IPL 2021: 5 players who couldn't justify their auction price tags in the tournament

The 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) has ended up facing turmoil after being postponed for an indefinite time period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tried to stay put but had to duck for cover, in the end.

Nevertheless, amidst the course of the 29 completed games in the league, the spectacle of cricket also hogged the limelight for nearly four weeks. A lot of focus was on the ones, who bagged hefty deals in the IPL auction that took place in February in Chennai.

The pressure was also on them to perform for their teams on a consistent basis and give their money’s worth. Even as many of them like Chris Morris came out firing on all cylinders, a few of them crumbled under pressure. But that doesn’t undermine the quality of the underperformers by any means.

In the article, let’s take a look at five players who crumbled under the pressure of price tags in IPL 2021:

1. Jhye Richardson- PBKS

Jhye Richardson came into the limelight after he performed to expectations for the Perth Scorchers in the 2020-21 BBL. Hence, despite not playing for Australia for nearly two years, he fetched INR 14 crores from the Punjab Kings. But he didn’t have the best of campaigns for them.

In fact, the right-arm fast bowler turned out to be the only bowler from PBKS with an economy rate in excess of 10. He played three games and picked up as many wickets and had his travails while bowling at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The pitch at the iconic venue has been a bowler’s graveyard and Richardson’s lack of experience showed. In his first game against the Rajasthan Royals, the 24-year-old went for 55 runs, though he dismissed Jos Buttler, and things didn’t get any better for him.

2. Kyle Jamieson- RCB

Kyle Jamieson turned a few heads in the Test series against India in February 2020. Thereafter, he showed his class for New Zealand in the limited-overs formats as well. Being tall and lanky, the seamer has the potential to extract prodigious bounce from most surfaces apart from giving his team regular breakthroughs.

The attributes earned him INR 15 crores from Royal Challengers Bangalore. But he looked a tad rusty and wasn’t quite the go-to bowler for Virat Kohli’s RCB. In seven games, the pacer picked up nine wickets, but in the process, leaked runs at an economy rate of 9.20.

He got a three-wicket haul against the Kolkata Knight Riders but seemed a tad lacklustre in most games. In one of the matches, Delhi Capitals’ Shimron Hetmyer laid into him, hitting him for three sixes in one over.

3. Shivam Dube- RR 

Shivam Dube has played for India when Hardik Pandya was recovering from an injury. Albeit he lost his place in the team, he kept performing in the domestic circuit and for India A. In the IPL 2021 auction, he had a base price of INR 50 lakhs and he ended up fetching INR 4.40 crores.

The Royals, Sunrisers and the Capitals went for him, but in the end, it was RR who bagged the all-rounder from Mumbai. Out of seven matches, Dube played in six and he couldn’t make an impact, both with bat and ball. He managed only 145 runs at an average of 24.16.

Moreover, the fact that he had a strike rate of 117.88 showed his travails with the bat in hand. Even on excellent batting strips, he failed to find his timing. With the ball in hand, skipper Sanju Samson didn’t quite trust him, using him for only three overs.

4. Riley Meredith- PBKS 

Richardson’s partner in PBKS, Riley Meredith, came into the IPL with the reputation of cranking up the pace above the 140-mark on a consistent basis. In the BBL, he rattled loads of woodwork and cracked a few helmets while playing for the Hobart Hurricanes.

KL Rahul and Co didn’t mind shelling out INR 8 crores for him. However, like Richardson, even Meredith couldn’t taste much success. In five games, he picked up only four wickets at an economy rate of 9.94. He was the second-most expensive bowler for the Punjab-based team after Richardson.

Like Richardson, even he found the conditions in Mumbai tough to bowl. The lengths which worked wonders for him in the BBL didn’t quite pay dividends in the IPL. But bearing in mind his talent, he can be deemed as a future prospect.

5. Tom Curran- DC 

After KKR and RR, Tom Curran played for his third IPL team, DC, in 2021. He has been a prolific all-rounder in England’s international and domestic circuit. After being released by the Royals, Curran registered himself at a base price of INR 1.50 crores, which looked a tad high.

However, the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rishabh Pant’s Capitals went into a bidding war for the 26-year-old from Cape Town. In the end, DC secured his services at a price of INR 5.25 crores, Curran started for them in the tournament but was left out after only two matches.

With the ball, he picked up only one wicket at an economy rate of 9.78 and he scored 21 runs with the bat. Once DC altered their eleven and brought in Steve Smith, Curran lost his place in the team, at least for the next six matches.