A fortnight full of action-packed cricket matches later, the Emirates-bound caravan of the Indian Premier League (IPL) arrives into its third week. The past two weeks haven’t had the slightest dearth of top-notch cricket action; from two nail-biting super-over matches, to the highest run-chase recorded in the tournament’s history- plenty has happened on-field to compensate fans missing out on the live-action.

That said, the tournament hasn’t been about grandeur and stellar-performances all through and through. For every player who came up with a stellar, match-winning performance, there were just about as many who weren’t much able to deliver on their promise, and flattered to deceive.

So many, in fact, that they can all feature in a well-rounded, IPL playing XI.  Who makes it into the team? Who misses out? Let’s find out.

In the article, we analyse the worst playing XI from the first 2 weeks of the 2020 IPL:

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-335540" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Shane-Watson-shot.jpg" alt="Shane Watson" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-335540" class="wp-caption-text">Shane Watson. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption>

Time is quickly running out for the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) hard hitting, 39-year-old Australian opener. Watson arrived into this IPL as the fourth eldest player across all the franchises. He didn’t have much game-time behind him either; his last appearance in a competitive cricket tournament dated back to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) back in March.

Despite these factors, CSK decided to persist with experience and drafted Watto into their first-choice XI. Rightly so- even with his age, Watson, in recent years, has been one of the most consistent performers for CSK. His aggregate of 953 runs from 32 games across the 2018 and 19 seasons is second only to Ambati Rayudu in the entire Chennai setup.

Unfortunately, his performances in this season so far have hardly done justice to all those impressive stats. Across 4 matches, Watson has managed to score just 52 runs at a less-than-convincing strike-rate of 108.33. Having lost three games on the trot, it seems likely that the CSK team will move ahead with an overhauled approach through the remainder of this season, which could result in Watson making way for one of the upcoming Indian batsmen at the top.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-333083" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Quinton-de-Kock.jpg" alt="Quinton de Kock Mumbai Indians" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-333083" class="wp-caption-text">Quinton de Kock. (Photo: Sandip Mahankal/IANS)</figcaption>

The incumbent skipper of the South African national team, De Kock headed into the IPL 2020 with strong international form behind him. Across his limited appearances in T20I matches this year, de Kock boasts of a respectable average of 34.66 with two half-centuries to his name in the ongoing IPL.

More importantly, it was his stellar strike rate of 182.45 which really caught the attention of Mumbai Indians (MI) fans. Quinton, playing aggressively at the top, would allow captain Rohit Sharma to take his time at the start, which, subsequently, would allow him the play the long-innings and provide a strong finish at the death. MI did use a roughly similar opening formula to much success last season, so fans were quite excited to see a repeat of the Rohit-de Kock opening blitz.

But that excitement hasn’t been rewarded thus far, primarily due to de Kock’s uninspiring form. The southpaw has blown hot and cold across his 4 appearances, accumulating just 48 runs from his outings. His poor shot selection has quite been responsible for his unimpressive showing. It’s unlikely that MI will address the situation just yet, but they do have the explosive Chris Lynn warming their benches should things get dire in this IPL.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-447720" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Robin-Uthappa.jpg" alt="Robin Uthappa" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-447720" class="wp-caption-text">Robin Uthappa. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

One of the most seasoned domestic IPL campaigners, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/crictracker/photos/a.643089012388490/3948088015221890" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Robin Uthappa</a>, arrived fresh onto the Rajasthan Royals (RR) pink brigade this year after the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) let go of him. The Knight Riders’ problem of plenty with openers had relegated the elegant Karnataka opener to a middle-order better- a role that he did not have much success with.

But the new-look, sans-Ajinkya Rahane Rajasthan team promised Robbie a return to his desired batting position. Fans were eager to see Robbie partnering the likes of Jos Buttler, Yashaswi Jaiswal or Sanju Samson at the top and repeat his orange-cap-winning heroics from the 2014 season.

Things, however, haven’t quite worked out in that manner, as RR seem to have settled on Buttler and captain Steve Smith as their openers. Consequently, Robin has been shifted down the batting order once more, and the demotion has only deteriorated his performances. Across his four outings, Robin has been able to score only 33-runs at a disappointing strike rate of 78.57.

