IPL 2018: Poor Performers of the Group Stage Fixtures in Edition Eleven

The Indian Premier League (IPL) of the 11^th edition has already reached its business end and we have found out which four teams will lock horns in the playoffs stage.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will meet Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Qualifier one. Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will go head-to-head with Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the eliminator clash.

There have been some exceptional performances by several players. Ambati Rayudu and KL Rahul have looked a class apart at the top of the order.

The young bowlers have also risen to the occasion and have done the job for their franchise. However, there have also been some below-par performances in the tournament so far.

Now let us have a look at the poor performers of IPL 11 in a  group stage fixtures:

Gautam Gambhir:

The former Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir started off with a half-century against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in their first clash of the tournament.

However, his form faded drastically which forced him to leave captaincy. The southpaw was subsequently dropped from the team after resigning from the post of the skipper.

Unfortunately, Gambhir’s franchise couldn’t quite revive their hopes and finished at the bottom of the IPL points table despite a couple of consecutive victory in the last couple of matches.

Mayank Agarwal:

The Karnataka batsman Mayank Agarwal came into the tournament on the back of some exceptional batting display in the domestic circuit.

Agarwal was quite sublime in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. However, in the IPL he has been far from impressive. Agarwal has only made 120 runs in 11 outings for the Kings XI. It remains to be seen whether he gets picked in the next auctions.

Aaron Finch:

The Australian power hitter Aaron Finch had a forgettable IPL this season. He was unable to make an impact for the Kings XI in the top order.

Barring a good knock against Mumbai Indians (MI), he looked totally out of sorts. He ended the tournament with just 134 runs in 10 matches at a below-par average of 16. However, the Australian will continue to be a force to reckon with.

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Glenn Maxwell:

The swashbuckling all-rounder for Australia had a pretty poor outing this time around. He scored 169 runs in 12 matches at an average of 12.

It was indeed a horrific tournament for the all-rounder which also forced him to miss a few matches.

However, he bagged a couple of crucial wickets. He has failed to live up to the expectations of his fans. 

Yuvraj Singh:

The southpaw Yuvraj Singh had a horrendous season. He failed to time the ball in any of the matches which eventually led to his ouster from the team as the tournament progressed. He was given several opportunities but he failed to grab it.

Yuvraj was demoted down the order during the match against Indians which was criticized by all and sundry.

Ben Stokes:

The English all-rounder Ben Stokes despite garnering the highest price in the tournament failed to make an impact.

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) hoped that he will gain some momentum as the tournament progress.

However, it wasn’t to be as Stokes never really came to his own in the group stages.

The southpaw has left for England for the national assignment. Hence he will be unavailable for selection in the playoffs.

Wriddhiman Saha:

The Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha was totally out of form in the group stage games before being forced to miss the last few games owing to an injury.

Saha opened in the first few matches. However, he was dropped down the order due to his lack of runs. Behind the wickets, he was pretty safe and did a commendable job.

Vinay Kumar:

The medium pacer Vinay Kumar managed to play only a few matches. However, his disastrous performance was enough to knock him out of the team for the rest of the tournament.

Vinay ended up conceding 17 runs in the final over against the Super Kings. Following the act, Vinay was subsequently dropped from the team.

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Basil Thampi:  

In only four matches Thampi played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) he ended up bagging an unwanted record.

The paceman conceded 70 runs off four overs against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) which turned out to be the most expensive spell bowled by any bowler in the history of IPL. Hence, he is unlikely to feature in the playoffs leg.

Pawan Negi:

The left-arm spinner Pawan Negi managed to play only a couple of matches. However, he was smashed all-around the park due to his predictable line and length.

Negi, never got a match after his horrendous performance.

Mitchell Johnson:

The former left-arm pacer from Australia Mitchell Johnson was bought by KKR during the two-day long mega-auction. After the injury sustained to Mitchell Starc, Johnson emerged as the frontrunner to spearhead Knight Riders’ attack.

However, he wasn’t able to handle the responsibility and ended up bagging just a couple of wickets from six games.

Johnson also conceded runs at more than 10 runs per over in this edition of IPL.

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