IPL 2018: Disappointing XI of the season

For nearly 10 years, IPL has been the best platform for up-and-coming, as well as national discards, to showcase their talent and their rejuvenated form to the cricketing world. Several players have managed to make their way into their national teams after impressive performances for their franchise in IPL. In short, IPL has acted as a springboard to get into national teams.

However, there are always a few players who were expected to set the stage on fire with their on-field skills, but turned out to be nothing but big disappointments. This year, as well, many players have surprisingly underperformed to such a level that critics have even started doubting their abilities to play cricket at the highest level anymore.

Here is the playing XI of the players who have failed to perform in IPL 2018.

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Openers

Gautam Gambhir (c)

Gambhir stepped down as skipper of DD.

Gautam Gambhir's return to Delhi Daredevils after 7 years 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 skippers in the history of IPL, hence his return to DD gave all the fans hope of finally seeing their favourite team enter the finals.

However, what DD has endured so far is one of their worst seasons in the history of IPL.

Gambhir, who scored heavily for KKR in his six seasons with the team, looked out of form from the very first match. In the six matches that he played in this season, he managed to score just 88 runs at a poor strike rate of 97.

After the sixth outing, not only did Gambhir relinquish the captaincy, but also decided to make way for other players in the playing XI. He did not play any match after that, and acted as a mentor to the team.

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D'Arcy Short (Rajasthan Royals)

Short failed to live up to the hype around him.

D'Arcy Short, just like Jofra Archer, had a lot of hype surrounding him before the beginning of IPL 2018. After all, he was the Player of the Tournament in the 2017-18 Big Bash League and played a vital role in taking his team to the finals.

While Jofra Archer has managed to live up to the hype surrounding him, the same cannot be said about Short, who has struggled to find his footing on the slow pitches of India.

Despite getting multiple opportunities at the top of the order by the team, the Aussie has failed to make an impact or play a significant inning. In the 7 matches that he has played for the team, Short has only managed to score 115 runs at a poor average of just 16.4 and a rather average strike rate of 116.

With RR fighting for a spot in Qualifier 2, it is highly unlikely that Short will get another opportunity in the playing XI.

Middle Order

Aaron Finch (Kings XI Punjab)

Finch has failed in all but one inning.

What exactly is going on with Aaron Finch in this season of IPL? Finch is easily one of the best limited overs batsmen in the whole world, and has scored over 300 runs in four of the last five seasons of IPL, and here we are, in the 11th edition of IPL, where he has struggled to even stay on the crease for a total of 100 balls after 10 matches.

Be it in the middle order or the top of the order, the Australian failed to get going in the opportunities that he has got so far. Having featured in 10 matches for KXIP, Finch has only managed a cumulative total of 134 runs at an underwhelming average of 18.57.

With Gayle and Rahul scoring heavily at the top of the order, Finch's failure in the middle order played a big role in KXIP's dismal form in the later stages of IPL 2018.

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Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab)

This graphic sums up Yuvi's season so far.

Much like Gautam Gambhir's return to Delhi Daredevils, Yuvraj Singh's return to Kings XI Punjab, the franchise based in his hometown, was met with much fanfare.

While the franchise has been doing pretty well, courtesy of some impressive performances by KL Rahul, Chris Gayle and Andrew Tye, Yuvraj Singh endured a polar opposite season.

Regarded as one of the best T20 players of all time, Yuvraj Singh had a tough time finding form in the matches that he played for KXIP. Playing only 8 matches for his hometown franchise, the swashbuckling left-hander managed a cumulative total of only 65 runs.

Famous for his aggressive stroke play, Yuvraj's disappointing strike rate of just 89 led to his removal from the playing XI in the middle part of the season.

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Kieron Pollard

The Big Man was warming the benches for many matches.

This is how far we have come from the first few seasons of IPL. There was a time, back in 2009, when Kieron Pollard was the hottest property in the whole cricketing world. Setting the stage on fire with his powerful hitting and unimaginable catching skills, Pollard was regularly winning matches for Mumbai Indians on a regular basis.

Fast forward to 2018, and the man is just warming benches after failing to make an impact in the first half of this season.

Enduring inarguably the worst season of his IPL career, Pollard looks a shadow of the player that he was at his prime. After playing the first 9 matches for the Mumbai Indians, Pollard only managed a cumulative total of 133 runs at an average of only 19.

Known for his partnership breaking spells, Pollard did not bowl a single delivery in those 8 matches. While he played one match-winning knock of 50 runs, his performance in other matches left a lot to be desired.

Lower Order

Wriddhiman Saha (wk) (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

The only regular stumper that has struggled.

Wicketkeepers have had a wonderful IPL, with the likes of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Jos Buttler, MS Dhoni, at the top of the charts for the most runs scored in this season. Even Ishan Kishan and Dinesh Karthik have played knocks that have made a difference for their team.

There is, however, one regular wicketkeeper that has surprisingly struggled to find his form, and he is none other than India's Test stumper Wriddhiman Saha.

