IPL 2019: Flop XI of the tournament

The twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has culminated with the Mumbai Indians (MI) getting their hands on the trophy for the fourth time. This edition of the league was easily one of the best ever. More than half of the games that were played this season only ended in the final over. Thus, the fans were glued to their seats more often than not in this nail-biting tournament. While the tournament was a lot of fun overall, there were quite a few disappointments. Be it poor umpiring, sloppy fielding or the poor performances from some of the top players, it didn’t go down well with the aficionadi. A few players, who were expected to be the backbone for their team, ended up being a massive let-down. Some of them have even put their future in a spot with the poor shows. Here is the Flop XI of IPL 2019: 1. Prithvi Shaw (Delhi Capitals) Prithvi Shaw. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Although he impressed in his maiden IPL season last year, Prithvi Shaw was a massive disappointment this year. The right-hander has found it extremely tough to get going and the bowlers often choked him with tight lines and lengths. Since there is a lot of footage available now, they exactly know what his weaknesses are. Thus, they were all exploited really well. Shaw was cramped for room and wasn’t allowed to hit freely on the off-side. He found it tough to get out of his comfort zone and the strike rates took a massive dip. The 19-year-old only brought up two notable performances in the season where he scored 99 and 56. Thus, 155 out of his 353 runs came in just two innings and he could only manage to score 198 runs in the remaining 14 matches. 2. Robin Uthappa (Kolkata Knight Riders) Kolkata Knight Riders’ Robin Uthappa in action. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Robin Uthappa has always been one of the biggest strengths of KKR. However, it was not to be this year and the team’s exit out of the tournament can be attributed to his performance. The number three batsman played some of his most horrible knocks ever in this edition of the tournament. On many occasions, he let the game drift away from his team’s grip. His slow knocks in important matches were extremely frustrating and was also benched in between. Uthappa, in 11 matches, scored 282 runs at an average of 31. However, he scored these runs only at a strike rate of 115 and hit 38 boundaries in the tournament. Batting at the crucial number three spot, he was expected to do much better. But he ended up receiving the flak of the fans due to his performances. 3. Virat Kohli (c) (Royal Challengers Bangalore) Virat Kohli. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Virat Kohli might be the best batsman in the world. He might have secured a place amongst the leading run scorers this season. However, he manages to find a spot in the eleven as it was quite an average season for his standards. The RCB team relies extensively on him. But he failed to live up to the expectations in a majority of the matches this year. Opening the innings for his team, his role was to play the long innings and score as many runs as possible. Unfortunately, though, the legendary batsman wasn’t able to do that. Virat scored 464 runs in 14 innings. But 338 out of those runs came just in 5 innings. Moreover, the 30-year-old scored 184 runs against the weak bowling line-up of the Kolkata Knight Riders. He has hardly been as consistent as he usually is and hence finds a place in this Flop XI. 4. Vijay Shankar (Sunrisers Hyderabad) Vijay Shankar. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Vijay Shankar started off the tournament with a lot of intent. He seemed to be positive with the way he went about his batting and scored some crucial runs batting down the order for SRH. However, he eventually drifted apart as the tournament progressed forward and things only worsened after he was named in the World Cup 2019 squad. The Tamil Nadu cricketer played some of the worst shots possible in crucial situations of the game. Instead of helping his team get over the line, he put his hands up in critical situations leading to great dismay. The 3D cricketer only bowled 8 overs in the course of the tournament and scored 244 runs in 14 games with the bat at an average of 20. 5. Dinesh Karthik (wk) (Kolkata Knight Riders) Dinesh Karthik. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) The Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Dinesh Karthik was yet another let down in the tournament. Apparently, there seemed to be several differences between him and Andre Russell during the course of the tournament. Although DK was good with his bowling changes and field settings, the way he went about the batting order was truly unexpected. He could neither utilise himself or Russell completely. Even though he did well in a few games with the bat, Karthik’s IPL 2019 was below satisfactory. The wicket-keeper batsman fell cheaply on most of the occasions and struggled to score at a good pace on quite a few occasions. Even though there were a few glimpses of brilliance, he was hardly as consistent as he usually is. Karthik scored 253 runs in 13 innings at an average of 32. A bulk of these runs came in just two or three