IPL 2019: Stars and Flops of the eliminated teams

The group stage of IPL 2019 has finally concluded and this time, especially the fourth playoff spot was up for grabs for four teams until the last round of matches.

Amidst the ensuing drama, it was Sunrisers Hyderabad who emerged victorious, thanks to their ever superior Net Run Rate and a last-minute loss for Kolkata Knight Riders. It is for the first time in IPL history that a team has qualified for the playoffs with just 12 points. However, other teams too had their moments in the limelight with some clinical and inspiring performances.

As their businesses have essentially concluded, let us take a moment to look back at their unsuccessful odysseys and analyze the players who gave their best to get their side their share of victories.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Very often, ABD was a lone warrior.

Stars: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal

As always, the Kohli-ABD duo hogged the limelight for most of RCB's campaign and once again the failure of the other players to support the two biggest cricketing stars led to the team's undoing. Both of them feature in the top 10 run scorers, Virat at 7th with 464 runs and de Villiers at the 9th spot with 442, both striking at 140+ strike rates. The only other batsman who could make some impact was Parthiv Patel who consistently provided the team with blistering starts. RCB's bowling star would be Yuzvendra Chahal, who scalped 18 wickets at an economy of under 8. His form surely is a good omen for the Indian world cup squad.

Flops: Shimron Hetmeyer, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav:

The last match's heroics alone cannot justify the expectations on Hetmeyer or his hefty price tag. Barring that 75, his output was an abysmal 15 runs in 4 outings. Negi was off-color at best, and numbers of 9 runs and 3 wickets in 7 matches are worse than Hetmeyer's. Though Umesh was good in a form on and off, he was always expensive. He almost single-handedly gave RCB a scare in the match against CSK, courtesy a Dhoni carnage. A more responsible performance was definitely expected from the bowler who was picked to lead an inexperienced attack.

Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on IPL 2019 purple cap, points table, schedule, news, live scores, orange cap and fantasy tips.

Rajasthan Royals:

Royals' teamwork was often in question

Stars: Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler, Shreyas Gopal (Special Mention: Riyan Parag)

Though his captaincy was quite uninventive, after relieving those duties, Ajinkya Rahane was sensational. With 393 runs in 14 matches, he was Rajasthan's top scorer. In the eight matches he played, Jos Buttler was equally placed just above Rahane, racking up 311 runs striking at over 150. His departure was a big blow to the Royals. Shreyas Gopal was both miserly and amongst the wickets, scalping 20 at an economy of 7.22. If Rajasthan's strike bowlers could complement his effort, their fate might have been different.

The calm and composed Riyan Parag deserves a special mention, as the 17-year old impressed everyone with his reassuring and calculated batting style.

Flops: Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni

From being the most valuable player in 2017, Stokes' stocks have come down drastically. 123 runs and 6 wickets in 9 matches is simply unacceptable for a first-choice allrounder. Unadkat and Kulkarni form the flop-twins as they have leaked too many runs without regular wickets, often releasing the pressure built up by economic bowlers like Gopal. They were equally toothless during the powerplay as well. Unadkat leaked runs at more than 10 per over with Dhawal close behind at 9.57. It will be a surprise if either of them is retained by the club.

Kings XI Punjab:

Even Kings XI was at the receiving end of some bad team-planning

Stars: Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Shami

Once again, the universe boss Chris Gayle and Indian opener Lokesh Rahul set the grounds blazing with aggregates of 490 and 593 runs respectively. But sadly, that was all the firepower that Kings XI Punjab had, as their departure meant the rest of the team fell like a pack of cards. Mohammad Shami was their star with the ball with some match-winning performances. Because of his attacking lines, he was often expensive. However, he also had the last laugh against the batsmen in most faceoffs and proved his worth by his tally of 19 wickets and the fourth place in the purple cap chart.

Flops: David Miller, Andrew Tye, Murugan Ashwin

The team management had pinned their hopes in the hard-hitting and match-finishing skills of Miller. However, a disappointing total of 213 runs at a strike rate of under 130 is simply unacceptable from a top-choice finisher. Andrew Tye was lackluster once again, and Kings XI never found a suitable quickie to open the bowling. After taking just 3 wickets off 6 matches, Hardus Viljoen took his place. Murugan Ashwin started off well, he was economic though he was not amongst the wickets. The respite was short-lived, though, as once the batsmen figured him out, he was regularly taken to the cleaners. 5 wickets in 10 matches are not something anyone would expect from the skipper's go-to man.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

The man let down by the team- Andre Russell

Stars: Andre Russell and Chris Lynn

Chris Lynn with his aggregate of 405 runs can surely be called a star performer amidst the abysmal run that the other KKR batsmen had this season, he would still be two leagues below this giant man. Being the top scorer, best bowler, finisher, and the monstrous pinch-hitter of the team, Andre Russell is a top contender for the most valuable player award this season. However, the rest of the "Russell+10 team" did nothing for the lone swordsman, and just when he faced a rare failure off his last game, his teammates let him down one more time, to see their team crashing out of the playoff race.

A special mention to Shubhaman Gill, who throughout the tournament proved that with the bat in hand he can work out wonders even in tense situations.

Flops: Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Dinesh Karthik

Flighted deliveries are Kuldeep's weapon of choice, but the flat tracks of Kolkata blunted them down. It was a disappointing season for him, as he returned with just 4 wickets off his 9 matches. The form of the premier spinner is a huge concern for the Indian world cup contingent as well. Lockie Ferguson was supposed to lead the pace battery, but his own lackluster outing ensured that he was silently dropped from the playing XI, after returning just 2 wickets in 5 matches. Karthik's captaincy was often criticized for being laid-back. His batting was also equally abysmal and barring the lone 97 scored towards the latter part of the tournament, his returns were 156 runs in 13 matches, which are woefully bad stats for any top-order batsman.

Plenty of thinking will go into the post-season analysis for the teams and six months from now, some squads may even sport a completely revamped look. Let us hope that the tournament quality keeps improving as it has always been in the IPL.