The IPL 2020 ended with Mumbai Indians (MI) lifting the trophy fifth time and creating history. Rohit Sharma, MI captain became a 6-time IPL trophy winner and 5-time as a captain.
The whole IPL 13 was filled with amazing performances and highlight-reel moments from all the players of each of the eight franchises. The tournament was one of the closest ones as the top four teams for the playoffs were not decided until the last league game.
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Though the IPL 2020 was full of amazing performances, some franchises suffered from their players not being in form despite net sessions and practice matches. Some players had participated in international matches before the IPL as well but didn’t perform well and a few of them came with hefty price tags as well.
Therefore, Team COC takes a look at 11 such players who performed well below expectations, and some even shocked the fans and the franchises with their inability to get going throughout the tournament.
Check out the COC presented Flop XI for IPL 2020
Openers and top order
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Aaron Finch and Prithvi Shaw of Delhi Capitals (DC) are the chosen openers for this flop XI picked by Team COC. Finch was bought by RCB to put an end to their top order woes and his T20I stats are nothing less than impressive.
However, he proved to be a dud with 268 runs in 12 matches with just one fifty to his name. He made his runs at a strike rate of 111.20 and struggled to take advantage of the powerplay overs. Most of his inability to get going was masked by incredible batting by his partner Devdutt Padikkal, and RCB persisted with him, only for Finch to let them down.
Shaw is considered to be one of the brightest talents in Indian cricket and many experts feel that his hand-eye co-ordination is second only to that of Virender Sehwag. However he made just 228 runs in 13 matches for DC with 2 fifties but those innings included three ducks as well, which didn’t sit well with plans of his franchise.
Shaw has a visible technical flaw and no matter the amount of talent he has, if he doesn’t sort out that flaw and readjust his attitude towards the game, these failures will continue.
Rajasthan Royals bought Robin Uthappa in the auction to bolster their inexperienced lot and possibly bat in the top order. However, thanks to some harebrained planning, Uthappa was used as a finisher in the initial parts of the tournament, something that he isn’t.
He was then moved to opening the innings with Ben Stokes and he still couldn’t get going. 196 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 119.51 has displayed that Uthappa is well past his prime and it will be interesting to see if RR retains him for 2021 IPL.
Captain and Wicketkeeper
Both the captain and wicketkeeper are the most important members of any playing XI. For our Flop XI of the IPL 2020, we have chosen Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Dinesh Karthik as the captain of the team and Delhi Capitals’ (DC) Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeeper.
Dinesh Karthik started the tournament as KKR and the team saw success under his leadership, winning 4 out first 6 games. However, on a personal level, Karthik was not performing with the bat, coming in at no.4.
The pressure was there on him to come good as captain, given KKR had invested in England’s 2019 World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan in the auction. Despite such a good start, Karthik decided to let go of the captaincy and concentrate on the batting.
The ploy didn’t work as he made just 169 runs in 14 matches with one fifty at a strike rate of 126.11. He becomes our captain for quitting as KKR skipper midway into the tournament when the team was doing good.
As for Rishabh Pant, he had a terrible IPL 2020 by his standards. 343 runs in 14 matches at 113.95 strike rate and a single fifty, which came in the final. He hit just 9 sixes in all, a far cry from what we have become accustomed to seeing. On top of that, he suffered a hamstring injury and struggled with his fitness as well, with a report from the Indian team’s trainer saying that he was overweight.
Pant was expected to be DC’s trump card with the bat, but he proved to be a dud overall, as his wicketkeeping was also not up to the level required. Now it is upto the youngster to find out a way out from this.
Lower order and finishers
One of the most important players in the playing XI is the power-hitters and all-rounders that come lower down the order to provide impetus to the total or chase down a tough target. While Rahul Tewatia was a find in such a position for Rajasthan Royals and Pollard and Pandya brothers did the job for champions MI, there were some players of high repute that failed to discharge their duties as finishers.
Glenn Maxwell of Kings XI Punjab has been called a “10 crore cheerleader” by Virender Sehwag on his Facebook show. The Australia big-hitter couldn’t manage a single six in the entire tournament and managed just 108 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 101.88, a shadow of what we had seen in previous editions of the tournament and even in BBL.
Andre Russell came into the IPL 2020 on the back of a terrific performance in IPL 2019, where he made more than 500 runs and hit more than 50 sixes, winning KKR matches from a position of no return. However, he came in carrying an injury and was woefully out of form.
He then hurt his knee during the tournament and was not at all hitting anything with the bat. His failure with the bat was one of the reasons for KKR’s poor performance in the second half of the tournament.
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However, the biggest flop of the IPL in the batting department proved to be Kedar Jadhav of Chennai Super Kings. The 35-year-old was backed by Dhoni and Fleming to do the job of the finisher and taking the team past the finishing line.
But the right-hander proved to be completely on a different mode altogether as he made 62 runs in 5 innings in 8 matches at a strike rate of 93.93 with just 7 fours in total. It was an encore of his performance from IPL 2019, where he had a similar strike-rate and there is a high possibility that he might be released from the franchise, as it looks to build for the future.
Bowlers
Bowlers are the heart and soul of any team as it is necessary to get wickets or defend scores to win a match. We saw Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, Anrich Nortje, and others tear down the house with their speed and skills, but there were also some bowlers, who looked out of touch and form and were taken to the cleaners by the batsmen.
With Harbhajan Singh out of the CSK’s squad, Piyush Chawla became their most effective Indian spinner in the team and a lot was expected from the tweaker who was bought in the auction for more than 6 Cr INR. However, Chawla struggled with the dew and couldn’t get any purchase from the Dubai and Abu Dhabi pitches. He ended up with 6 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 9.09 and a whole lot of disappointment for CSK management and fans.
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Dale Steyn was picked by the RCB team to provide wickets at the start and blow through batting orders. But the 37-year-old legend was truly past his prime, as he went for 83 runs in 2 matches he played without taking a wicket. It showed that the Proteas’ legend’s best days of bowling were truly behind him.
And finally, we come to the most expensive (across three seasons of IPL) player, who has been constantly backed by his franchise and repeatedly purchased in the auction. Rajasthan Royals have spent 23 Cr INR, across three seasons, on Jaydev Unadkat in hopes of the experienced Indian bowler coming good for them. However, repeatedly, their hopes have been dashed, along with their fans' dream of seeing RR winning the IPL title as well.
Unadkat picked 4 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 9.91. He was even decimated by AB de Villiers in a crucial game between RR and RCB when RR looked comfortable winners, but Unadkat was taken to the cleaners by the South African batting magician.
It will be highly unlikely that RR will retain/buy Unadkat again, after repeated poor performances in three straight years, where he had 25 wickets in 33 matches
COC Presents Flop XI of IPL 2020:
Aaron Finch (RCB), Prithvi Shaw (DC), Robin Uthappa (RR), Rishabh Pant (DC-WK), Glenn Maxwell (KXIP), Dinesh Karthik (KKR-C), Kedar Jadhav (CSK), Andre Russell (KKR), Piyush Chawla (CSK), Dale Steyn (RCB), Jaydev Unadkat (RR)
