Cricket in 2018: Flop Test XI of the year

2018 was an eventful year in Test cricket. It was the year where we witnessed two new nations playing their first Test match. On the unfortunate side, the sandpaper gate sent tremors into the cricket world, and Australia faced grave consequences. India faced an away patch of South Africa, England and Australia where we saw hits and misses.

While the likes of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Jasprit Bumrah and Yasir Shah rose to new heights with their spectacular performances, there were a few who failed to play at their potential. With plenty of opportunities available, these stars were expected to deliver but were always stuck in the rut. Indian cricket fans will easily recall two such names but there are plenty of other cricketers who flopped this year.

Following is the list of eleven prominent cricketers who disappointed with their performances in 2018. After years of cricket, they were expected to come good in 2018 but the lot will be happy to see the year 2018 passing away.

1. Murali Vijay (India)

India embarked on a challenging year in Test cricket as they were up against an away phase which included South Africa, England and Australia. The Asian Giants needed to be at their best to conquer such a brutal challenge and they relied heavily on their batsmen. Murali Vijay along with Cheteshwar Pujara was supposed to be the rock on which the Indian batting would stabilize.

However, the 34-year old Test specialist failed to deliver on the promises. Vijay’s struggle on the South African shores was ignored as other batsmen had to work hard for their runs as well. After a century against Afghanistan at home, Vijay looked all set to score runs in England. Instead, his contributions in the first two Tests were 6, 20, 0 and 0. The Tamil Nadu opener was dropped from the squad after this debacle.

India failed to find a successful opening partnership and had to call back Murali Vijay for the Australian tour. He impressed with a century in the practice match but could not get runs in the Test matches. After 49 runs from four innings, he has been dropped again.

Matches: 8, Innings: 15, Runs: 282, Average: 18.80, Highest score: 105, 100s: 1, Ducks: 3.