The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League has finally come to an end after an enthralling season which had to be broken down into two phases due to fears of a COVID-19 outburst in India mid-season. IPL 2021 is a rare season which had to be hosted in two different nations with a gap of over 5 months in between due to the pandemic but it must be said that the wait for the second phase of the tournament was worth every bit.
Chennai Super Kings ended up lifting their 4th IPL trophy this season after a brilliant season all throughout and by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders pretty much convincingly in the Finals.
There are many players who made a name for themselves in this edition of the tournament but at the same time, certain players failed to live upto the expectations. In this article, we take a look at the Flop XI of IPL 2021. The following team comprises 5 batsmen (including a Wicket-keeper) and 6 bowlers (including 4 all-rounders).
1. David Warner (SRH) – The career path of David Warner took a huge U-turn after IPL 2021. He has always been one of the most consistent batters in the tournament over the years but he completely lost his track in IPL 2021. His poor form and captaincy cost him the captaincy of SRH which was instead given to Kane Williamson. The season ended miserably for him as he was removed from their playing XI as well. It is now confirmed that David Warner will no longer be a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
2. Eoin Morgan (KKR) – The english captain probably had the most disastrous season of any player in the list. He was extremely poor both in captaincy and more than anything, in his batting. The individual performances of Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine in the second phase of IPL 2021 might have steered KKR to the finals, but they were probably better off without Eoin Morgan.
3. Manish Pandey (SRH) – Another disastrous year for Manish Pandey and it is becoming a habit for the former KKR star now. He played some big knocks at the start of the season but his poor strike rate might be good for ODI but it’s horrible for a T20 competition as competitive as the Indian Premier League. If Manish Pandey fails to impress the suitors with his performances in the domestic leagues, he will surely struggle to get a team next season in the Mega-auction.
4. Dinesh Karthik (KKR) – Another KKR player on the list and it tells us how much the team depended on their top order. Dinesh Karthik showed signs of ageing this season and he will probably discontinue playing from next season onwards. He is better off as a commentator.
5. Hardik Pandya (MI) – Hardik Pandya is not the old energetic young boy anymore. He is growing and there are marks of it in his performances as well. He might be injury-ridden but the few matches that he played in, his performance was below par except this one time in the second phase wherein he won the match for Mumbai Indians.
6. Nicolas Pooran (PBKS) – The laughing stock of Punjab Kings this season. A lot was expected off him after his sensational performance last season but he did exactly the opposite of that. In Fact his consecutive single digit runs and bottling big games was becoming downright frustrating. He too must do something miraculous in the other T20 leagues around the world to get in the spotlight once again ahead of the mega-auction.
7. Jaydev Undakat (RR) – Not that he played poorer than what he did in the last segment of the Indian Premier League. Just that he is not living up to the hype that was made of him after being sold for that high price tag. Rajasthan Royals have better options to be honest.
8. Rahul Tewatia (RR) – Ended up being a one day wonder. Much was expected of him after last season’s display. Unfortunately the younger talents outshined him.
9. Chris Morris (RR) – Yet another all-rounder on the list who failed to impress. He was sold for a record price of 16.25 Cr in the IPL 2021’s auction. Keeping that in mind, his performance was mere peanuts. Being under the pressure of the price tag, Chris Morris failed to impress the spectators.
10. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) – Bhuvneshwar Kumar has always been a common name in the highest wicket-takers list of the Indian Premier League over the years. To think that he picked up just 6 wickets this season, is insane. Injury ruled out his chances to do something insane this season.
11. Krunal Pandya (MI) – No specific knock to remember from him this season. Decent with both the ball and the bat but still doesn’t make the cut to get selected in the list of elites.
