Flop T20I XI of the year

Another year has almost passed by and it has witnessed a lot of international cricket. Almost 500 international games were played in 2019, out of which more than 300 were T20I. International cricket’s shortest format even breached the 1000-game mark this year.

However, there were a lot of players who had brilliant seasons while quite a few of them had disappointing ones. Some of the big names didn’t have the best of times either. T20 is not an easy format to play and some players found that out the hard way.

Thus, with 2019 coming to an end, we look at a flop XI that did not perform as per expectation this year:

(Note: Only Test-playing nations considered)

1. Shikhar Dhawan

2018 was an excellent year for Shikhar Dhawan, the T20I batsman. He was often criticised for his approach and inconsistency. But he shut his critics as he 689 runs (average of 40.53 and strike-rate of 147.22) in the year which was the most by any player (back then) in a calendar year.

However, 2019 has seen him go back to his inconsistent self in T20I cricket. It’s been a big struggle for him and 2018 and 2019 have been very contrasting times for the Delhi left-hander. He has made 272 runs at an average of 22.67. His strike-rate is also a worrying factor which is 110.57 this year.

If you see his scores, you’d say that Dhawan is getting starts as he’s had just three single-figure scores from 12 innings. But he has struggled. Moreover, it has affected India’s tempo of the innings as well.