Top 10 Expensive Players Who Failed To Perform In IPL

Top 10 Expensive Players Who Failed To Perform In IPL; The Indian Premier League is a platform where money meets the game of cricket. Unlike international matches, the lucrative domestic T20 League often made headlines for the money invested on the players, franchises and the revenue generated through the league. One such massive aspect where the money takes all the headlines is during the auction of the players.

Over the years, we have witnessed a lot of rags to riches stories during the auctions. A few cricketers bagged million-dollar deals in their kitty while on a few occasions, franchises were smart enough in buying the big players for low prices. Franchise owners don’t mind paying hefty cheques if the player delivers the goods, but unfortunately, there were quite a few players, who failed to live up the expectations. We have figured out ten expensive players who were unable to perform despite earning big during the auctions. Have a look:

Top 10 Expensive Players Who Failed To Perform In IPL:

10. Pawan Negi:

The stylish southpaw is one of the few cricketers, who got limelight overnight. None had expected he would cause bidding war during the auction. He was a pretty unknown face to the Indian fans and at least not even in the reckoning to represent India in international cricket. Still, franchises never stopped raising their wands for him. He was eventually bought for INR 8.5 crore in the IPL auction 2016 by Delhi Daredevil.

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Negi played eight matches for the Delhi side and performed poorly both with the bat and the ball. He managed to take just one wicket in the season and bowled at an economy of 9.33. Since then, he never made any notable performances for any side.

9. Shane Watson:

The ace all-rounder rounder from Australia Shane Watson always brings a great balance to the team with his all-round performances. He can be the swashbuckling opener for the team and also helps his bowlers by taking crucial wickets with his masterful bowling.

He had decent stats in IPL playing for various franchises, but surprisingly, he failed to perform when RCB paid him huge bucks during the 2017 auction. He fared pretty poorly in both the sections of the game. Shane Watson appeared in 8 matches and scored 71 runs with 5 wickets. However, Watson changed the tables when Chennai Super Kings roped in the next season finishing as their highest run-scorer helping them lift the title.

8. Dinesh Karthik:

Though Dinesh Karthik failed to be regular in international matches, the flamboyant wicket-keeper batsman enjoys massive success in the domestic circuit. His wicket-keeping is an added advantage for the franchises. Much like many other stars, he also failed to live up to the expectations.

Karthik who played for Delhi Daredevils in 2014 had an average season and was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL auction 2015. Royal Challengers Bangalore left everyone stunned after buying him for Rs 10.5 crore in the auctions. Although he was excellent behind the stumps, he fared poorly with the bat in the season as he managed to score just 141 runs in 16 matches at an average of 12.81.

7. Glenn Maxwell:

The IPL graph of Glenn Maxwell always travelled in a downward direction following his incredible show in 2013 for Kings XI Punjab. He often found himself in the IPL auction to make the headlines for bagging huge bucks but unfortunately, failed to register big numbers with his performances on the field.

He had a forgettable season in 2018 playing for the Delhi franchise. Apart from his 22-ball 47 against KKR, Maxwell never came good for Delhi. He even looked weak on the field and also failed to bowl those crucial overs in the middle. In the 12 matches he fared for the franchise, he scored just 169 runs at a strike rate of 140 and opted out of the next season of IPL.

6. Tymal mills:

Tymal Mills is one of those players, who got the limelight overnight. It was not his performance but his pace variations that impressed everyone when he troubled the Indian batsmen on their home soil. Mills’s name led to a bidding war among the franchises who raised his price to more than 20 times his base price of Rs 50 lakh. He was bought by RCB for INR 12 Crores.

Mills didn’t live up to the expectations as he managed to scalp just five wickets in 5 matches at an economy of 8.57. He was dropped from the squad following his below-average performance in the season and went unsold in the IPL auction 2018.

