The Indian Premier League (IPL) is said to be a cash-rich league because of the big money involved in the tournament. Over the years, we’ve seen franchises bid heavily on players who are touted to be the big performers in T20 cricket. Way back in 2008, it was MS Dhoni who was the most expensive player bought in that edition of the IPL. Then down the years, we witnessed players like Kieron Pollard, Yuvraj Singh, Ben Stokes be the big buck millionaires players.
But talking about the latest edition of the Indian Premier League there were quite a few players who accumulated high bids in the 2020 IPL Auction. The likes of Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell got bids in excess of 5 crores but as far as their performance is considered they haven’t put up a great show. They haven’t repaid the amount spent on them with their performance this season as they’ve been the big flops.
Similarly, there have been other flop players as well who were paid big bucks but haven’t lived up to the expectations of the fans.
Let’s take a look at the top five flops of the IPL 2020 season:
1. Robin Uthappa
The highly experienced Robin Uthappa had a phenomenal run for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the past, having won the orange cap in 2014 he was one of the few players who had been instrumental in Kolkata Knight Riders winning the 2014 title. Ahead of the 2020 season, Robin Uthappa was released by the KKR franchise on the bank of a poor show in the 2019 season.
In the 2020 IPL Auction, Robin Uthappa was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 3 crores but talking about the player’s performance this season it hasn’t been a promising one. He was asked to bat in the middle order in the starting few games wherein he failed to perform.
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Though in later stages he opened the inning and scored a quickfire 41 against Royal Challengers Bangalore but overall if we look at his performance, he hasn’t fared that well.
2. James Neesham
The New Zealand all-rounder is known for his sense of humour in his tweets, he played a key role in New Zealand performing exceptionally well in the 2019 World Cup. This season he was bought by Kings XI Punjab for merely Rs 50 lakhs but has only played four out of the ten games for the franchise this season.
Even in the matches James Neesham played, there wasn’t anything worth mentioning which is why Jimmy Neesham has been another disappointment this season. He has managed to score only 17 runs and claimed only two wickets.
3. Sheldon Cottrell
The player from the Caribbean known for his salute celebration entered the IPL Auction for the very first time and eventually got picked by the Punjab based franchise for the price of Rs. 8.5 crore but has the fast bowler lived up to the expectations of the viewers?
Well, no! he hasn’t as he has been tonked in and out during the entire season. How can one forget the five sixes Rahul Tewatia hit to Sheldon Cottrell at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. It was because of Sheldon’s over the match went in favour of Rajasthan Royals.
4. Glenn Maxwell
The all-rounder from Australia who is known for his aggressive style of batting and six-hitting ability had a superb run for his Kings XI Punjab franchise in 2014 when he notched up over 400 runs. Which is why a similar performance was expected of him in the 2020 season as well since it was to be played in the UAE.
He was bought by the Kings XI Punjab in the 2020 IPL auction for Rs. 10.75 crores as they expected him to play a similar role of what he did in 2014 but he really hasn’t fared that well this season. In the ten matches Glenn Maxwell has played for KXIP, the Australian has only managed to score only 90 runs at an average of 15.
5. Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins is arguably one of the best cricketers in the world at present. Ever since he has returned from injury he has been putting up stellar performances for Australia in all three formats of the game. With the kind of form the Australian looked in, Kolkata Knight Riders thought he’d replicate the same for them in the Indian Premier League.
As a result, they bought him for a whopping amount of Rs. 15.50 crore but he has been a disappointment altogether. As he has gone on to pick just 3 wickets in nine games which shows inconsistency in providing breakthroughs for his side this season. He has been one of the flops so far in IPL 2020.
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