Mumbai: The Indian Premier League (IPL) has always provided a perfect platform for the Indian youngsters to grab the opportunity and play for Team India. A number of Indian player have risen through their stellar performances.
The overseas players are too setting the bar high. While there have been some memorable performances by individual players, there is also some big names who have not lived up to expectations and under-performed despise their fair share of chances to prove their mettle in the 14th season far. On that note let’s take a look at 8 players that can be termed the Mid-season flop of the tournament:
Shubman Gill (Kolkata Knight Riders): Subhaman Gill, who was KKR’s pillar of strength at the top of the order batsman last year, where he finished as the team’s leading run-scorer with 440 runs, this year he has been one of the biggest let-downs in IPL 2021 thus far. The right-hander has just scored 132 runs in 7 matches at a strike rate of 117.85. Gill has registered four failures in the competition and somehow he has got starts in the three other matches that too he has been unable to convert them into substantial scores.
Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians): One of the most disappointing batsmen in the Mumbai Indians team in IPL 2021 was Ishan Kishan. He didn’t even managed to get going in the tournament, before it was stopped.
After scoring for the franchise in IPL 2020 and enjoying his outing with the bat in serving to MI elevate their fifth title, the left-hander has been in woeful type this 12 months. He has simply managed to attain 73 runs in 5 innings at a strike of 83. Kishan was the very best scorer for MI final 12 months with an amount of 516 runs in 13 innings.
Nicholas Pooran (Punjab Kings): The West Indian power-hitting batsman has suffered a tournament setback for the Punjab Kings. He has scored just 28 runs in 6 innings and recorded 4 ducks in the tournament. He played seven games so far in IPL 2021 but failed to make any positive impact on his side. Pooran was disastrously in the lower order last year with a total of 353 runs at a strike rate of around 170.
Yuzvendra Chahal (Royal Challengers Bangalore): RCB’s star leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was not only the highest wicket-taker for RCB but also led the outing chart for a spinner in the previous edition of the Indian Premier League, where he returned with 21 wickets in 15 matches with a strike rate of 16.3 and an economy of 7.08 Rate. Chahal who has not been at his best in IPL 2021 so far, has neither achieved success nor been able to control the game for RCB in the middle overs this season. He has taken just 4 wickets in 7 matches at an economy rate of 8.26.
Shakib Al Hasan (Kolkata Knight Riders): All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who missed IPL 2020 due to a ban over failure, was bought back by KKR for Rs Rs 3.2 crore. Shakib, who regarded as one of the Bangladesh’s greatest cricketer, unfortunately had an utterly disappointing season this year in IPL. He only managed to bagged 38 runs out off 3 matches so far in the tournament.
Bhuvneswar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad): Bhubaneswar Kumar, who is arguably one of the finest pace bowlers in the history of the IPL. Neither he was able to pick wickets with the new ball nor restrict the opposition batsmen. This is his worst ever season in IPL where he picked just three wickets from 5 matches and went at a rate of 9.1 per over before he was left out of the SRH XI.
Eoin Morgan (Kolkata Knight Riders captain): A lot was expected from KKR skipper Eoin Morgan this season but he failed to showcase his strength. His captaincy was under scanner for not getting the batting order right, and getting lacked of intent, taking baffling decisions. Morgan has also been struggling to score runs in the IPL 2021, the England captain has just scored 92 runs in 7 matches and also has failed to inspire the team to win matches. Morgan has the worst win-loss record as a captain in IPL. In 14 games he has only 4 win so far.
Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians): Hardik Pandya, is one of the biggest names in the playing XI. He has been one of the most destructive finishers in the game in the previous two editions. Pandya, who played a crucial role with the bat in MI’s title triumphs in 2019 and 2020 failed to score runs in this season of IPL. Just like the England T20I series, Pandya continued to endured a poor form in IPL 2021. Out of 7 matches, Pandya only managed 52 runs at an average of 8.66 and a strike rate of 118.18. Needless to say Pandya is one of the reasons why Mumbai Indians failed to get the desired runs as they had done in the previous seasons.
IPL has been suspended indefinitely due to the increasing coronavirus cases in the Indian bubble. Although, 29 out of 60 matches have been done and dusted. Only half of the tournament is left and BCCI only need three weeks to stage the remaining season of IPL. According to reports remaining season of IPL 2021 will resume in September.