innings for him. 6. Ben Stokes (Rajasthan Royals) Ben Stokes. (Photo Source: IANS) Just like it was in the last edition of the IPL, it was yet another disappointing season for English all-rounder Ben Stokes this year. Apart from the initial blitz in his maiden IPL outing for RPS, Ben Stokes has largely failed to impress. In IPL 2019, he has struggled both with the bat as well as the ball. His failure in the middle order is possibly one of the biggest reasons for RR’s downfall this year. In 9 innings, Ben Stokes could only score 123 runs at an average of 20.50 and a strike rate of 124. All that he managed to hit was 12 boundaries in this season. Thus, the Royals weren’t able to finish well on most of the occasions and had to rely on the likes of Shreyas Gopal and Jofra Archer. Stokes bowled 101 deliveries in the tournament and conceded 189 runs. He only managed to pick up six wickets. 7. Kedar Jadhav (Chennai Super Kings) Kedar Jadhav. (Photo Source: Twitter) Kedar Jadhav has never been known for his heroics in T20 cricket. He can surely strike the ball long and hard. Moreover, he is quite cheeky and is capable of hitting the ball to various different parts of the ground. However, he wasn’t utilised completely this year. He was one of the biggest disappointments in the CSK middle-order. There were several instances where he even got an opportunity to bat above MS Dhoni. But, he was hardly anywhere close to his best. Jadhav scored 162 runs in 12 innings at an average of 18 before he bowed out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury. Jadhav’s strike rate of 93 wasn’t impressive either and he often left a lot for the lower order batsmen to do. 8. Umesh Yadav (Royal Challengers Bangalore) Umesh Yadav. (Photo: IANS) The leading wicket-taker for RCB last year and one of the best bowlers of IPL 2018, Umesh Yadav had a tough time this year. Unlike last year, he was asked to bowl at the death this year. But, he failed to fulfil his role. Moreover, he couldn’t extract as much swing early on with the new ball. Thus, the batsmen were much more comfortable facing him. Most of the oppositions have looked at him as the target bowler and tried to score as many runs as possible off his bowling. MS Dhoni almost chased down 26 runs in the final over courtesy his poor bowling at the death. Yadav picked up 8 wickets in 11 innings out of which 5 wickets came in just two innings. In the 227 balls that he has bowled, the Nagpur pacer conceded 371 runs. 9. Andrew Tye (Kings XI Punjab) Andrew Tye. (Photo: IANS) With 24 wickets in 14 games, Andrew Tye was the winner of the Purple Cap in IPL 2018. However, in the course of the last year, a lot has changed for the Australian pacer. From being the strike bowler for KXIP, he has found it tough to find a regular spot in the playing eleven. Tye has got different variations of slower ball and usually nails them all really well. However, he became a little too predictable this year as the batsmen figured out ways to score runs of him. He was both expensive and failed to pick up wickets this year. In 6 innings, all that he could manage was to pick up three wickets. Andrew Tye leaked almost 10.6 runs per over that he bowled and thus the Kings XI Punjab were forced to keep him out of the eleven for the majority of the season. 10. Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Kings XI Punjab) Kings XI Punjab’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman. (Photo by IANS) Mujeeb Ur Rahman is one of the most crafty spinners around. Even in the powerplay, he has often managed to trouble even the best of the batsmen. But, this year, he has had a lot of turbulent times. The Afghan spinner was quite expensive and that costed KXIPs chances quite a bit. Mujeeb only played five matches this year and failed to create a massive impact. He picked up three wickets and didn’t get his chances regularly. In 19 overs, Mujeeb conceded 191 runs and was frustrating. The off-spinner, however, is still in the early days of his career and will be hoping to come back stronger next year. 11. Kuldeep Yadav (Kolkata Knight Riders) Kuldeep Yadav. (Photo: IANS) Kuldeep Yadav is possibly the biggest disappointment of this edition of the tournament. The way he broke down during the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore was quite disappointing. The chinaman’s variations were deciphered quite easily by the batsmen. They often targetted him and tried to hit him for the big shots. The youngster didn’t seem to be in a good mental state and sat out in the latter half of the tournament. In 9 matches, he picked up just 5 wickets. In the 33 overs that he bowled, he gave away 286 runs. His ineffectiveness with the ball didn’t manage to impress the captain and it is quite concerning heading into the upcoming World Cup 2019. Get the latest Cricket News and updates from the Indian Premier League (IPL), Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.

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IPL 2019: Flop XI of the tournament

These players couldn't step up when it needed the most and it rather affected their team's chances in the tournament.

10. Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Kings XI Punjab)

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