The Indian Premier League is a domestic extravaganza that sees money being splurged at free will, spending on loads of players who probably aren’t even up to the billing that is being slapped on them in the time of auction. However, there are always a few players who have an impressive cricketing legacy before they are being contested in the grand sale and finally are being notched up by franchise for a fortune, expecting optimized returns.
Despite in most of the occasions, big names have returned bigger favors, there have been occasions, where the franchise’s blind hopes have been hurt as the player in question failed to live up to his billing. We will take a look at five such cricketers who are big names of the sport but couldn’t really fulfill the expectations of their bosses.
Ben Stokes – Rajasthan Royals (2018) – Rs 12.5 crores
After ruling the cricketing world for quite some time now which has stayed witness to the emergence of the English all-rounder as an all-time great, a lot was expected from the big man when he was boarded by Rajasthan Royals.
Dishing out a peach of a season with Pune Super Giants in the preceding season, plundering 316 runs from 12 games at an astonishing strike rate of 142.98 that featured a blistering century, speculations were extremely high from the Blues at the beginning of the season.
To add to his batting brilliance, he also chipped in with 12 wickets that played a pivotal role in crucial junctures of the game.
However, the situation turned grim in the ensuing season as Stokes could only manage to amass 196 runs from his quota of 13 games that featured the best score of 45 and an ailing strike rate of 121. His bowling dipped even further as all he could manage was 8 wickets conceding runs at an economy rate of 8.18.
His price tag was the highest in the auction and his statistics were poorer than an average Indian cricketer using the Indian Premier League pedestal as a springboard to climb the rungs of the ladder.
Glenn Maxwell – Delhi Capitals (2018) – Rs 9 crores
Maxwell has been one of the most destructive batsmen ever in the current roster of cricket. If he gets going, he can single-handedly take a match away from his opponents.
After playing an illustrious season for the Melbourne Stars, racking up 299 runs at a searing strike rate of 154.12, Maxwell was hoped to add to the depth of the Delhi squad. However, the fans were in for a rude awakening as the Australia hard-hitter could barely come to grips with the season and started failing repeatedly.
Tagged with a price of Rs 9 crores, all he could deliver was 169 runs from 12 matches at an ailing average of 22.90. Much to the surprise of everyone, 95 runs of this total came in one single game and the remaining was uniformly spanned out over 11 matches.
His bowling hand wasn’t special either, chipping in with 5 wickets in the season, leaking runs at 8.25 per over.
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers – Royal Challengers Bangalore (2017) – Rs 9.5 crores
This is a rare flop show from one of cricket’s greatest ever batsmen, AB de Villiers. Usually known for his magical hitting prowess that comes with a very rare consistency, de Villiers is capable of doing anything on the field.
However, the season 2017 wasn’t really kind to the South African as he repeatedly stumbled in the Indian Premier League and all he could manage from 9 matches were 216 runs, which is way below par going by his meta-human batting standards.
With the highest score of 89 not out, ABD failed to be his usual self and repeatedly kept on hitting a block despite the best of his efforts.
Andrew Flintoff – Chennai Super Kings (2009) – Rs 9.66 crores:
A professional boxer by now, Flintoff was another magical transformation which the game has ever seen. Brought for a whopping Rs 9.66 crores, Flintoff had to bid adieu to the season only after playing a paltry three games.
With only 62 runs in his kitty from the number of the matches he played, Flintoff was sidelined with a knee injury and he didn’t wait to prolong the torment. Despite drawing major flak for his headstrong decision, Flintoff called it quits from Indian Premier League.
Robin Uthappa – Pune Warriors (2011) – Rs 10.9 crores:
An Indian hard-hitter with some exotic performances against stalwarts in the shortest format of the game, Robin Uthappa was roped in at a whopping cost of Rs 10.9 crores by debutants Pune Warriors.
However, all of that money went down the drain as his figures read 264 runs from 14 games and that didn’t feature a single half-century. Much to the woe of his dominance, his strike rate read a mediocre 126 going bus his blistering standards.
The money invested could have very well brought at least three Indian cricketers to the rising cause of the newcomers.
