IPL 2018: Top 5 expensive fails of the tournament so far

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has always been a tournament that is bound to surprise many, with many talented yet hidden cricketers grabbing the limelight and renowned superstars failing to make a mark. Like every year, franchises went all guns blazing and splurged huge amount of money to get a certain player’s signature they thought would become their trump card. However, with less than 2 weeks into IPL XI, we are seeing clearly that some of the big money signings are finding it tough to get things going. Let us have a look at 5 expensive players who have turned out to be flops thus far: 5. Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings) (Photo Source : NDTV) All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is currently out of favour in the national team. However, that did not stop the returning franchise Chennai Super Kings to retain their old and trusted warrior. Jadeja got Rs 7 crores for his services, but he has failed to justify his price so far. In the three matches he has played so far, Jadeja has managed to score only 19 runs at a not-so-impressive strike rate of 127. Coming to his bowling, Jadeja has only bowled 3 overs thus far, in which he took a wicket but conceded 28 runs at an economy rate of just under 10 runs per over. Hence, he is not being utilized as a bowling option and has not done anything significant, thereby not doing justice to his highly inflated price tag. 4. D’Arcy Short (Rajasthan Royals) D’Arcy Short of Rajasthan Royals. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/IANS) No one can blame Rajasthan Royals think tank for spending Rs 4 crores on the Australian opener D’Arcy Short, because he had a fabulous Big Bash League with Hobart Hurricanes and then a good outing with his national team. But Short has failed to carry his form into the IPL. With their original skipper Steve Smith banned from the game for not less than a year, RR had to invest a lot of faith on Short. In 3 matches, Short has scored just 21 runs at an average of just 7, lesser than many bowlers. Moreover, his strike rate is under 100. Though he has picked up a wicket, Short needs to get into his groove as soon as possible, since a good replacement in Heinrich Klaasen is ready to come in anytime he is asked to. 3. Aaron Finch (Kings XI Punjab) Aaron Finch of KXIP. (Photo Source: Twitter) The lady luck is something working in a negative way for Australian batter Aaron Finch. Kings XI Punjab spent Rs 6.2 crores on him, and why shouldn’t they? Finch scored 300 runs in last year’s IPL at an astonishing strike rate of over 160. However, all he has got after his marriage is two ducks. And just ducks, two shining and illustrious golden ducks. Finch missed the first game due to his wedding and failed to open his account in the next two games. However, one good knock can awake the giant that is sleeping now. Once he gets into his actual self, Finch can be lethal. The aggressive batsman from Colac, Victoria has an average of over 40 in T20Is, and his economy rate is over 150. 2. Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals) Jaydev Unadkat. (Photo by Ravi Shankar Vyas/IANS) Rajasthan Royals pulled off the biggest shocker of this year’s auction when they bought the Porbandar pacer Jaydev Unadkat for INR 11.5 crores. However, with the kind of form Unadkat was in, it was seemingly a good buy. Unfortunately for them, Unadkat is not even close to his last year’s scintillating form. In the 3 matches he has featured in, Unadkat has conceded 87 runs at an economy rate of just under 11 runs per over. On the contrary, his last year’s economy rate was 7 runs per over. Unadkat has picked up only 2 wickets so far at an average of 43.50, while his last year’s average was 13.41. Though the other 2 pacers Ben Laughlin and Dhawal Kulkarni have done a good job for RR, they need Unadkat to do the job he has been bought for. 1. Manish Pandey (Sunrisers Hyderabad) Manish Pandey. (Photo by Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Two Indian batters bagged Rs 11 crores this year – KL Rahul and Manish Pandey. While many asked questions about the former, everyone concluded that Pandey’s price tag was on the expected lines. Two weeks into the IPL, KL Rahul is doing wonders for Kings XI Punjab whereas Pandey has done nothing significant for Sunrisers Hyderabad except some great work in the field. The batter whose last year’s average was nearly 50 scored just 15 runs in 3 games so far. His strike rate is under 80 and average is as low as 7.50. His numbers are nearly equal to D’Arcy Short’s, but Pandey is not a part-time bowling option. So, he will have to justify his price tag by the virtue of his batting performances only, something he has failed to do thus far.

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IPL 2018: Top 5 expensive fails of the tournament so far

These big money signings need to up their game so as to justify their price tag.

1. Manish Pandey (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

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