Rayudu, Prithvi Shaw, Kuldeep: Disappointments of IPL 2019
Here’s a look at some of the big names from IPL 2019 who fizzled out without making any mark.
advertisement
Edited by Puneet Bhatia
Camera by Shiv Kumar Maurya
The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League came to an end on Sunday, 12 May, with Mumbai Indians lifting their fourth trophy. And again, like the past eleven editions, this year too it was a mix of hits and misses and successes and disappointments.
If the old guards faded away, they were new ones who replaced them. And speaking of fading away, hopes and expectations of respective franchises and many fans went up in smokes when a bunch of usual suspects failed to up the ante this season.
Here’s a look at some of the big names from IPL 2019 who fizzled out without making any mark in this year’s competition.
Ambati Rayudu
The Super Kings have again successfully emulated their past success but same can’t be said about Rayudu.
Rayudu hardly showed any of his past magic. No big shots, no quick starts – Rayudu had lost his mojo this season. In fact, he also ended up losing his openers’ spot to South African Faf du Plessis.
With only 220 runs from 14 matches at a strike rate of around 90, the Andhra batsman must come up with something special in the playoffs to revive his fortunes this season.
Robin Uthappa
Disastrous wouldn’t be enough to describe his IPL season this time around.
With a score of 40 off 47 balls in a must-win match against Mumbai Indians, Robbie surely has nothing to justify his case. It was painful to watch him bat on Sunday against Mumbai.
Once the mainstay of KKR batting, Robbie failed to show maturity in any of his innings, just throwing away his wicket. KKR have dropped him once this season and it is high time he and the management sit down and discuss about his role in the side and his future.
Dinesh Karthik
The KKR skipper has been guilty of multiple offences. If his batting this season was disappointing, his style of captaincy has been a bigger topic of discussion.
From faulty strategies, wrong choice of bowlers to dubious field placements – the list is never ending.
With the bat, he failed to get past the score of 20 six times in 11 innings. His scores of 50 not out and 97 not out came in losing cause. The DK of the previous editions was certainly missing in action this season.
Vijay Shankar
The only thing we can hope for Vijay Shankar is that his IPL 2019 form doesn’t have any bearing on his World Cup performance.
Shankar, who pipped Ambati Rayudu to the number four position in the Indian line-up, has hardly done anything noteworthy for his franchise this season. Coming into bat at number three, after Warner-Bairstow blitzkrieg, Shankar either failed to maintain the same tempo or gave away his wickets in doing so.
In 14 innings he has scored only 219 runs. Shankar’s struggle at number three led to Manish Pandey being promoted, who has made the number three position his own with scores of 83*, 61, 36, 71*.
Shankar, who made into the World Cup squad due to all-round abilities, has also hardly bowled this season. He has only one wicket to show against his name.
Kuldeep Yadav
One half of the successful Kul-Cha duo, Kuldeep has got a reality check in this season of the IPL before the World Cup.
He was literally left in tears after Moeen Ali took him to the cleaners in one of the league matches. The bashing against Bangalore was the climax of a horrendous season that Kuldeep has endured.
Since then he hasn’t played a game for Kolkata Knight Riders. With only four wickets from nine outings, the flat tracks at the Eden Gardens was just another reason for Kuldeep’s misery.
Prithvi Shaw
The next big thing in Indian cricket – Prithvi Shaw – unfortunately also figures in the list.
Barring a solitary 99 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the start of the season, Prithvi Shaw’s batting has been a dampener. From poor shot selection to complete loss of form, the young cricketer is not enjoying the best time of his life.
With Delhi in the playoffs, Shaw needs to do better than 292 runs from 14 innings if Delhi plans to lift that trophy on 12 May.
Jaydev Unadkat
The Rajasthan pacer has not only been the most expensive Indian player in the two successive auctions, but he has also been expensive on the field too.
Expected to lead the Rajasthan bowling attack, he was instead dropped after three matches.
An economy of 10.66 and a total wicket count of 10 from 11 matches, Unadkat yet again didn’t succeed in justifying the faith shown in him by his franchise.
Yuvraj Singh
The final entry in this dubious list is none other than Yuvraj Singh.
International cricket is aware of Yuvraj Singh’s heroics but sadly the IPL never had such an opportunity. For Yuvraj every IPL has been a disappointing story. But it is his reputation in world cricket which generates hope every single year among fans as well as franchises who end up buying him.
This year too after an initial fizzle, Yuvraj again lost the plot. With scores of 53, 23,18 and 4, Yuvraj was dropped after his fourth match. His failure to score quick runs was hardly compensated by his stylish and elegant stroke plays.
Certainly, the IPL has never been kind to the stylish left-hander from Punjab.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)