IPL 2021: Aakash Chopra picks his underperforming XI for the season

As the Indian Premier League 2021 is over, it is a good time to look back at the tournament and judge which players had a good time and who didn’t. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra made a list of players who underperformed in comparison to their expectations. The cricketer-turned commentator didn’t mince his words while picking the XI which didn’t have a great season. 

He picked up Liam Livingstone and Nicholas Pooran as his openers. A lot was expected of both these players from their franchises, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings. While Livingstone made only 42 runs in five games, Pooran had a horrible start to the season and ended with only 85 runs in 12 matches. 

At no. 3, he chose Suresh Raina. After making this choice, Chopra explained on his youtube channel, “160 runs in 12 matches, an average of 17.7 and strike rate of 125. He is known as Mr. Consistent in IPL. But this year, he had the worst season of his career.” At no. 4, he selected the skipper of the runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders, Eoin Morgan. The Englishman scored only 129 runs in 16 matches. 

There are much more expectations of Hardik, says Chopra

At no. 5, Chopra selected Hardik Pandya who had a poor season as well with the bat. “There are much more expectations of Hardik, he is a much better player than this,” Chopra said. Pandya made only 127 runs in 12 matches, with absolutely no returns with the ball. Riyan Parag of Rajasthan Royals was included at no. 6, followed by Hardik’s brother, Krunal Pandya. The left-hander scored just 143 runs with the bat and picked five wickets with the ball. 

After this, Chopra went with up Kyle Jamieson while highlighting the fact that he came in for a huge contract but managed to pick only nine wickets in nine games and was dropped from the XI towards the end of the tournament. Another player from Royal Challengers Bangalore Dan Christian was picked who ended with 14 runs and four wickets in nine matches. 

For the last two spots, Chopra went for two Indian players, both of whom have been picked in the T20 World Cup 2021 squad. Ravichandran Ashwin had an ordinary tournament with only seven wickets in 13 matches while Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up 11 wickets at an average of 55.8. 

Aakash Chopra’s underperforming XI: Liam Livingstone, Nicholas Pooran, Suresh Raina, Eoin Morgan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Riyan Parag, Dan Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar