APL 2018 - Flop XI of the tournament

It was a pretty decent start for the Afghanistan Premier League (APL), which despite failing to draw huge crowds into the stadiums, provided some good quality cricket. It also gave great exposure to some young and budding Afghan cricketers, who are trying to make it big in the International circuit. But the tournament didn’t provide great memories for a lot of cricketers who were expected to do well. Some senior International cricketers and some local talented superstars, who hogged quite a lot of limelight before the start of the tournament, were pretty underwhelming on the field. Here’s a small analysis on those players who failed to live up to the expectations and eventually, didn’t help their team’s cause. 1. Brendon McCullum (Kandahar Knights) Brendon McCullum. (Photo Source: Twitter) An absolute legend of the game, this is one name which no one expects in a list like this. But Brendon McCullum was a country mile away from playing his best cricket. The Kiwi dynamite failed to impress and owing to the great reputation he had, skipper Asghar Afghan played him in all the games but registered just one fifty. A lot more was expected from a player of his stature. He eventually registered 158 runs in the eight games he played and in all these games, the Kiwi cricketer batted in the top three. He did have enough chances to make it big, but his level of cricket has certainly deteriorated over the course of time. 2. Johnson Charles (Nangarhar Leopards) Johnson Charles. (Photo by Ashley Allen – CPL T20/Getty Images) An experienced T20 player who has done pretty well in tournaments like Caribbean Premier League, Johnson Charles was expected to provide a lot of fireworks at the top for the Leopards. But the Windies opener was pretty much below par with his performances, which reflected on his team’s show as well. In eight matches for the Leopards, he could muster only 131 runs which are very low for a player who batted in the top three spots on all occasions. He averaged under 17 at a strike-rate of 124 and given he had fired on regular basis, the Leopards could’ve had a much better season. 3. Paul Stirling (Kandahar Knights) Paul Stirling (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Another major top order failure this tournament was the Irish superstar Paul Stirling. One of the cleanest strikers the game has right now, on his day, Stirling can turn matches on its head in a span of 20-30 deliveries. But all his ability was unseen in Sharjah and it doesn’t surprise that the Knights didn’t make it to the final four. Among all the players in the list, his performance was the most underwhelming and shocking. He could register only 73 runs in eight outings and that is less than mediocre for a top-order batsman. Despite having a good International record this year, things didn’t work well for him in the APL. 4. Calum MacLeod (Paktia Panthers) Calum MacLeod (Photo Source: Twitter) Among all the associate cricketing nations, Calum MacLeod easily qualifies as the best batsman in terms of technique and skill. The way he registered a mind-boggling 175 against Afghanistan in the World Cup qualifiers attracted the Panthers to rope him in, but he failed to live up to the expectations. In five matches, MacLeod could score just 92 runs for Mohammad Shahzad’s team and this comes in as a huge disappointment as a lot of eyes were on him. The Scottish batsman will be keen to turn things around and come back strongly next year. 5. Javed Ahmadi (Kabul Zwanan) Javed Ahmadi of Afghanistan. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images) One of the few cricketers who has seen the meteoric rise of Afghanistan cricket in the last 6-7 years, Javed Ahmadi, despite being a 26-year-old, has been a big figure in their side. He also played the inaugural Test match for Afghanistan against India this year. Unfortunately for him, the APL campaign didn’t go the way he would’ve expected. He registered 153 runs in 8 innings without eclipsing the fifty-run mark even once. Rashid Khan would’ve expected a lot more from him, but he would hope the national selectors don’t judge him by this tournament. 6. Ihsanullah Janat (Paktia Panthers) Ihsanullah Janat. (Photo Source: Twitter) One of the brightest young talents in Afghanistan, Ihsanullah Janat was expected to deliver some big performances in this tournament. He is touted as the heir to some of the senior batsmen like Samiullah Shenwari and Asghar Afghan in the Afghanistan middle order, but this APL didn’t help him enhance his reputation. He went past 30 just once in the 7 innings he played and on the whole, the right-hander could score 123 runs at an average of 20.50. The Panthers’ middle-order let the side down during the whole tournament and Ihsanullah played a part in that as well. 7. Rahmat Shah (Nangarhar Leopards) Rahmat Shah. (Photo Source: Twitter) One of the best all-rounders in the country, Rahmat Shah is a key figure in Afghanistan cricket. Apart from one match-winning spell against Kabul Zwanan, the 25-year-old was never in the picture for the Leopards in the whole tournament. It hurts the team very bad when a premium all-rounder like him doesn’t perform well. With the bat, he registered 87 runs in 7 innings and scalped just six wickets with the ball at an economy just over eight. Things could’ve been very different for the Leopards if he had stepped up to the expectations. 8. Shahid Afridi (Paktia Panthers) Shahid Afridi. (Photo Source: Twitter) A lot of the fans who had followed the tournament closely would’ve expected this name to appear in this list. After announcing his retirement from International cricket very recently, Shahid Afridi confirmed that he would feature in a few T20 tournaments. It doesn’t seem likely that he will feature in a lot of those tournaments, especially after how things panned out in the APL 2018. He looked rusty with the bat and not very effective with his leg-breaks, which was disappointing for the fans. Afridi scored 78 runs with the bat and picked up just seven wickets for the Panthers. 9. Mitchell McClenaghan (Nangarhar Leopards) Mitchell McClenaghan (Photo Source: Twitter) Mitchell McClenaghan has been a consistent performer for various T20 franchises across the world and the expectations on him were quite high from the management. Every tournament he played, he managed to receive a lucrative contract and the Kiwi looked pretty rusty and out of sorts during the whole season. He has not been at his best in the last 6-7 months and despite that, many expected him to do well in this tournament. As it turned out, his death over bowling was not as efficient as he would’ve loved and eventually, Mitch could pick up just five wickets at an unimpressive economy rate of 9.76. 10. Karim Sadiq (Kandahar Knights) Karim Sadiq. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Another senior local cricketer who did nothing good in the tournament was Karim Sadiq. The veteran has represented Afghanistan in 24 ODIs and 36 T20Is and clearly, he had enough experience to make it count in this big tournament. But unfortunately for him and the Kandahar Knights, he registered just 2 wickets at an economy of 8.58 despite bowling a total of 24 overs throughout the season. His wicket tally was the lowest for all those who bowled over 15 overs in the tournament. Clearly, Sadiq’s rendition must’ve disappointed Asghar Afghan the most among all his players. 11. Fareed Ahmad (Kabul Zwanan) Kabul Zwanan. (Photo Source: Twitter) Fareed Ahmad has been making inroads into the national side recently and to have delivered a disappointing performance like this at such a crucial juncture of his career will not help him at all. The fast bowler just couldn’t hit the right areas consistently and eventually, got punished big time. He was unable to pick up wickets at regular intervals and to go with it, he was pretty expensive in a tournament where the bowlers had a better time than the batsmen. He picked up just 7 wickets in 9 matches at an economy rate of 9.44. Get the latest Cricket News and updates from all the cricketing action, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.

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APL 2018 - Flop XI of the tournament

Many cricketers who hogged quite a lot of limelight before the start of the tournament, were pretty underwhelming on the field.

8. Shahid Afridi (Paktia Panthers)

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