8 Expensive players who failed to make a mark in IPL

The IPL 2017 auctions created all the buzz before the real event. Plenty of domestic as well as international players were available to be grabbed. Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills were the ones who bagged the highest bids and came into the limelights as the million dollar stars. But with great power comes great responsibility and there will be an added pressure on them to do well. In every auction, there has been a history of a few players bagging huge bucks that made them overnight sensations. Millions were spent on buying those players but somehow they failed to live up to the expectations. Here are 8 such players who did not prove their money’s worth: 8. Pawan Negi (Photo Source: BCCI) The all-rounder was on a merry run in his life when he was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils for a whopping INR 8.5 crores in the 2016 auction which made him the most expensive uncapped player of all time. A lot of faith was shown by the franchise on his left-arm spin as well as hard-hitting abilities. But he did not make too much impact as he could manage just 57 runs in 8 matches with the highest score of 19*. He bowled only 9 overs in the league and went for 84 runs by picking up a solitary wicket. As a result, he was excluded from the squad for the 2017 season. 7. Brendon McCullum Brendon McCullum KKR (Photo Source: Google) The Kolkata Knight Riders opted to sign Brendon McCullum in the IPL-5 player auction at a massive price of $900,000 expecting him to set the stands on fire with his performances and aggressive gameplay. The Kiwi superstar flattered to deceive finishing with a run tally of just 289 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 102. The sluggish slow Eden Gardens pitches were evidently not much to his liking as evident from his performances. His poor performances for the side after being purchased for such a big bounty will indeed be a lesson for all franchises out there. 6. Andrew Flintoff CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – APRIL 18: Andrew Flintoff of Chennai during the IPL T20 match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Newlands Cricket Ground on April 18, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images) The star English all-rounder was sold for a massive USD 1.55 million (now INR 10.39 crores) to the Chennai Super Kings in the year 2009. He was a high-class player at that time known for his superb reverse swing bowling and power hitting with the bat. The expensive buy turned out to be a howler as he could play just 3 games in which he scored 62 runs and picked up only 2 wickets. He left the tournament midway due to a knee injury. CSK went on to make it to the semi-final that season. 5. Saurabh Tiwary Saurabh Tiwary of the Mumbai Indians. (Photo by Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images/Getty Images) The southpaw in his younger days came into the limelight after his spirited performances for the Mumbai Indians and was being termed as the next big thing in Indian cricket. In the 2011 auction, the Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him for USD 1.6 million (now 10.73 crores). It proved to be a very expensive buy that did not give good returns. The Jharkhand batsman played for two seasons for RCB and scored only 378 runs in 31 matches that did not have a single half-century. 4. Dinesh Karthik Dinesh Karthik.(Photo Source: BCCI) The wicket-keeper batsman was taken by the Delhi Daredevils for a massive INR 12.5 crores in the 2014 auction. He could only utter 325 runs in 14 matches at an average of 23. Consequently, he was omitted from the DD squad for the 2015 auction. Ironically, it was not the only incident when Karthik earned bug price and did not perform. In the very next auction, he was picked by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 10.5 crores. Once again he failed, scoring just 141 runs at a meager average of 12.81. 3. Irfan Pathan Irfan Pathan (Photo Source: BCCI) Once a sensation in Indian cricket during his starting days, Irfan faded away very disappointingly. Though in the 2011 auction, the Delhi Daredevils spent USD 1.9 million (now 12.74 crores) on him making him one of the costliest players of all time. He was well past his peak days and over the course of 3 seasons, he played 47 matches and could manage 468 runs with the bat and 29 wickets with the ball. Only once during his stint with DD did they make it to the playoffs. 2. Robin Uthappa (Photo Source: BCCI) The new franchise of Pune Warriors India that emerged in the year 2011 snapped the opening batsman for a huge bid of USD 2.1 million (now 14 crores). He played all the 10 matches in that season but could not score a single fifty. In total, he had 264 runs to his name with the average in the mid-20s. In the two season that followed, he did improve his stats but the franchise itself was omitted from the IPL. Since then, he has been an integral part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad and has won two trophies with them. 1. Yuvraj Singh Yuvraj Singh. (Photo Source: BCCI) During the auction of 2015, Delhi Daredevils went on to spend INR 16 crores to buy the left-hander which was the highest bid ever in the history of IPL auctions. However, the southpaw did not do any justice to the colossal price. He could collect only 248 runs in 14 matches with a poor average of 19.07. He had another huge bid to his name when in 2014, the Royal Challengers picked him for INR 14 crores. His record then was better than that for DD as he was the second highest run-getter for the team with 376 runs in 14 matches with an average of just above 34.

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8 Expensive players who failed to make a mark in IPL

6. Andrew Flintoff

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