The lack of experienced middle-order batsmen in the team could allow for Robbie to get a longer rope. But should RR decide on giving their young Indian batsmen a look ahead, his omission, at this point, seems almost inevitable.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-450768" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kedar-Jadav.jpg" alt="Kedar Jadhav" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-450768" class="wp-caption-text">Kedar Jadhav. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption>

Suresh Raina’s unavailability this season gave a major blow to the Super Kings even before the tournament started. The southpaw has been the side’s all-time highest run-scorer, and his absence from that batting order has left a gaping hole in the CSK top-order.

Captain MS Dhoni, to his credit, has tried plugging that hole with a variety of approaches. Sadly, neither of them has been long-term solutions, and have mostly backfired. Probably none worse than the gamble of promoting Kedar Jadhav to bat at number 4 against SRH.

Chasing 165, Jadhav looked extremely uncomfortable during his uneventful 10-ball-stay at the crease, which yielded only 3 runs. His weariness further reflected on Faf du Plessis and MS Dhoni’s batting, neither of whom looked in proper rhythm to hunt down the target.

Jadhav’s wasted deliveries ultimately came back to haunt the side in the last over, where Chennai were left requiring 28 to win. Dhoni and Sam Curran scored 20 of those, but were left wanting by 7 runs.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-336249" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Dinesh-Karthik-2.jpg" alt="Dinesh Karthik IPL" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-336249" class="wp-caption-text">Dinesh Karthik. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS)</figcaption>

Pre-season, pundits such as Michael Vaughan had previewed that KKR’s middle order could be the singular reason behind them winning their third title this season. With the likes of Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins on the offer, it isn’t hard to understand their optimism.

And that sentiment has been validified- at least to a certain extent. Of the two wins that KKR have registered this season, Morgan has been exceptionally consistent. The likes of Dre Russ, too, have come good in patches. Shivam Mavi, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/bcci-nca-spent-more-than-inr-1-crore-on-rehabilitation-and-recovery-of-shivam-mavi-and-kamlesh-nagarkoti/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kamlesh Nagarkoti</a>, and Rahul Tripathi, too, have played innings of sizeable contribution.

But as far the batting is concerned, captain DK himself has been the obvious outlier. Across his four outings so far, Karthik has managed to cross the double-figure mark only once. Granted, some of his dismissals have been against outright, ‘unplayable’ deliveries, but as the team’s captain, he will certainly need to perform better.

His current run tally reads a run-a-ball 37-runs at an unceremonious average of 9.25 in IPL 2020. With vice-captain Morgan churning up good performances on regular basis, it will be interesting to see if and how DK is able to address his batting slump.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-408067" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Glenn-Maxwell.jpg" alt="Glenn Maxwell" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-408067" class="wp-caption-text">Glenn Maxwell. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) fans had eagerly looked forward to ‘Maxi’s’ homecoming; all the more so after the tournament got shifted to the Emirates. Back in the 2014 season, part of which was played in the UAE, Maxwell played a defining role in the KXIP&#8217;s runners-up finish, scoring 552 runs from 16 matches.

That precedent, combined with his impressive form in recent times, allowed KXIP fans to foster genuine hopes of making into the playoffs after 5 disappointing seasons. Sadly, though, ‘Mad Max’ hasn’t done much justice to those hopes thus far.

Across his three batting innings, Maxwell has only managed to accumulate 30 runs at a less-than-run-a-ball strike rate of 81.08. Granted, he has been a handy bowling option for captain KL Rahul at times, but his hard-hitting batting prowess is what makes him such an indispensable asset to the Punjab side. And as far as that front goes, it has been more of a ‘no-show’ than ‘big-show’.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-444218" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/James-Neesham.jpg" alt="James Neesham" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-444218" class="wp-caption-text">James Neesham. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal’s sensational form at the top has, unfortunately, not been sufficient to mask KXIP&#8217;s middle-order’s dismal performance. Barring a few noteworthy performances from Nicholas Pooran, none of the team’s designated finishers have taken much initiative yet.

Maxwell, as previously mentioned, is culpable on that regard. As is his trans-Tasmanian teammate, James ‘Jimmy’ Neesham. The explosive Kiwi all-rounder hasn’t quite lived up to his fiery reputation and has been a major let-down with both the bat and the ball.

The only batting opportunity he got was against the Mumbai Indians, where he could only manage to score a run-a-ball innings of 7 runs in a steep chase of 192. And while Rahul has tried utilising him as a complete, four-overs bowler on two occasions; the move backfired, as Jimmy went over 13 runs in each of those games.

