IPL 2020 provided great entertainment, and is probably one of the best seasons so far. 7 teams were in running for the play-offs until the last round of matches. Nevertheless, it also produced some stars who were reduced to flops in this season of IPL. Cricwizz makes the IPL 2020 flop XI. See who's in and who's out?
Openers
Aaron Finch
Finch began well and looked to strike a winning opening combination with Devdutt Padikkal but the Australian cricketer started losing his wickets cheaply and finally, RCB had to drop him. Finch's weakness to incoming delivery exposed the chinks in his armor and even forced captain Virat Kohli to open the batting in the Eliminator and play the Aussie on the 3rd position. But that move backfired as well. Overall, Finch just could not live up to expectations. He scored 268 runs @ 22.33 and at a strike rate of 111.20 in 12 games this season.
Prithvi Shaw
The dashing right-hander exploded in the initial few games, scoring two quick fifties. But then he fell to inconsistencies, and couldn't match up. Eventually, he was dropped after he managed a second-ball duck in Qualifier 1 against Mumbai Indians. And Delhi's gamble on Marcus Stoinis in Qualifier 2 paid off. He managed 228 runs @ 17.53 with 2 fifties in 13 games.
Middle-order
Glenn Maxwell
Someone who has made a career out of hitting sixes in international cricket, it's rather a shame to end an IPL season without a single over the boundary. His lackluster performance with the bat hurt KXIP as they fell just short of making it to the play-offs. Maxwell was an abysmal return on investment as Punjab spent Rs 10.75 crore to buy the Australian. For the record, he scored just 108 runs @ 15.42, and at a strike rate of 101.88 in 13 matches this season.
Kedar Jadhav
Jadhav portrayed a sorry picture of himself in IPL 2020. He was a liability to the Chennai Super Kings this season. And surprisingly, CSK captain MS Dhoni kept picking him. Jadhav had failed to put bat to ball this season and scored just 62 runs @ 20.66 at a strike rate of 93.93 in 8 games this season. He was not called on to bowl this season.
MS Dhoni – C / WK
Dhoni failed both as skipper and finisher this season. His strategies were exposed this season. He made questionable team selection and his comment that the youngsters lack 'spark' created a lot of controversies. His finishing skills were on the wane this season, as he failed to take the team across the finish line. And his team ended just one spot above at the bottom of the table. He gets to keep and lead this flop XI. He scored 200 runs @ 25.00 in 14 games this season.
All-rounders
Andre Russell
Russell was not in his element this season. He also struggled with injuries. He could not replicate his last season's performance with the bat where he finished off games with his brutal hitting. His performance or the lack of it hurt KKR this season as they could not find a better alternative to Russell. The West Indian managed 117 runs @ 13.00 and 6 wickets in 10 games this season.
Dwayne Bravo
The West Indian all-rounder was not in his best of form this season. He batted so low down the order that he hardly got a chance to face the ball. And when he did in 2 of the 6 matches he played this season, he could score just 7 runs as he has to go after the bowling straightaway. His bowling too could not do the magic as he could pick up just 6 wickets before being ruled out with an injury.
Spinner
Piyush Chawla
He made heads turn when CSK bought him for Rs 6.75 crore in the auction. And even more, heads turned when Dhoni preferred him over Karn Sharma or failed to find a place for veteran spinner Imran Tahir, and persisted with the Indian leg-spinner. Chawla could not do much and ended up with just 6 wickets @ 31.83 and an economy rate of 9.09.
Fast bowlers
Jaydev Unadkat, Sheldon Cottrell, Dale Steyn
All the three pacers in this flop XI had one thing in common in this season. They leaked runs for their team at vital stages of the game to hand over the match to the opposition on a platter. And they were eventually dropped, and never played again this season.
Unadkat of Rajasthan Royals was dropped after he conceded 3 sixes in the penultimate over to AB de Villiers of RCB to grab defeat for his team. Cottrell of KXIP conceded 5 sixes in an over to Rahul Tewatia as Rajasthan Royals managed to pull off the record chase in IPL.
Steyn of RCB leaked runs in all matches he played, but the final nail in the coffin came against Mumbai Indians when he conceded 43 runs for no wicket. All three stand at the bleak IPL future.
Cover picture credits: Deccan Herald
