IPL 2018: A playing XI of Indians who underperformed

IPL provides an ideal platform for the best players from around the world to come and showcase their talents. Right from the young, uncapped Indian players to the overseas players, this colossal league provides an ideal platform for everyone to excel.

An IPL team's success depends largely on the performances of the local Indian players. The success of teams like Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings has depended largely on their Indian stars. However, not all the Indian players have come up with performances that inspire their respective sides to the playoff stages.

In this article, we take a look at the IPL Indian players Flop XI of the 2018 edition.

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Openers

Gautam Gambhir (Delhi Daredevils)

Gautam Gambhir's return to Delhi Daredevils after seven immensely successful years at Kolkata Knight Riders was supposed to be the homecoming of a resurgent hero. Gambhir's tenure as the skipper of KKR led to him being proclaimed as one of the best captains in the history of the tournament as he led his team to two triumphs.

Hence his return to DD gave the fans hope of finally seeing their favourite team enter the finals for the very first time. However, KKR's decision to let their inspirational skipper go has been vindicated by the season he has endured at Delhi Daredevils.

Gambhir, who is one of the leading run scorers in IPL history, looked to be back in his elements in his old team as he scored a half-century on his return to Delhi. However, after scoring a brisk 55 off 42 balls in the first game, Gauti was able to manage only 30 runs off 46 balls across 4 matches. He was badly exposed by the quality pace bowlers who had found a way to stifle him from scoring freely.

After his sixth outing, Gambhir decided to relinquish the captaincy, owing to Delhi's disappointing performances and also his own poor form. Not only did he step down from captaincy, the Delhi-lad also made way for other young Indian players in the playing XI. He did not play a single match after that as he remained on the bench, acting as a mentor to the young team and captain Shreyas Iyer.

Mayank Agarwal (Kings XI Punjab)

After a stellar domestic season in which Mayank Agarwal ended as the leading run-scorer in Ranji Trophy, there were calls for him to be called up to the Indian T20 team for the Nidahas Trophy. He wasn't called up for the team, but the selectors said that he was on their radar and more eye-catching performances would earn him a call-up to the Indian team.

Agarwal, who was bought by Kings XI Punjab along with his Karnataka teammates KL Rahul and Karun Nair was expected to have a good IPL season. However, the Karnataka lad endured a miserable IPL as he could accumulate just 120 runs across 11 innings, with the highest score of just 30. He often walked in on the back of good starts provided by openers Chris Gayle and KL Rahul but failed to keep the momentum going.

Kings XI Punjab's struggles arose due to their middle-order that didn't get going throughout the tournament and Mayank Agarwal was at the forefront of their struggles. Certainly, a lot more was expected from Mayank on the back of the sparkling form he displayed in the domestic season, but Mayank's shot selection in the IPL was a major letdown.

Middle order

Manish Pandey (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Over the past few years, Sunrisers Hyderabad relied heavily on Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner and Kane Williamson to score the bulk of the runs. They decided to address this issue at the auction this year and went all-out to secure the services of Manish Pandey.

They finally did get him at ₹11 crore, making him the costliest batsman along with Karnataka teammate KL Rahul. Both the batsmen have gone on completely different paths though.

Rahul ended as one of the best batsmen in the tournament but had to fight a lone battle for a below-par Kings XI Punjab team. Manish Pandey though has been the biggest disappointment of a Sunrisers Hyderabad team that has fired on all cylinders.

With talismanic skipper David Warner ruled out of the IPL, the onus was on Pandey to step up in his absence. However, Manish Pandey hasn't been amongst the runs as he has registered just three half-centuries, two of which were in a losing cause.

He also hasn't scored too many runs apart from those three fifties. For a player bought at such a high price and with such massive expectations, the 28-year old should have scored many more runs and should also be batting more responsibly.

Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)

The skipper of defending champions Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, had one of the most miserable seasons with respect to both batting and captaincy.

Rohit surprised fans by sacrificing his opening spot for Suryakumar Yadav. Batting at the No. 4 position or sometimes even lower in certain matches didn't help his cause and neither was it beneficial for the Mumbai Indians.

Being a batsman who likes to take his time to gauge the pace of the wicket, batting at No. 4 gave him lesser time and hence he was rushed into rash shots which he would normally avoid early in his innings.

In 14 matches, that he played in 2018, Rohit could manage just 283 runs at an average of just above 23. In fact, this is also his first sub-300 run tally in the 11 editions of IPL. Rohit's performances also cost his side a playoff-spot as they just missed out, finishing 5th.

Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab)

Yuvraj Singh was back with his home franchise-Punjab after his 7-year sojourn around India. Over the years, the stylish left-hander was picked for huge amounts of money in the auction by numerous teams but he never justified that price tag. A move back home was expected to fire him back to his best, but Yuvraj has been nowhere close to his best this season.

Yuvi was backed by skipper Ravichandran Ashwin, but he couldn't live up to the confidence placed on him. It's been painful to watch Yuvi succumb the way he did on numerous occasions.

The former self of Yuvi has been missing, and there are fears that we may never see the best of the dashing Punjabi batsman again. Yuvraj scored just 65 runs in 8 matches at a middling average of 10.83 and a dismal strike rate of 89.04, and few of his knocks drained the momentum from KXIP's innings.

