IPL 2018: Three IPL stars who utterly flopped representing their home franchises

The VIVO IPL season 11 has now finished with the round-robin contests with CSK beating KXIP last night to stand second in the points tally. The league stage has seen many breathtaking matches with thrilling finishes. When it comes to the individual brilliance, the level has been quite high as not only some bigwigs performed to their reputation but some new faces also have made quite an impact with their exceptional cricketing skills.

While the likes of KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni etc have set the stage on fire with their commendable performances representing franchises that are not from their hometown, there have been a few top cricketers who utterly failed to perform this season despite representing their home franchises.

Let us take a look at three such stars who have failed to live up to the expectations of their home crowds:

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#3 Gautam Gambhir

The former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper was bought by his home franchise, Delhi Daredevils, for Rs 2.8 crore in the auctions of IPL 2018.

After his successful seven-year tenure with the KKR franchise where he won them two IPL titles with his impeccable captaincy skills, it was expected that Gautam Gambhir would change the fortunes of Delhi Daredevils, a team which have never made it to the summit clash even once despite being a part of the tournament since its inception.

But the homecoming of Gambhir did not quite go as he would have liked it to be. Despite starting the season on a high with a 42-ball-55 against Kings XI Punjab, the southpaw couldn't quite continue his form as he could only manage to score 30 runs in his next four innings to aggregate a mere 85 runs from five innings.

With his form going down the slope at one end and his team keep on finding a familiar position on the points table on the other end, Gambhir decided to step down as the skipper of Delhi Daredevils. He even decided to forego his entire salary of Rs. 2.8 Crore owing to his poor performances.

#2 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh has probably endured his worst IPL season this year

Yuvraj Singh is regarded as one of the finest players ever to have graced the game of cricket, however, in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League representing his home franchise, the elegant left-hander has seriously struggled and looked like a pale shadow of his former self.

After being roped in by Kings XI Punjab for his base price of Rs. 2 Crore, Yuvraj could only manage to score 65 runs in 6 innings at a meager average of 10.83 to end his worst IPL season.

The case of Yuvraj Singh yet again proves that cricket is a great leveler and the skills leave even the best as the time progresses.

#1 Barindar Sran

Barindar Sran just took 4 wickets in 6 games going at 10.41 runs per over

The left-arm pacer from Sirsa, Punjab had caught all eyes when he was first picked for Australia tour in 2016 January where he impressed one and all returning with the figures of 3/56 on his debut.

After playing an instrumental role in SunrisersHyderabad's triumphant season in 2016, the 25-year-old was roped in by Kings XI Punjab for a decent sum of Rs.2.2 Crore in the auctions of IPL 2018.

Home comforts have not gotten the best of Barinder as he managed to take only 4 wickets in the 6 appearances going at 10.41 runs per over. Sran's best performance of 2/50 against KKR tells how below he has been this season.