IPL 2019: Flop XI of the group stage

IPL 2019 is nearing its climax. After 56 hard-fought league games, the tournament has entered the playoff stage. Mumbai Indians finished on the top of the table followed by Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Coming to the performances of the players, surprisingly, only one Indian batsman feature's in the top five list of run-getters. For the Purple Cap, top two are overseas players. While some surprising domestic and overseas players flourished in the tournament, some of the prominent and experienced players had a poor season.

Note:- All stats in this article are until the group stage games. Playoff games are not considered.

On that note, let’s take a look at the Flop XI of the IPL 2019 group stage.

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Openers: Prithvi Shaw and Shane Watson

Shane Watson in action for CSK, Image Courtesy: BCCI/IPLT20.com

After making a stunning entry into the international arena, Prithvi Shaw has gone quiet ever since. The 19-year-old scored 292 runs for Delhi Capitals at an average of 20.85 and a strike rate of 132. Apart from the 99 against the Kolkata Knight Riders, Shaw had a poor IPL campaign. Despite showing flashes of brilliance, Shaw failed to convert starts into big scores. Given he is only 19, Shaw has a great future with DC.

Barring a match-winning 96 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Shane Watson had a quiet IPL season. The former Australian international has scored 258 runs in 14 matches at an average of 17 and a strike rate of 121. He doesn’t bowl these days and if not for MS Dhoni, Watson would have been dropped halfway through the season. His failings has put a lot of pressure on the CSK middle order. He is 37 and CSK will need to find a good replacement for him next season.

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Middle-order: Ambati Rayudu, Colin Ingram, and David Miller

Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com

One of the stars of Chennai’s title-winning 2018 IPL campaign, a lot of expectations were on Rayudu before the start of 2019 IPL. However, Rayudu has been below-par this season. In 12 outings for CSK, Rayudu has scored 219 runs at an average of 21. He was demoted to the middle order and scored only one fifty this season. His strike rate has been very poor at 90.

One of the expensive signings at the 2019 IPL auction, Colin Ingram has failed to live up to his price tag this season. Ingram has scored 184 runs in 12 games at an average of 18.40 and a strike rate of less than 120. Bought for his hitting and finishing abilities, the 33-year-old has been a disappointment in IPL so far.

David Miller has been a huge failure in IPL this season. In 10 games this season, the Proteas batsman has scored 213 runs at an average of 26 and a strike rate of 129.87. The 29-year-old has scored only one fifty in his last 32 IPL games (2016 - 2019). KXIP has failed to qualify for the playoffs and Miller's poor form was a huge contributing factor.

All-rounders: Ben Stokes and Vijay Shankar

Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com

One of the most expensive players in the history of the IPL, Ben Stokes hasn’t lived up to expectations this season. The English all-rounder managed just 123 runs in nine games and failed to score a single fifty. He struggled with the ball too. He picked up six wickets and went for more than 11 runs an over. Rajasthan Royals had a mediocre IPL season until now and Stokes’ poor from was one of the primary reasons.

Playing in the team as an all-rounder, Vijay Shankar is struggling with both the bat and ball this season. In 14 innings, the Tamil Nadu star has scored 219 runs at an average of 19.90 with the highest score of 40. He didn't bowl a lot in the tournament and picked up only one wicket in his eight overs. Not a performance one would expect from a player of his calibre.

Bowlers: Jaydev Unadkat, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Andrew Tye

Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com

Jaydev Unadkat has had yet another poor campaign in the IPL. Bought for a whopping Rs 8.4 Cr at the 2019 auction, Unadkat struggled throughout the season. In 11 games, the 27-year-old has picked up 10 wickets and conceded almost 11 runs an over. He was extremely expensive in the death overs and rarely troubled the batsmen.

Indian fans won’t be happy to see his name on the list. One of the stars of the Indian limited-overs side, Kuldeep Yadav has been a mainstay in the Indian ODI and T20 side. Surprisingly, Kuldeep’s IPL season turned out to be a massive disappointment. In nine games, Kuldeep picked up only four wickets and went for almost nine runs an over.

Varun turned heads around in the IPL 2019 auction when he became the most expensive buy at the auction. The mystery spinner was brilliant in the Tamil Nadu Premier League and had quite a few variations in his arsenal. However, he was not given a chance right away and when he got his opportunity, he was taken to the cleaners by Sunil Narine. He picked up one wicket in his only IPL game and conceded 35 runs in three overs.

The Purple Cap winner of IPL 2018 has been poor this season. Known for his stunning exploits in the shortest format of the game, Tye was expected to lead KXIP’s pace attack. However, the Australian seamer has been disappointing this season. He played six games and picked up only three wickets. His economy rate too was on the higher side at almost 10.59.