Although he was never known for his ability to hit right out of the park, Saha had managed to make a name for himself, over the years, with his important knocks at vitals stages of the tournament. However, in IPL 2018, where he was part of the playing XI in first 10 matches, he only managed to score 87 runs at a strike rate of 116. Saha failed at the time when SRH middle order is struggling to find stability and form in IPL 2018.

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Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings)

Not worth retaining anymore?

The reaction that Ravindra Jadeja gave after he dismissed Virat Kohli off the first bowl totally describes his IPL 2018 season. No one, be it him, his team, or his supporters, exactly know what is happening with him right now. Once regarded as India's premier all-rounder in the limited overs format, Jadeja is even struggling to make an impact at the platform that helped him transform into the player that he was at his peak.

So far, in the 12 matches that he has played for CSK, Jadeja has failed not only with the bat, but also with the ball, and in the field. 86 runs in 14 matches is not the statistics that you expect from a player who is supposed to be your first-choice all-rounder.

To make matters worse, Jadeja has only managed to take 9 wickets, which includes a 3-wicket haul as well. It seems that CSK made a big mistake by retaining Jadeja over Ashwin.

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Axar Patel (Kings XI Punjab)

A big disappointing season for Punjab's only retention.

The team from Punjab started off with a bang in this season of IPL, and were easily the best team during the first half of IPL 2018. However, a dip in form and unusual decisions saw them fighting with 4 other teams for a spot in the playoffs.

While new acquisitions like Andrew Tye and KL Rahul have done wonders for the franchise, the same cannot be said by the team's only retention in the auctions, Axar Patel.

There were a lot of responsibilities on Patel before the start of the season, and he has failed big time to play the role of the senior all-rounder in the team. Axar only played 9 matches for the franchise, despite being a retained player, and managed to score only 80 runs with the bat.

With the ball, his stronger weapon, Axar disappointed in equal measure as he only took 3 wickets at an economy of 8.38 and average of over 73.

Bowlers

Mitchell Johnson (Kolkata Knight Riders)

A shadow of the player he was at his peak

Even after Mitchell Starc withdrew from IPL 2018 due to injury, Kolkata Knight Riders were satisfied with their bowling attack, since they had the other Mitchell to lead their bowling lineup.

Although he retired from international cricket three years ago, Johnson is still a big name in the T20 leagues all over the world. The same, however, cannot be said about IPL anymore, as Johnson endured one of his worst IPL seasons, in 2018.

Johnson has only been part of the playing XI in only 6 matches in this season. With only 2 wickets to his name in those 6 matches, the Australian has the highest average and strike rate, 108 and 63, among all the bowlers in IPL.

After a series of dismal performances, he was dropped from the playing XI in favour of Tom Curran, and won't be making a return to the playing XI in the playoffs

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Jaydev Undakat (Rajasthan Royals)

Struggling to find his rhythm.

This is what a high auction price and even more hype do to a cricketer's performance. Jaydev Unadkat was the MVP of Rising Pune Supergiants' bowling line up in the 2017 season, having taken 24 wickets in 12 matches, and played a big role in taking RPS to the final of that season. Fast forward just 12 months, and he is actually the only weak link in the bowling line-up for the Rajasthan Royals.

It is astonishing that, while Unadkat managed to take 24 wickets in 12 matches in the last season, he only managed to take 12 wickets in 14 matches of this season.

Not only that, his skyrocketing economy rate, which is just shy of 10 runs an over, is the biggest concern for RR. Just like fellow RR teammate D'Arcy Short, Unadkat has been nothing but a big and expensive disappointment in this season.

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Mohit Sharma (Kings XI Punjab)

A liability than an asset

Indian fast bowlers have really done a good job in this season of IPL. While experienced campaigners like Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah continued to rattle the batsmen with their quickies, others like Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma have managed to leave a mark as well.

However, the same cannot be said about KXIP fast bowlers, who have struggled big time in this season.

While Barinder Sran has not done anything productive for the team, the biggest disappointment has been the dismal performance of Mohit Sharma. Sharma played 9 matches for the Mohali-based franchise and took only 7 wickets in those fixtures.

However, it is his pathetic economy rate of over 11 that earned him a place in this playing XI.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions

Glenn Maxwell

Colin Munro: The big-hitter from New-Zealand was supposed to be DD's bulldozer, but failed big-time with the bat as he only managed 63 runs in the 5 matches that he played for the franchise

Glenn Maxwell: Just like Colin Munro at the top of the order, Maxwell was supposed to play the senior player role in the DD middle order. However, he has only managed 147 runs in 11 matches and only has 5 wickets to his name.

Chris Woakes: Even though he was constantly taking wickets in the 5 matches that he played, his inability to contribute with the bat and a high economy of almost 11 lead to his ouster from the RCB playing XI.

Imran Tahir: One of the best spinners in limited-overs formats, Tahir has been a big disappointment in this season of IPL. He only has 6 wickets in 6 matches to his name, and has leaked runs at an economy of over 9.

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Playing XI: Gautam Gambhir(c), D'Arcy Short, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohit Sharma

Bench: Colin Munro, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Woakes, Imran Tahir