5 Expensive Players Who let their IPL Franchises Down

The Indian Premier League is close to its epic conclusion and the qualifiers are nearly decided. There have been several brilliant performances with the bat and the ball by several players. But there are the occasional ‘bad apples’, who have flopped for their IPL team, inspite of a lot of faith being put on them.

Some of these players have been bought by their respective IPL franchises for ridiculously high prices. However, they failed to put their money where their bat/ball is and their teams suffered for it. So, here are the 5 expensive IPL players who failed to turn up for their team.

Shimron Hetmyer

Given how poorly the team has performed, it was only natural that one Royal Challengers Bangalore player would end up on this list. Now, that ‘honour’ has gone to West Indian player Shimron Hetmyer. Hetmyer was roped in by RCB for Rs 4.2 crores and was expected to be an explosive batsman.

However, in 5 matches, he amassed only 90 runs with a high score of 75. In other words, the remaining 15 runs were sprinkled into 4 matches. During the Windies’ limited overs tour of India last year, the 22-year old scored 259 runs in 5 ODIs. He also boasted of massive six-hitting ability at the time, but it almost deserted him during the entire IPL 2019 campaign.

Then, he found his muse against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, with a knock of 75 to help them win. However it was too little too late for the West Indian batsman.

Chris Morris

Chris Morris is another player who failed to turn up for his team, namely the Delhi Capitals. Fortunately for him, since Delhi have qualified for the playoffs, he has a chance for redemption. In 9 matches, he has struck 32 runs and picked up 13 wickets at a strike rate of 86.48 and an economy of 9.27.

It was odd to see Morris have such a lean patch in the IPL, since he was their best player in 2017. Last year as well, Morris failed to fire and it looks like he carried that form once again.

Jaydev Unadkat

Jaydev Unadkat was the joint highest earner during the IPL 2019 auction in December. The Rajasthan Royals retained him for an astounding Rs 8.4 crore, but did Unadkat live up to his price tag? Absolutely not!

In Rajasthan’s opening match, Unadkat was dismiss for 44 runs in three overs with no scalps. 19 of those runs was at the hands of a rampaging Chris Gayle, where he went on to score 51 from 21 balls. Things got progressively worse from there and he was soon shuttled in and out of the playing XI.

Ben Stokes

For his massive price tag of 12.5 crores, Ben Stokes was not worth a single penny of it. In nine games, he has totalled 123 runs at a strike-rate of 124.24 and taken six wickets with an economy rate of 11.22.

Taking two particular games in mind, it highlight’s just how poorly Stokes has performed. Namely, Rajasthan vs Kolkata where Stokes made 7 not out off 14 balls and Rajasthan ended with 139/3 in 20 overs. Naturally they lost to KKR by seven wickets with 37 balls left to be bowled.

Coming to the bowling aspect, against CSK, Rajasthan were defending 18 runs in the last over. Stokes was handed the ball, only to bowl two no-balls, a wide and a six off the first ball and last ball.

Andrew Tye

Andrew Tye was a surprising entrant, given that he was the 2018 IPL Purple Cap winner. Last year, he ended his season with 24 wickets, including 4 four-wicket hauls. But IPL 2019 was a far different story, he was a shadow of the bowler who fueled Kings XI Punjab title charge last year. In 6 matches, he has snagged only 3 wickets for his team with an economy of 10.59.