IPL 2020 has been a weird apparition going by the glorious antiquity of the tournament. Not only has it been a bowling-friendly contest this time which is surreally against the dogma of the shortest format of the game, but several legends of the game, in fact of the format have failed miserably to say the least.
In this piece, we are going to look at a team of eleven superstars who have failed to create an impression in this year’s contest and a few believe that this another evidence of why exactly is the entire year actually cursed.
IPL 2020 Flop XI: Openers Tom Banton (Kolkata Knightriders)
Tom Banton is touted to be one of the most dynamic openers in T-20 cricket. Unfortunately, the KKR management failed to show ample trust in the big man, and in the couple of opportunities that he got, he could only manage 18 runs. Probably the predetermined foreigners’ quota in the lineup disrupted all the calculations but going by the average Banton is a failure despite being a massive expectation.
Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knightriders)
Sunil Narine was hoped to be a cracker of an opener before the fray kickstarted but once he started outing bat to the ball, on most occasions, he missed, it was an absolute failure in IPL 2020, to be honest. Not only was he poor with the bat, but he failed to leave an impression with the ball too, that was always his forte. Much to his woes, he had to undergo a bowling-style change and that dampened his spirits further.
Middle Order:
Murali Vijay (Chennai Super Kings)
Once a legendary opener in all formats of the game and even a beacon of light for Chennai, Murali Vijay has been an abysmal shadow of himself and is nowhere close to where he was at one point in time. His fielding was woeful, to say the least, and his batting numbers cite 32 from 3 games at a sloppy average of 10, in IPL 2020. If there is something that can be worse to Vijay in this season that is him being axed after three games.
Robin Uthappa (Rajasthan Royals)
Uthappa is one of the most consistent cricketers in the history of IPL and T20 cricket. Keeping such high expectations, Rajasthan on-boarded him. Unfortunately, in IPL 2020, he came a cropper way too early and kept on faltering regularly throughout the tournament. From 11 games he has managed to score only 190 runs which are extremely unlikely of him. From being a reliable customer in the middle he has devolved into a one-hit-wonder.
Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab)
One of the most successful players of IPL, Glenn Maxwell has struggled vehemently throughout the fray to score in his normal effusive flow. From 13 games in IPL 2020, he has managed to garner 108 runs which seem pretty obnoxious going by the numbers. However, not only has his strike rate dropped below expectations but he is a regular member of the 400-club and that number has never seemed totally unachievable for him.
Kedhar Jadhav (Chennai Super Kings)
Dhoni often got into crossfire for consistently playing Jadhav despite the former Indian middle-order batsman failing to live up to his expectations. He was ultra slow with the bat, playing Test cricket, pathetic in the field, and let’s not talk about his bowling. He was one of the instrumental causes for Chennai losing half of their games.
MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)
The man from whom an entire universe of good was expected, was the hardest one to fall. He could only manage to amass 200 runs from 13 games and In IPL 2020, he never looked as if he was going to unleash hell upon the bowlers like he was always expected to do. He did a commendable job with the gloves but that was never enough to see his team through.
Andre Russell (Kolkata Knightriders)
When everything was going south, this man from Jamaica was supposed to cement the loopholes and bring Kolkata back to track. Unfortunately, he too went down that dark alley. From 9 games he contributed only 92 runs with 6 wickets. He was expected to be a good bowler, but he slumped even in that and now he is going to warm the bench with an injury that he never thought he could have.
Bowlers:
Josh Hazlewood (Chennai Super Kings)
Hazlewood is one of the best bowlers in the world and yet Chennai failed to use him completely that left the team rattled. He was expected to leave a significant impact on the Chennai line up. Unfortunately, in the matches that he got called up for, his contributions were so limited that it never looked as if he is going to make it big for the ongoing tournament.
Sheldon Cottrell (Kings XI Punjab)
The West Indian fast bowler was off to a significant start in the tournament but shortly fizzled away into oblivion after batsmen started picking up way too frequently. He also lost his position partially due to the midway resurgence of Chris Jordan. He could only manage 6 wickets from 6 games and was entailed for an infamous 30-run over against Rahul Tewatia.
Tom Curran (Rajasthan Royals)
His younger brother made a significant impact and will definitely be an eye turner in the ensuing edition of the fray. However, Tom failed to leave such a significant impact as he could only garner 83 runs from 5 games while picking up 3 wickets in the process. He was expected to do a lot more than these mediocre figures.