The team management, later on, didn’t trust him as they sent Axar Patel before Yuvraj when KXIP required 38 off 19 balls in a crucial fixture. This might have been the final nail in the coffin and it's highly likely that the local boy will be released by KXIP going into next year’s auction. We hope that this isn't the last we have seen of the charismatic legend of Indian cricket.

Lower order

Wriddhiman Saha (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

India's Test match wicket-keeper has shockingly been displaced by Shreevats Goswami in the Sunrisers Hyderabad side. The only Indian cricketer to score a century in an IPL final, Saha, was bought by the SRH for ₹5 crore.

The 2011 IPL winner played the opening 10 games for the Orange Army in the league stage, in which he managed to score just 87 runs at a strike-rate of 116.0. He was also one of the players under-performing in their middle-order.

Though Saha's keeping is second to none, his batting has often been called into question. He was dropped due to his poor showing, with 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup winning wicket-keeper batsman, Shreevats Goswami, replacing him in the side. The replacement keeper has scored handy runs and has strengthened his place in the side.

It's a massive surprise that the Indian test wicket-keeper has been overlooked, but his disappointing batting performances left SRH with no choice.

Washington Sundar (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Just a few months back, Washington Sundar had the world at his feet, and remarkably he's just 18 years old. The find of IPL 2017 had displayed remarkable temperament in Indian colours and he was named the Man of the Tournament in the Nidahas Trophy that was played just before the IPL.

Royal Challengers Bangalore paid ₹3.2 crores for his signature in the 2018 auction. He was expected to be a vital cog in Royal Challengers Bangalore's title charge, but the young boy endured the 'second-season syndrome' which saw Sundar fail to live up to expectations this season.

Skipper Virat Kohli surprisingly opted not to play to Sundar's strengths, as he was not handed the new ball with which he worked his magic over the past year. He managed to picked up only four wickets in seven games at a poor economy rate of 9.60. His exploits with the bat were promising but he didn't get too many chances to show off his abilities batting at No.7 or 8.

He was bought for his all-round abilities but his failure left a big hole in Royal Challengers Bangalore lineup. It was astonishing that Kohli dropped the young lad after just 7 matches, and didn't go back to him despite his side's struggles.

This will be a massive dent in the youngster's confidence, and it will be interesting to see him fight his way back into playing XI the Indian team.

Bowlers

Axar Patel (Kings XI Punjab)

Axar Patel has been a match winner for Kings XI Punjab over the last few years. Despite that, it was a surprising move that they decided to retain him prior to the auction, instead of looking to buy him from the auction. Considering this, he has had a really poor season and didn’t do anything significant this year.

He was surprisingly not backed much by skipper Ravichandran Ashwin, despite being a spinner himself. Axar played only 9 games, but he managed just 3 wickets at an economy rate of 8.38. These numbers are not acceptable from a retained player. He didn’t do much with the bat as well, as he scored just 80 runs in 8 innings.

Better performances from Axar Patel with both bat and ball might have seen this side make it to the playoff stages.

R Vinay Kumar (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Vinay Kumar was bought at the auctions for ₹1 crore and was expected to be the leader of the young bowling attack of the Kolkata Knight Riders in Mitchell Starc's injury absence.

However, Vinay was simply awful as he played just two matches, picking up just two wickets. His economy rate was a horrific 16.96 and he almost single-handedly cost his side the game against Chennai Super Kings when he bowled a terrible final over, which included a beamer that went for a six.

Vinay Kumar was subsequently dropped in favour of uncapped Indian pacers Shivam Mavi and Prasidh Krishna.

Mohammed Shami (Delhi Daredevils)

Delhi Daredevils used the Right to Match to avail Mohammed Shami's services for this season. The fast-bowler is one of India's best Test bowlers with his accuracy and skiddy nature difficult to deal with.

On his day, he's capable of running through a side single-handedly with his reverse swing bowling. He was also India's best bowler in the 2015 World Cup. However, Shami's progress has been hampered by the cycle of injuries suffered over the past few years.

Shami has surprisingly failed to step up in IPL tournaments, with his performances nowhere as good as his showings in Indian colours. With South African speedster Kagiso Rabada ruled out for the season, the onus was on Shami to lead the Delhi attack. Shami though turned in listless performances as was hammered to all parts whenever he came on to bowl.

Across 14 overs in 4 matches, he managed to pick up just 3 wickets. He's also conceded runs at an extremely expensive economy rate of 10.40; most certainly not the numbers expected from your strike bowler.

Delhi Daredevils tried alternatives in place of Shami in the previous two matches but none of them proved to be any better. Despite that, Shami was consigned to the bench, a shock for a bowler of Shami's quality.

Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals)

Prior to the auctions, few would have expected Unadkat to be the costliest Indian player in the auction despite the fabulous season he had with Rising Pune Supergiant last year.

However, the non-availability of quality left-arm pacers meant that his value soared over the roof and he was ultimately bought for ₹11.5 crore by Rajasthan Royals. Underwhelming performances in the Nidahas Trophy only added to the pressure along with his heavy price tag.

The Saurashtra pacer was expected to lead the pace attack, but it bowling has lacked penetration and the batsmen have found it very easy to deal with his variations as they haven't been threatening enough.

He's been down on pace and his slower balls and cutters haven't worked for him either. Having played all 15 matches for his side, he only picked up 11 wickets at a poor economy rate of 9.66.

He has been a major disappointment this season and looks a pale shadow of the bowler he was last year. Buying Unadkat for such an expensive price has ended up being a 'costly' mistake by the Rajasthan Royals.

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