Flop XI Of The IPL 2021

The IPL 2021 did see a lot of good performances but it came as a surprise when some of the seasoned campaigners failed to impress until the midway of the tournament. Every team played a minimum of seven games and the Indian contingent performed really well more than the overseas players.

The purple cap list and the orange cap list showed a lot of Indian domination and such was the intensity of the tournament with the places up for grabs. With Covid-19 surging in the country, five players pulled out of the IPL 2021 despite being with the squad for a considerable part of the time.  With the tournament suspended as of now, it is time to look at the flop XI of IPL 2021.

Flop XI Of IPL 2021:

Shubman Gill:

Shubman Gill after an impressive IPL last year did not have the best start to the tournament this year. He failed to get going and he looked like he was totally out of socks. Apart from the 43 he got against the Delhi Capitals in the last game for KKR, he wasn’t getting the big scores and scored just 132 runs in the seven games he played. It was way below his standards and a lot will be expected from him.

David Warner(C):

David Warner, who is one of the most consistent performers for the Sunrisers Hyderabad over the years couldn’t get his act together and his poor form had a major impact on the team’s performances too. Warner did score 193 runs in 6 games but his strike rate wasn’t at its best and he did not look to be at his usual best. The Sunrisers management dropped him from the playing XI and sacked him from captaincy too.

Ishan Kishan(WK):

Ishan Kishan who made his debut for India prior to the IPL in the T20 series against England had a tough outing in the Chennai pitch and was dropped from the playing XI after a string of low scores. A lot was expected from him after an excellent season last year and he scored just 73 runs in the five games he played. He is one of the better strikers of the cricket ball and he should have scored more of his calibre.

Nicholas Pooran:

Probably, the most disappointing batsman out of the lot was Nicholas Pooran who is one of the best talents going around in the world. He has a lot of class and is a tremendous striker of the cricket ball, but he had to go through a rough patch of form and registered four ducks in the season before getting dropped from the playing XI. He scored 28 runs in 7 games and never got into his groove.

Hardik Pandya:

Hardik Pandya struggled for runs in the early part of the tournament with the games held in Chennai where it is very hard to hit through the line. Hardik Pandya is one of the best finishers in the game, and his poor run of form altered the batting order totally with Krunal Pandya coming in at four. He did not bowl in the seven games he played and scored just 52 runs with one good knock coming in his last game against CSK.

Dan Christian:

Dan Christian is one of the best T20 all-rounder going around the world and he has got a lot of experience. He can tonk the ball out of the stadium and does bowl the difficult overs for his team. However, he did not have the best outings for RCB as he scored just 3 runs in the 3 games he played and did not pick up any wickets in the tournament. Subsequently, he was dropped from playing XI after his poor stint.

Washington Sundar:

Washington Sundar was given ample amount of opportunities by the RCB skipper Virat Kohli with the bat and he failed to get going in any of the games. His form in the test series was so good that RCB decided to send Sundar to open the batting or in at three. He managed just 31 runs in 6 games and picked up just three wickets too. He wasn’t used in the powerplay where he is very productive and he needs to step up soon.

Jhye Richardson:

The leading wicket-taker of the Big Bash League 2021, Jhye Richardson came into the side with a lot of promise, but he couldn’t make a big impact on the performance of the team. He picked up just 3 wickets in the 3 games he played and was also very expensive at the end overs. He was bagged up for hefty money and he had to do a lot more as he was dropped from playing XI after three games.

Shardul Thakur:

Shardul Thakur was taken to the cleaners in this IPL and he proved to be very costly in his spells. Despite the conditions helping the batsman, he should have done better with the international experience he has been gaining and he couldn’t contribute much to the team. He wasn’t needed with the bat and he picked up just 5 wickets in the 7 games he played.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar:

Bhuvneshwar Kumar wasn’t anywhere near to his best and he had a huge role to play in the Sunrisers bowling setup. He did not produce wickets in the powerplay which proved to be very costly and also couldn’t be very effective at the death overs too. He picked up just three wickets in the five games he played and Sunrisers would have wanted a lot more from him in this IPL.

Yuzvendra Chahal:

Yuzvendra Chahal wasn’t very effective in this IPL and he continued his poor form from the international games into the RCB franchise. He was very expensive at times and Kohli backed him a lot by not dropping him from the side despite inconsistent performances. He picked up just 4 wickets in the 7 games he played this IPL and he would have hoped for a better performance than this.