast T20 experience. He was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the auction for Rs 3.6 crores. McCullum was brilliant in his last 4 IPL campaigns, scoring at least 320 runs in each of them.

But the Kiwi batsman is having a poor IPL so far. He opened the batting with Quinton de Kock in Bangalore’s first three games of the season and scored only 47 runs. McCullum’s failure to give good starts for RCB has cost them a great deal.

Royal Challengers Bangalore has won only one game in four attempts so far in IPL 2018. They are seventh in the standings and struggling to produce a convincing performance. McCullum was dropped for RCB’s fourth game.

#4 Mumbai Indians: Ben Cutting

Change of club did not help his fortunes

Mumbai Indians decision to pay Rs 2.2 crores for the hard-hitting Aussie all-rounder, Ben Cutting, surprised many in the IPL auction. Mumbai Indians already had Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, and Hardik Pandya, and their strategy to buy Cutting was a really strange one.

They missed a trick or two by not buying a quality spinner in the team, although, Mayank Markande turned out to be a revelation for the Mumbai Indians.

Ben Cutting was expensive with the ball in his only game of the IPL season so far and did not do anything great with his bat either. Ben Cutting chances of playing for Mumbai Indians again look very slim at the moment.

#5 Kolkata Knight Riders: Vinay Kumar

Vinay was dreadful with the ball in IPL 2018

One of India’s best domestic bowler could not make it big in the IPL. Vinay Kumar was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 1 crore in the auction. He played in the first two games but was extremely expensive with the ball.

In his 3.5 overs this IPL, the Karnataka seamer gave away a massive 65 runs. With Mitchell Starc injured, he was their only experienced seamer and KKR needed a lot from him. But, Vinay Kumar failed to produce goods for them and was very inconsistent.

He was rightly dropped by Kolkata Knight Riders for their subsequent games and replaced by the U-19 superstar Shivam Mavi.

#6 Rajasthan Royals: Jaydev Unadkat

Unadkat is struggling to justify his price tag

It raised many eyebrows when Rajasthan Royals paid a whopping Rs 11.5 crores to buy Jaydev Unadkat. Though he was brilliant in the last IPL campaign for Rising Pune Supergiant, he was rarely consistent in his entire career.

In his four games for Rajasthan Royal this season, Unadkat was very expensive with the ball. His economy rate stands at 11.0 and average at 60.50. He picked up only two wickets so far and was extremely ineffective with the ball.

The left-arm seamer was taken for runs in all the games this season and never looked like a $1.8 million player. This is turning out to be a costly mistake by Rajasthan Royals.

#7 Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh has lost his swagger

Yuvraj Singh is definitely not the same player he was five years ago. His brutality with the bat vanished and the fear factor was long gone. Bowlers dominate him and he rarely dictates the proceeding these days.

Kings XI Punjab was the only bidder for Yuvraj and they signed him for Rs 2 crores. Yuvraj Singh scored only 36 runs in his first 3 games at an average of 12 and a strike rate of 92.30. He struggled in all of his three innings and scored at the rate of less than a run per ball faced.

The 36-year-old is definitely at the fag end of his career and could soon lose his place in the team if he fails to rediscover his form.

#8 Sunrisers Hyderabad: Manish Pandey

Pandey's IPL 2018 is yet to start

This is turning out be another costly mistake. Manish Pandey was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a huge Rs 11 crores in the 2018 auction. He was expected to do the bulk of middle order batting, but he so far faced only 19 balls in the tournament.

In his first three games of the season, Manish Pandey has scored only 15 runs at an average of 7.5 and a strike rate of 78.94. Though they are unbeaten in the tournament, Pandey's form is vital to the success of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the longer run.

The game against Kings XI Punjab on Thursday could be a huge one for Manish Pandey. He cannot keep quiet for long.