Flop XI of IPL 2023

The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) culminated on Monday, May 29, after two months of riveting cricketing action. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captured the trophy by beating Gujarat Titans (GT) in a thrilling last-ball finish at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Ravindra Jadeja was the hero for CSK with a match-winning cameo (19* off 8) in the summit clash.

The 2023 season witnessed some astounding knocks by the batters and many match-winning spells by the bowlers. There were also several youngsters from the 10 franchises who stepped up and made a name for themselves.

However, some proven performers failed to live up to their billing. On that note, let us take a look at the players who "flopped" in the Indian Premier League 2023 season.

Openers: Prithvi Shaw and Harry Brook

Prithvi Shaw couldn't impress much [IPLT20]

Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting, ahead of IPL 2023, claimed that Prithvi Shaw might have his best-ever IPL season. Unfortunately for him, the prediction turned out to be completely wrong as Shaw endured the worst season of his six-year-old IPL career.

At the start of the tournament Shaw was given six straight games, but he failed to go past the 15-run mark. He was dropped following his horrendous start.

In DC's last two games, Shaw was once again given an opportunity. He did well in one of those matches, notching up his only fifty of the tournament.

Overall, the 23-year-old could only make 106 runs at a poor average of 13.2 across eight outings.

Opening the batting alongside Prithvi Shaw in the 'Flop XI' is Harry Brook. One of the costliest buys (₹13.25 cr) of the season, Brook entered the tournament with a huge reputation.

Barring one special performance, however, Brook failed to live up to his talent and looked out of sorts.

After his first three outings, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter registered a phenomenal ton against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens. But it all went downhill for him from there; the Yorkshire lad could only muster 61 runs in his seven innings.

Overall, Brook's maiden IPL season ended with some poor numbers - 190 runs at an average of 21.1 across 11 innings.

Middle-order: Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik (WK)

Rahul Tripathi made only one fifty this season [IPLT20]

After a career-best IPL campaign last year (413 runs at a strike rate of 158.6), Rahul Tripathi seemed destined to be a part the Indian T20I setup. He even made his international debut just before IPL 2023, and another bumper IPL campaign would've done wonders for him.

However, things didn't go as planned for Tripathi. The No. 3 batter, who played 13 of SRH's 14 games in the season, scored just 273 runs at an average of 22.7 (his worst ever in IPL) and a mediocre strike rate of 128.1.

At No. 4 is Lucknow Super Giants' Deepak Hooda. He is another Indian talent who was expected to make the most of his chances but will now have his work cut out to make a comeback to the national side.

IPL 2023 proved to be a horrid campaign for Hooda, who couldn't go past the 17-run mark in the 12 matches he played for LSG. He is up there with some of the worst batters of the season, scoring only 84 runs at a dismal average of 7.6 and a strike rate below 94.

Handling the wicketkeeping duties in this side is IPL veteran Dinesh Karthik.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) player was a class apart in IPL 2022, which also helped him make a resounding comeback in the blue of India. However, the 2023 season was the worst-ever IPL campaign in Karthik's 16-year-old IPL career.

Across 13 innings, the 37-year-old only made 140 runs at an disastrous average of under 12. Apart from his batting, Karthik also made some crucial errors behind the stumps, which let RCB down in some high-octane games.

All-rounders: Riyan Parag, Shahbaz Ahmed, Jason Holder

Jason Holder taking a catch for RR [IPLT20]

Rajasthan Royals (RR) were favourites to, at least, qualify for the knockouts. But they eventually underperformed and finished fifth on the table.

Two of their players - Riyan Parag and Jason Holder - contributed almost nothing for them, which let the team down massively.

Parag, who has been backed by the RR franchise for five years now, failed to impress yet again in the 2023 season. The Assam-born player batted in seven innings in the tournament and scored only 78 runs, and that too at a gloomy average and strike rate of 13.00 and 118.18 respectively.

Rajasthan's marquee signing at the IPL 2023 mini-auction, Jason Holder, turned out to be one of the flops of the season as well. The Caribbean pacer failed to impress, taking only four wickets at a below-par bowling average of 71 and an economy rate of 9.96. With the bat, he scored only 12 runs across three innings.

Another all-rounder to feature in this list is RCB's Shahbaz Ahmed.

Similar to Karthik, Shahbaz was also a key member for Bangalore in 2022. But he was hopelessly out of form in the 2023 season.

It is not that RCB didn't give Shahbaz enough opportunities. In the 10 matches he played, the left-armer could only manage 42 runs and take just a solitary wicket.

After such performances, RCB had to move on from Shahbaz at the business end of the campaign.

Bowlers: Chris Jordan, Umran Malik, Umesh Yadav

Chris Jordan massively underperformed for MI [IPLT20].

The bowling attack of this XI features three pacers in Chris Jordan, Umesh Yadav and Umran Malik.

Chris Jordan remained unsold at the IPL 2023 mini-auction, but Mumbai roped him in as a replacement for Jofra Archer in the middle of the season.

The England international massively underperformed, however, taking only three wickets at an average of 79.0. Jordan leaked over 40 runs in four of the six innings he bowled in the tournament, with his economy of 10.77 being the second worst in IPL 2023 (among bowlers who bowled 20+ overs).

Next up is KKR's Umesh Yadav, another IPL stalwart who was far from his best. It was the worst Umesh has ever bowled in a season, as he took only one scalp in the eight matches he played for KKR.

Umesh's average of 189 sums up how ineffective he was in the tournament. It would be interesting to see if KKR retain him for IPL 2024.

Another SRH player on the list, Umran Malik, completes our flop XI of the season. From being Hyderabad's best bowler in 2022, the young speedster was moved to the bench for the majority of the season.

Although some pundits argue that the SRH management could've treated Umran better, his numbers suggest that the Jammu and Kashmir pacer lacked venom. Across eight innings, the right-armer picked up five wickets at a poor average and economy rate of 43.3 and 10.8 respectively.