IPL 2018: The Flop XI: The curious case of Yuvraj Singh, Ben Stokes etc

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Bengaluru, May 9: They came to this IPL with rich reputation, largely emerging from their past performances. But after 10 matches, the likes of Ben Stokes, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir, who once gave us some stunning IPL moments, stare at empty future.

It's sad to see players like Yuvraj Singh walking away on a whimper but as the destiny goes, all the sportsmen will not get a final stage full of lights. However, some of them like Shikhar Dhawan can still turn it around in this edition of the IPL itself.

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MyKhel compiles a 'Flop XI' - players who failed to make an impression or failed to meet the pre tournament hype.

Gautam Gambhir (Captain)

Ahead of this edition of the IPL, Gautam Gambhir and Kolkata Knight Riders ended their fruitful association that saw the franchise winning two IPL crowns in 2012 and 2014. Gambhir entered the Delhi Daredevils set up with the hope turning around the fortunes of a team that never really posed a challenge in the last 10 editions of the IPL.

But Gambhir resigned captaincy after six matches yielded him 85 runs at 17 and that too at a strike rate of 96.59. Shreyas Iyer replaced Gambhir at the helm. A perfect fit for the Flop XI skipper.

Shikhar Dhawan

It's a bit strange to see that name on the Flop XI list. But 198 runs, including one fifty, from nine matches at 28.28 and strike rate of 123.75, show a reduced level of impact. And his last seven innings read: 7, 0, 5, 11, 6, 33, 13. His lone fifty for Sunrisers Hyderabad came in their first match of the IPL against Rajasthan Royals on April 9.

Of course, Dhawan has a few more matches to correct that record and Sunrisers would be hoping the same too as they are relying a bit too much on skipper Kane Williamson for runs.

Manish Pandey

The Karnataka right-hander is a perennial favourite in all the IPL since he made that hundred in South Africa in 2009 as a 19-year-old. But in this edition, Manish, despite two fifties, has not touched the heights. 184 runs from 10 matches at a strike rate of 112.19 showed his struggle for quick runs. Like Dhawan, Manish too has some more matches and he will be eying a turnaround at the earliest.

Ben Stokes

The Englishman is the world's premier all-rounder and the costliest buy in this IPL at Rs 12.5 crore. But his price tag and reputation have not translated into onfield performance.
Batting: Matches 10: Runs: 174. Strike rate: 123.40.
Bowling: Matches: 10. Wickets: 3. Economy: 9.24.

The weight of all those off-field controversies still seem to be hanging heavily around his neck.

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh's homecoming to Kings XI Punjab was a celebrated event in the team's circle. But the euphoria has long back died down after seven matches (5 innings) produced 64 runs at an average of 12.80 and at a strike rate of 91.42.

A mere shadow of old Yuvraj Singh, who terrorised bowlers with hefty blows.

Glenn Maxwell

The Australian always enter the field accompanied with fans' hopes of producing something special. In this edition, he has the amazing strike rate of 152. But has scored only 133 runs from nine matches at an average of 14.77. With his off-spin, Maxwell took five wickets from nine matches at an economy rate of 8.18 but far too anemic to make any real impact on the sagging Daredevils.

Corey Anderson

On his day, the New Zealand all-rounder is a game-changer with either bat or ball. But for Royal Challengers Bangalore, that day never came for Anderson. He made 17 runs from three matches (strike rate 77.27) and took three wickets from as many matches. His economy rate stood at an awful 13.26 and the RCB benched one of their priced acquisitions.

Wriddhiman Saha (wk)

The Bengal man is one of the best wicketkeepers around - tidy and acrobatic at the same time. But for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Saha could not replicate those efforts in front of the wicket scoring just 87 runs from 10 matches (9 innings) at a strike rate of 116. His average was a shade over 12 and the team management would be looking to give Sreevats Goswami a hit soon.

Washington Sundar

The Tamil Nadu off-spinner came to the Royal Challengers camp with a big reputation of being a bowler who relishes the challenge of bowling in Power Plays and other tough situations. But after seven matches, Sundar has just four wickets to show at an economy of over 9 and has scored just 65 runs from six innings (strike rate 171).

Mohammed Shami

His troubles began much earlier to the IPL when his wife Haseen Jahan levelled all sorts of allegations against him. Result: 3 wickets from four matches at an expensive 10.41 as he never looked the sharp bowler that he was in the past. Batsmen just toyed around him and his poor outings affected Daredevils' early run in this IPL.

Dhawal Kulkarni

The Mumbai and India bowler is quick often touching over 140 kmph. But his radar was way too off target in this IPL for Rajasthan Royals. He has taken a mere three wickets from seven matches at a shade over 9 and did not play any significant part for Royals so far.

12th man: Sarfaraz Khan

The decision of Royal Challengers to retain this 20-year-old ahead of the likes of Chris Gayle raised several eyebrows. After all, what has he done to get retained? Or was it an investment for future? If it is an investment move, the initial market response has been abysmal - 11 runs from three matches at 3.66 and strike rate of just over 64. And we can safely assume that, we have seen the last of Sarfraz in this IPL, unless the RCB management has some more rabbits in their hat.