IPL 2019: Flop XI of the first week (Match 1 – Match 12)

The first week of IPL 2019 matched the expectations of the audience. Big-hitting, terrific bowling, nail-biting finishes, spectacular centuries, unbelievable fielding – it witnessed it all. However, there were also some massive disappointments. Some of the players, on whom there were high expectations, failed to deliver the goods which cost their teams a decent start to their season.

They brought out poor performances in all the three games that they played leading to dismay amongst the fans. Leading up to the second week of the season, these players will be looking to set the records straight.

Here’s the eleven of those players who failed during the first week:

1. Ambati Rayudu (wk)| Chennai Super Kings

Ambati Rayudu was one of the best performers for CSK last season. But, thus far, he has struggled to get going. He wasn’t in the best of forms while playing for India a few weeks earlier either. In the three games that he played, he only scored 34 runs and this includes the highest score of 28. His average is just 11 while the strike rate is 62. Rayudu should look to score more runs from here on as there is a crucial week coming up with the World Cup squad to be picked soon.

2. Sunil Narine | Kolkata Knight Riders

Sunil Narine was another disappointment in the first week of IPL 2019. He batted in one inning out of the two games that he played and scored 24 runs. Furthermore, he went wicketless in both the games and conceded 55 runs in the 5 overs that he bowled. The bowling all-rounder didn’t take the field for the game against the Delhi Capitals.

3. Virat Kohli (c) | Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB skipper Virat Kohli usually sets his standards really high. He has been the run machine and his form never seems to fade away. But in this IPL, he had quite a slow start. In three innings, he scored 55 runs at an average of 18. His strike rate also took a massive dip and stands at 102 at the end of the first week. Kohli hit just six fours in the season so far and 46 of these runs came in only one match.

4. Steve Smith | Rajasthan Royals

Steve Smith, along with David Warner, returned to mainstream cricket after a gap of one year. While the left-hander has been terrific, the former Australian skipper struggled in the first week. He is batting out of position, either at four or five and hasn’t been able to smash the ball right from the word go. Smith batted in two innings thus far and scored 48 runs at an average of 24 and strike rate of 104. Both he and the Royals will be hoping that he’ll have a better week to follow this one.

5. Shimron Hetmyer | Royal Challengers Bangalore

There were high expectations on Shimron Hetmyer as he headed into this season. Fans thought that he’d ease the burden on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers with his batting. However, it turned out to be the complete opposite of what was anticipated from him. He just scored 14 runs in three games at an average of about five and a strike rate of 82. Even though he opened the innings in one of the games, he failed to create an impact.

6. Kieron Pollard | Mumbai Indians

Kieron Pollard, who was once the biggest strength for the Mumbai Indians, is now turning out to be a burden to the team. He isn’t bowling anymore and not doing well with the bat either. Even though he has been given the additional responsibility to bat higher up the order, he failed to live up to the expectations. Pollard only scored 33 runs in three games at an average of 11 and a strike rate of 118.

7. Shivam Dube | Royal Challengers Bangalore

Shivam Dube came into this IPL on the reputation of being a big hitter of the ball. Two times in domestic cricket, he has smashed five sixes in an over. But it is a completely different ball game in the IPL and he realised it the hard way. He scored 16 runs in 3 innings at a strike rate of 94 and bowled just four balls thus far. Even when he had an opportunity to bat for a long time against SRH, he failed to dig in.

8. Ravichandran Ashwin | Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab was in the news for the ‘Mankad‘ controversy that he created in the first week. In the process, his performances went slightly unnoticed. He started on a decent note with figures of 1/20 against the Royals. But in the next two matches, he went wicketless and didn’t take any onus upon himself. Being the leader of the side, he was expected to bowl the tougher overs. But he only bowled during the middle overs and finished his quota before the end of 15th over. He conceded 47 and 26 runs respectively in the last two outings.

9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Sunrisers Hyderabad

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s form is causing alarming concern in the Indian cricket circles. He looks to be extremely rusty and isn’t nailing the yorkers as he used to do earlier. The pacer is leaking a lot of runs at the death and brought out some of his worst performances in the first three games of this season. He bowled 11 overs in three matches and conceded 117 runs at an economy rate of nearly 11. Thus far, he failed to pick even a single wicket.

10. Jaydev Unadkat | Rajasthan Royals

The Rajasthan Royals shelled out huge amounts for Jaydev Unadkat at the auction yet again. However, he hasn’t repaid the faith back as yet and is leaking a lot of runs. He has been too predictable with his slower ball and highly ineffective at the death. In three games, he conceded 124 runs in 10 overs and picked up two wickets which is way below par for a player of his standards.

11. Prasidh Krishna | Kolkata Knight Riders

This spot was between two youngsters, Prasidh Krishna and Navdeep Saini. But considering his economy rate, Prasidh goes into this eleven. Neither of them picked a single wicket so far in the tournament. Prasidh gave away 106 runs in the 12 overs that he bowled at an economy rate of nearly 9. But, KKR is still forced to persist with him as he is one of their best options available.

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