IPL 2019: 3 players who should be axed based on their performances in the first week

With the first week of the Indian Premier League (IPL) done and dusted, we’ve already seen some controversies and not to forget, some breathtaking performances. CSK currently lead the points table with 6 points from 3 games and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are languishing at the bottom of the points table (again!) and all the teams are shaping up pretty well for the race to playoffs.

Team balance is what every successful side has and always yearns for and only a few teams have been able to hit that consistently, this time around. Basically, the top 4 teams have an idea of what their ideal squad should be and the ones in the lower-half of the table have to still figure out their ideal playing XI.

There were a few disappointing performances and taking that into account, here’s a list of 3 players who should be axed following the difficult first week that they endured. Their underperformances have hurt their respective teams and have made the going a bit too tough for them. Having established this, let’s have a look at the top 3 players who need to be axed by the respective franchises.

Shimron Hetmyer

Hetmyer shot into limelight with his match-winning hundreds against India, in India. Hetmyer is a proven T20 performer and is one of the most destructive players going around at the moment. Playing in his debut season, Hetmyer was expected to play a crucial role in taking the RCB across the line. In the 3 matches that he has featured so far, the 22-year-old has managed to gather only 14 runs.

While there are two definite points to argue in the fact that he hasn’t played in his natural position at the top of the order and it’s just his first week in the cash-rich league, it is needless to say that the RCB fans have been highly disappointed by his unsatisfactory show thus far. Hetmyer needs to be dropped if RCB ought to find a winning combination. They could perhaps, add Tim Southee to the mix in order to beef up their underperforming death bowling unit.

Kieron Pollard

Pollard has been with Mumbai Indians (MI) throughout his IPL career and has been a match-winner for them ever since he made his debut back in 2010. However, the last two seasons haven’t exactly been his and he hasn’t set the stage on fire like he used to. Pollard the fielder is still as effective, no doubt but barring that, he is a liability for the Mumbai-based outfit at the moment.

The 31-year-old hardly bowls and in the 3 innings that the Windies batsman has featured in, he has managed to amass only 33 runs at a mediocre strike rate. Pollard hardly bowls and that makes his axing only inevitable. Pollard has had a disappointing first week and the experienced veteran was expected to set the stage running as he entered the tournament on the back of some strong performances in the PSL.

Mumbai have got a good blend of all-rounders in their squad and they could perhaps, give Ben Cutting a few more opportunities or they could go with their uncapped options in Roy and Jaiswal.

Colin de Grandhomme

The Kiwi all-rounder fits into the RCB team dynamics a bit too well but his inconsistency has not only hurt his performances but his team’s chances of victory as well. In the nail-biter against Mumbai, Collin had the perfect stage to take his team home but he threw his wicket away in an irresponsible manner and a few strikes from him would have ensured the perfect result for the RCB.  The 32-year-old usually bowls in the middle-overs and has been leaking runs at a sky-touching rate.

On his day, Grandhomme is a threat to any bowling attack but his inconsistency is a cause of worry for the RCB and after disappointing games in the first week, Grandhomme is most likely to see himself sitting out for a few games. Hr scored 37 against SRH, but it came in a losing cause. RCB could perhaps go with Nathan Coulter-Nile or Marcus Stoinis to load up their death-bowling prowess and batting, in case of Stoinis.

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