With just a solitary win from four matches, KXIP need to find their balance sooner rather than later.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-424718" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Krishnappa-Gowtham.jpg" alt="Krishnappa Gowtham" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-424718" class="wp-caption-text">Krishnappa Gowtham. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Pundits had much-hyped Gowtham, the promising Karnataka all-rounder, for adding a much-needed all-round balance to the new-look KXIP team. But as has been the general theme of this team- Gowtham’s performances so far have been quite contrary to his reputation.

Gowtham featured in both Punjab’s first and last (at the time of writing) games as the second-spinner, partnering the young Haryana leggie, Ravi Bishnoi. The latter&#8217;s natural tendency to pitch the ball up, and lure batsmen in for mishits would’ve been well complemented by Gowtham’s tight, accuracy oriented off-spin bowling.

But as it turned out, Gowtham was the bowler batsmen decided to target in the IPL. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Kieron Pollard were able to time their shots to his slow-paced bowling and collect crisp boundaries. Gowtham’s current bowling tally features just a solitary wicket at a disappointing average of 84.

Batting wise, he did manage to score some crucial, NRR-saving runs against MI. But his inability to keep the scoring rate at check hasn’t been a major inconvenience for Punjab.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-329103" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Shreyas-Gopal.jpg" alt="Shreyas Gopal" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-329103" class="wp-caption-text">Shreyas Gopal. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

RR’s approach of taking quick wickets upfront enables them to feature two wrist-spinners in their playing XI. But that approach comes with the risk of going for a few runs too many. Case in point: Shreyas Gopal’s trajectory for this season.

Steve Smith has tried to be prudent in utilising his spinners, preferring not to bowl them in the powerplay unless absolutely necessary. This season, Gopal has usually come into bowl the 7th over which have given him the luxury of having some extra fielders at the boundary.

Having said that, that advantage becomes moot when playing on small grounds like Sharjah and Dubai where batsmen have a much better time at hitting boundaries. Gopal learned that the hard way against CSK, KXIP and KKR, going above 9 runs per over in each of those games.

His wicket-taking abilities too, have been on a slight wane; across his four outings, he has only 2 dismissals to his name. Rajasthan would certainly expect much better from their first-choice spinner in their upcoming matches.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-251637" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Umesh-Yadav-2.jpg" alt="Umesh Yadav" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-251637" class="wp-caption-text">Umesh Yadav of Royal Challengers Bangalore in action. (Photo by IANS)</figcaption>

The first of our two returning players from last week’s team is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fast-bowler, Umesh Yadav. Virat Kohli had expected much from his senior Indian pacer, particularly during the powerplay, which has statistically been Umesh’s preferred period of bowling.

This season, however, things didn’t start much promisingly for the 32-year-old Vidarbha seamer. In RCB’s season opener against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, he went wicketless and conceded 48 runs off his spell. The next game against Punjab didn’t get any better, as KL Rahul tonked him at all corners of the park to collect 35 runs of his sans-wicket 3-over spell.

RCB lost that match by 97 runs, and it seemed Kohli, too, had lost patience with Umesh. Gurkeerat Singh Mann has since replaced him, and with RCB notching up two wins on the trot, Umesh’s prospects of coming back to the playing XI appear rather bleak.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-350858" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_362562.jpg" alt="IPL" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-350858" class="wp-caption-text">Jaydev Unadkat. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption>

The number eleven of the XI is yet another returning Indian fast bowler from last week. Unadkat, in all fairness, hasn’t been as wayward with his bowling compared to his fellow fast-bowling colleague on this list, and actually had a decent outing against KKR, finishing his spell at 2-0-14-1.

Sadly, the very next match against RCB saw the Saurashtra captain struggle with the same issue that has haunted him all throughout his career- pace, or its lack, thereof. Devdutt Padikkal cashed in on each of his slow-paced balls on offer to help himself to a fine, match-winning half-century. In the process, Unadkat’s bowling figures suffered as he ended the game wicketless from his dismal 3-over 31-run spell.

As a left-arm-quick, the cross-angled, control is one of the biggest assets that Unadkat inherently possesses. But unless he is able to exploit that advantage optimally, Rajasthan might consider replacing him with one of their young, under-19 quicks.

~Written by Soham Bhowal

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6. Glenn Maxwell (KXIP)