Flop XI from the first week of IPL 2021

4. Marcus Stoinis

There are two parts of Marcus Stoinis to focus on. Firstly, let us talk about his batting. He scored a 9-ball 14 in the first match against Chennai. But, his runs came when the match was almost sealed by Delhi, courtesy of the openers. In the second match, he scored a duck when Delhi needed him to get together with captain Pant and form a partnership.

Having lost three early wickets on a good batting wicket, Stoinis could have used this opportunity but instead fell for a 5-ball zero. As far as bowling is concerned, he has bowled only three overs in the two matches. He has conceded 41 runs in those three overs and hasn’t looked as effective he was in the last season.

5. Vijay Shankar

Make no mistake, Vijay Shankar is a good option as a No. 6 or No.7 in T20s. But, maybe on a slowish pitch, like the one where Sunrisers Hyderabad played on, he needs to spend some more time at the crease before looking to go for big shots. Clearly, coming out and slogging from ball one could be his thing where the pitch has some pace to work with. 

Against Kolkata, he scored a 7-ball 11 and failed to close out a match. Like Pandey, Shankar was part of another collapse just a few days later against Bangalore when he scored only three. With Kedar Jadhav waiting in the wings, Shankar would be aware that his place in the side could be under threat if he fails to deliver. With the ball as well, he has bowled only one over for 14 runs.