5. Ben Stokes:

England all-rounder Ben Stokes was the most expensive buy of IPL 2018. Rajasthan Royals got the swashbuckling English all-rounder for INR 12.5 crore. Unfortunately, Stokes failed to justify the price tag scoring a total of 148 runs and taking only one wicket in 8 matches.

The 37-ball 45 against the Chennai Super Kings and a spell of three for 15 against Kolkata Knight Riders – both came in a losing cause – were the best returns that Rajasthan Royals could get from Stokes in IPL 2018. Just when he looked like finding his form, England called him back to resume national duty.

5. Kevin Pietersen:

Delhi Daredevils were very happy to appoint star England batsman Kevin Pietersen as captain after buying him for INR 9 Crores in IPL 2014. Unfortunately, they never imagined that it would be such a big mistake to spend that massive sum on the English cricketer. He led the team to nine consecutive defeats in the season.

On a personal note, Pietersen managed to score only 294 runs from 11 matches averaging just 29 with only one 50-plus score. Kevin Pietersen also missed the early part of the tournament due to finger injury. It was a tough season for Kevin, as he also faced issues with England Cricket Board and never played for the country again.

4. Manish Pandey:

In 2017, Pandey made four short of 400 runs for the Kolkata Knight Riders at a strike-rate of 128.57. But, unfortunately, the new rules in the mega auction a couple of years made KKR release him. Though they tried to get him back in the auction with a right-to-match card option, the budget (INR 11 Crores) didn’t help KKR to have him in the side.

However, SRH joy was shortlived, as his performances in the middle order for Sunrisers Hyderabad were very poor. He lost track of his own in the tournament, where he failed to deliver even once throughout the tournament. His failure burdened the top-order more, and the team was over-dependent on Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson at the top.

In total, he scored 284 runs in 15 games. Guess what Manish Pandey was the costliest buy for SRH with INR 11 Crores.

3. Ravindra Jadeja:

Ravindra Jadeja is one of the few players, who always been rated as a top cricketer in world cricket. Especially, MS Dhoni always backed him to perform well for the team across the formats. It prompted CSK to go for him in the auction. After performing decent enough for CSK, he moved to Gujarat Lions when CSK was banned for a couple of years.

Gujarat franchise bought him for INR 9.5 Crores, but it turned out to be a poor season for the all-rounder. He managed to score just 158 runs in 12 games and picked up five wickets. Although he has been a match-winner for Chennai, he ended as a poor performer for Gujarat Lions.

2. Yuvraj Singh:

There is no denying to the fact that Yuvraj Singh is a major disappointment in IPL. After his heroics for India in 2007 inaugural T20I World Cup and his exceptional knocks in the bilateral T20I series, he was expected to take the lucrative tournament by a storm. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the case for the stylish southpaw.

Yuvraj Singh turned up for the Delhi Daredevils in the 2015 season after the team bought him for a whopping Rs 16 crore, the costliest player ever purchased in an auction. Yuvraj, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 was released by the team ahead of the IPL auction 2015 as his performance was ordinary. Even in the 2015 edition, playing for Delhi, Yuvraj Singh could manage to score just 248 runs in 14 innings at an average of 19.07 and a strike rate of 118.09.

He failed to live upto the expectations as Delhi endured another poor season before ending up releasing Yuvraj ahead of the next season.

1. Jaydev Unadkat:

Who would have expected his downfall in just 1 season? The left-handed fast bowler was one of the main reason for Rising Pune Supergiant to enter the final in IPL 2017, but all his brilliance was restricted to only one season, as he fared pretty poorly in the next couple of seasons.

The flamboyant cricketer caused serious bidding war in the auction ahead of the 2018 IPL when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals went neck-to-neck for him. Though Rajasthan won the bidding war, the fast bowler let them down with his performances on the field.

In 2018, he was picked by Rajasthan Royals at a whopping INR 11.5 crore making the costliest fast bowler ever to get sold in the auctions but managed to pick only 11 wickets at an economy rate of 9.47. He was not even among the top-25 in the leading wicket-takers list.