7 Foreign Flops of the IPL 8

7 Foreign Flops of the IPL 8: Courtesy the format of the league and player restriction rules, the foreigners play a crucial and decisive role in the IPL. Each team has the luxury of having only four of them in their playing eleven. This amounts to big and marquee names sitting out and warming the bench for much of the season. Teams often struggle to find the right combination and it gets tough for the management to bench international performers. Many a time they single handedly helped their sides win games from a precarious position (none better instance than the 38 ball hundred by David Miller in 2012). Their form reflects in the team’s fortunes at the end of the league. As the eighth season has concluded let us look at some international names who didn’t quite live up to their potential this season: 1. Dale Steyn: Dale Steyn SRH. (Photo Source: BCCI) The aggressive and fiery pace spearhead of the Proteas was pretty much off colour this season. Not having had a great 2015 world cup, Steyn was out of form and had to be benched against the impressive Trent Boult early in the season. For somebody with close to 100 wickets in the IPL, that didn’t look right. From there on he was not able to create the same aura when given a chance. The line which is his biggest strength seemed to be rather erratic than consistent. There was no lack of effort though on his part. 2. Glenn Maxwell: Glenn Maxwell KXIP. (Photo Source: BCCI) The exciting Australian superstar was anything but among the runs in IPL 8. Failing to provide the much needed impetus to the Kings XI, Maxwell later had to be benched in favour of his country-mate Shaun Marsh. The Big show didn’t come to the party at all and admitted to being slightly overconfident in the starting games. The usual weakness against leg spinners and short pitch bowling came to the fore yet again. 3. George Bailey: George Bailey KXIP. (Photo Source: BCCI) The Australian T20 skipper was woefully out of form with the bat this season. This reflected in his captaincy as he failed to motivate the Kings XI at any stage of the tournament. Regular changes in the playing eleven didn’t serve any goods either. Always one to put the team ahead of himself; George Bailey was mostly on the backfoot with key players being out of touch. Bailey also came under severe criticism for not playing Marsh ahead of Maxwell early in the league. 4. Mitchell Johnson: Mitchell Johnson (Photo Source: BCCI) The Aussie speed gun seemed a bit derailed during the entire season. Being way too expensive for the skipper’s liking, Johnson was pretty wavered in his spells. He was in no way the spearhead of the Punjab attack and came in first change more often than not. Lacking control over the length in the end overs proved his nemesis. His only performance of note was the super over he bowled against the Rajasthan Royals to help his side win the game. 5. Eoin Morgan: Eoin Morgan SRH. (Photo Source: BCCI) The limited overs England skipper was not a regular in the Sunrisers eleven. But when given an opportunity in the decisive phase of the league, Morgan failed to capitalize and joined the overseas flops list hands down. In the do or die encounter against the Mumbai Indians Morgan had a great chance to redeem himself but failed to do so. Thus he is a deserving entrant in the list. 6. Dwayne Smith: Dwayne Smith CSK. (Photo Source: BCCI) Being a seasoned performer for CSK, it was a rather dry IPL for the West Indian. Opening the batting along with Brendon McCullum might have helped hide some of his weak performances, but he was much below the levels expected of him. Smith’s strike rate was not in accordance with the asking rate in many of the games which cost Chennai dearly in the latter stages of the league. 7. James Faulkner: James Faulkner RR. (Photo Source: BCCI) The flamboyant Aussie all-rounder was not at his best during this season. Being injury prone he was not played in every game by the Royals management. Known for his slower ones and deceptive bouncers Faulkner couldn’t quite convert his skills into match winning performances. Believed to be a reliable option at the death, he was guilty of leaking too many runs at the back end.

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7 Foreign Flops of the IPL 8

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