IPL 2020: IPL has always been known for its money-spurge on big names who have single-handedly at times changed the fortunes of a game or even better, the entire course of the tournament, let’s say, for instance, Kohli in 2016 or Maxwell in 2014.
However, as we all know that even those superstars are humans and every single human being, no matter how great they are have encountered fallibilities even beyond you can comprehend. Similarly, nothing different can be said about these sporting virtuosos who are fighting with every bone on the line, to entertain us.
Definitely, the legacy that these players have left behind is nothing short of an empire built from the very atoms but the fact that we vest all our trust upon them, splashing a huge amount of money to get them to sign for our favorite franchises doesn’t really accord us the right to question their greatness.
Yet, with all due reverence to their legends and myths, we stand on the cusp of singling out five players who were paid a boatload of money only to fail in this year’s IPL.
Pat Cummins – Rs 15.5 crores
This seems to be more like a mistake from the franchise to chase this Australian stalwart. He is arguably one of the finest Test bowlers and is also one of the unstoppable forces in Australian ODI cricket. However, even Australia hesitates to introduce him as a fast bowler in the shortest format of the game. He is a man with a plan and loves to suffuse a trap for the batsman that forces the latter to commit an error that this towering fast bowler waits for. Now, with only a quota of four overs in his kitty, it is not really the same thing for Cummins to produce the magic that one expects from him. As a result, despite, wringing out impressive figures that saw him hammering Bumrah four sixes in an over and scalping 4 wickets against Rajasthan in a must-win encounter, he seemed to be an overpaid athlete at Rs 15.5 crores.
Glenn Maxwell – Rs 10.5 crores
The Australian power-hitter was expected to carry Punjab’s battery throughout the middle-order given his previous blistering form. Unfortunately, this season was nothing short of abysmal for him. He failed to get going in every single game and to make matters worse for him, he failed to strike a solitary six throughout the tournament. Maxwell seemed like a bony apparition of himself from the past who was clad in royalty but failed to produce enough sting that could have ruffled a few feathers hither and yon. He managed to amass 108 runs from 13 games in IPL 2020, a low that even bowlers could surpass with the bat.
Andre Russell – Rs 7 crores
The same man who toted the weight of his entire team on his shoulders in the preceding edition came a nasty cropper in the current edition of the tournament. The same man who amassed 510 runs in the last tournament at an astonishing strike rate of 204.81 got entangled in an interminable tailspin that not only placed him in shackles but reduced him to a bench-warmer for 4 games. Paid Rs 7 crores, Russell could only manage 117 runs from 10 games in IPL 2020 which had the best of 25 and it came in the last game against Rajasthan Royals. One of the major spots for Russell’s bother was the short balls and the bumpers that were hurled at him. It toppled him off his balance and opened an entire vista for the bowlers to bowl to this West Indian muscle-man and knock him down on his knees.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Rs 15 crores
The addition of this moniker to this list is completely unexpected and unfortunate. Mahi has always been one of the most successful leaders and batsmen to feature in the fray, pulling of monumental feats without hesitation. Also, he is the best keeper with the highest number of dismissals next to his name.
Haplessly, IPL 2020 turned into a hellish nightmare for the former Indian captain. He could barely free himself from the manacles of age and swing his bat like he always did. He struggled in getting his reviews correct and that cost Chennai dearly. He could not even pick himself up a proper batting position and the consistent experimentation made life even tougher for the man who struck the telling blow to Sri Lanka to lift India their second World Cup. Life is a merciless irony, to say the least.
Sheldon Cottrell – Rs 8.50 crores
One of the best fast bowlers in the world at the moment, Sheldon Cottrell from West Indies rocked and rolled in the IPL opener and continued doing so unless he took a hammering from Rahul Tewatia in Sharjah. The man, who was supposed to dismantle empires and palaces, was not just stifled but was rendered superfluous with a defensive stance and also became victim to the constricted foreigners quota that had to accommodate Chris Gayle and Chris Jordan in the same team with both the stars exhibiting an astonishing resurgence. Cottrell could only manage to play in 6 games in IPL 2020 and that saw him claiming 6 wickets, which going by the standards of one of the fastest bowlers in the world is not just bad but woeful, to say the least.
