Combined Flop XI of IPL 2021

The fourteenth edition of the Indian Premier League has come to an end. After the end of the second leg of the IPL, the attention will now shift towards the T20 World Cup. This time too, the competition met all the expectations.

Even though the captains were unable to fire consistently, CSK and KKR managed to put on spectacular performances throughout the tournament. It was because of their management, they reached the final of the tournament. Adding on, they were spot on when it came to making a comeback.

There were many stars who lived up to the expectations. However, a few of them failed to cash in. These players might have a tough time as the mega auction approaches. But, we should keep in mind that they are match-winners and can change a game on any day.

Let us have a look at the flop XI of IPL 2021:

1. Manan Vohra  

Manan Vohra is a stylish top-order batsman who was a part of Rajasthan’s squad in the 2021 season of the IPL. He has the ability to play attractive shots. Just orthodox shots do the trick for this opener. But, this time, he failed to perform for Rajasthan.

Since Rajasthan needed a replacement for Robin Uthappa, they picked Manan. But, he failed too as he could score just 42 runs in 4 games. A strike rate of 107.69 is mediocre for any top-order batsman. Apart from that, he had the highest score of 14 as well.

In 53 games, he has scored 1054 runs with a strike rate of 130.60. But, this year, everything went haywire for him. Hence, he needs to perform excellently well in the domestic season in order to find some bidders for him.

2. David Warner 

David Warner is the most destructive opener in every format of the game. When on song, no bowling attack is strong enough in the world to stop him. But, this IPL, he had a horrible time with the bat.

Warner played just 8 games this season and scored 195 runs for SRH. Adding on, he had a strike rate of 107.73 during the tournament. This was very ‘un-Warner’ for the fans as well. But, it is just a matter of one decent knock for Warner to get his form back.

The worst part was his axing from captaincy. He was removed from captaincy and subsequently dropped. This was more of a shock for the fans and Warner himself. Hopefully, he may find a new team next season.

3. Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina will go down as one of the legends of the format. His attacking way of batting has always helped CSK and Team India. However, it seems that the southpaw has lost his mojo a bit.

Raina has always been CSK’s go-to man in difficult situations. He has scored 5528 runs from 205 IPL games in his career. With one century and 39 half-centuries, he has established himself as one of the cleanest strikers of the white ball.

But, this year, he has been a disappointment. Raina played 12 IPL games and scored 160 runs at an average of 17.77. A strike rate of 125 is something one would never associate with Raina. Hence, he had a poor outing in 2021 and makes it as the number three for the squad.

 4. Nicholas Pooran (wicketkeeper)

Since 2019, Nicholas Pooran has been a part of the IPL. The stylish batsman has got everything in his arsenal to become the next big thing for West Indies cricket. And an IPL strike rate of 154.98 is big proof.

Last year, Pooran was smashing at a humongous strike rate of 169.71. He was in such a form that he went on to smash the fastest fifty of the season. However, Punjab failed to make it to the playoffs.

This year, the fans were expecting him to fire on all cylinders. But, unfortunately, he was unable to contribute significantly. In 12 games, he scored 85 runs at a strike rate of 111.84. Apart from that, he smashed just 3 fours and 5 sixes, which is way below his standards.

5. Hardik Pandya

This time, the Mumbai Indians failed to reach the playoffs. Even after having a strong team, they were not able to take the chances they got. Adding on, their playing XI had some players who were out of form.

There is no doubt that one of them was Hardik Pandya. The all-rounder has been a great asset for the team over the years. But, this time, he was able to score only 127 runs in 12 matches. This meant MI suffered in the middle order.

Adding on, he has not bowled a single delivery since 2020 in the IPL. He has to find some form both with the bat and ball. Else, it might affect MI as it is almost certain that Hardik is going to be retained.

 6. Krunal Pandya

Just like Hardik, Krunal Pandya is one of the most important players for MI. This year, his form hampered MI’s chances during the league games. Apart from that, the management never thought of giving Anukul Roy a chance, which was illogical.

Krunal played 13 IPL games this season and scored just 143 runs. The strike rate was on the lower side as he was able to strike the ball at 116.26. The highest score of only 39 shows that he was out of touch with the bat.

Talking about his bowling, Krunal picked only 5 wickets in 13 matches. A bowling average of 53 is too poor for any bowler in a tournament like the IPL. Hopefully, he finds his form during the domestic season.

 7. Eoin Morgan (captain)

Eoin Morgan is one of the most destructive middle overs batsmen in the world. Well, no cricket fan can ever forget his iconic innings against Afghanistan during the 2019 World Cup. But for few months, the World Cup-winning captain has been out of touch.

His form has affected the English side as well as KKR. In 17 games, he scored just 133 runs at an average of 11.08. Adding on, he had a poor strike rate of 95.68 during the Indian Premier League.

However, the captaincy was spot on for Morgan. After a disastrous start to the campaign, his team finished second in the 2021 season of the IPL. Now, it will be interesting to see if the franchise decided to retain him.

 8. Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh is one of the greatest spinners India have ever produced. Apart from having all the techniques in the book, he is clever enough to fox the batsman. Hence, even after all these days, he is still in the circuit.

But, Harbhajan was almost of no use for KKR on the field. The off-spinner played just 3 games and could not pick a wicket. Adding on, he gave away 63 runs in three matches at an economy rate of 9 runs per over.

It looks like he might take up a mentorship role later on in the future. But as a player, he got just 3 games to play. This clearly means that the franchises are looking to include players for the long run.

 9. Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma is one of the most consistent bowlers for the national Test squad. He bowls consistent line and length and manages to pick up a wicket or two out of nowhere. However, he had a poor outing this season.

Sharma played just 3 IPL games this season. All he could manage to do was pick up 1 wicket. The rise of Avesh Khan meant that he had to warm the benches for the most part of the season.

He had the best bowling figure of 1/26 and a poor bowling average of 97. The economy is at a better rate at 8.08. But, everyone had expected him to perform much better.

 10. Jhye Richardson

Jhye Richardson was included in the Punjab squad after a decent performance at the BBL. However, it is clearly evident that a price tag of INR 14 crores was more of a burden on him. Hence, he performed poorly during the first leg of the tournament.

The seam bowler has a bright future ahead of him. But, he leaked runs at 10.63 runs per over. In a tournament like the Indian Premier League, this is clearly unacceptable.

With new teams coming up at the mega auction, it will be interesting to see who bids for this talented bowler. If given proper management, Jhye could be an asset for any team. But, a wicket tally of 3 in as many as games is unacceptable.

 11. Murugan Ashwin

Murugan Ashwin is a classic leg spinner who can pick wickets at any stage of the game. Being a leg-spinner he can outfox the batsman to pick wickets that can change the course of the game. However, this year was a horrible one for Ashwin.

Ashwin played 3 games this year and managed to pick just a single wicket. A bowling average of 97 is way too poor for any bowler. Because of this, there is no doubt that he was dropped from the side.

Till now, he has played 34 matches and has picked 26 wickets. Ashwin has a decent economy rate of 7.86 in his IPL career. Hence, he needs a team with proper management to flourish as a regular member.