Flop XI from the first week of IPL 2021

2. Manan Vohra 

Having not played a single match in the past two seasons of the IPL, Manan Vohra returned to the league in Rajasthan Royals’ opening match of this season. He played a couple of really good shots, one of which was a beautiful flick for six. But, he was dismissed for 12 by a stunning followthrough catch by Arshdeep Singh. 

In the second match as well, he hit two beautiful fours off Chris Woakes, before top-edging one in the air. He scored only nine runs in that match. Rajasthan got out of jail in that match against Delhi. But if he fails in a couple of more matches at the top order, then Sanju Samson might have to re-think his place in the side.

3. Manish Pandey 

Manish Pandey was sent at no. 3 for Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of a power-hitter like Jonny Bairstow. In the first match, he scored 61 runs from 44 balls during a run chase against Kolkata. SRH lost a couple of early wickets but Pandey steadied the ship in their run chase of 188 runs. However, there were stages in the game, where he could have taken the role of an aggressor. 

There wasn’t an effort from him to increase the run rate between overs 15 and 20. Because of this, he was criticized by some experts. In the next match, he scored 38 runs from as many balls, before he got out trying to play a big shot off the very next ball after Bairstow’s dismissal. In Chennai, Hyderabad needed an experienced batter to bat responsibly and guide the chase. Sadly, Pandey has failed them twice now.