IPL 2018 : 5 expensive buys that didn't impress
Experts, who closely follow T20 cricket and more precisely IPL, believe that IPL auctions can really be the most pivotal stage to make a champion side or not. Owners indulge in days of analysis and research before selecting their potential buys – for whom they see the price as no barrier, getting them in their side is the only aim.
It is at this juncture of IPL that a price war is fought between owners and every player is available (apart from a maximum of 3 that can be retained). This year’s IPL auction witnessed some big buys all owing to the previous year performances of these player’s that made owners want them on their side for they saw them as potential match winners.
The highest bid went to the English all-rounder in Ben Stokes, who backed with his solid performance as an all-rounder for Rising Pune Supergiants became a hot favorite for all franchises to have in their starting XI, he played for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2018.
The highest bid for an Indian player went to Jaydev Unadkat, the left-arm fast medium bowler who interestingly also played for Rising Pune Supergiant last year, bought by Rajasthan Royals this year. It was his bowling particularly in the latter part of the innings which impressed one and all and was pivotal to RPS' journey to the finals of the 2017 edition.
This article circles around the big buys from this year's IPL auction and whether they could give apt ROI (Return on Investment) to their owners. It's simply not easy to justify your performance based on your prize of buying but seeing it strictly in terms of one's individual performance, we try and analyze each individual player, their role in the side and their overall stats for this year's IPL.
It is also to be duly noted that majority of the big buys from owners came in form of foreign players that are often the key to the welfare of an IPL team - since it's their international experience that makes a team strong to its core. Thus, the expectation from foreign players increases from owners after having paid big bucks to get them into their side.
In this list, we name 5 expensive IPL auction buys from 2018, who had a rather ordinary IPL and probably weren’t the match winners that we expected them to be.
Ben Stokes
The English all-rounder came into this IPL with plenty of news circling around him. It hasn’t been an ideal last one year for Stokes since he has had to deal with troubles of being axed from England team for their New Zealand tour earlier this year due to indulging in a nightclub brawl in England. His prospects of returning to international cricket seemed rather dull but he has since fought back and prior to his England return, he played the IPL 2018.
Stokes, however, did not manage to impress as per the talent we all know him to possess. He was given a lengthy run in the XI by Warne, not even contemplating dropping him from the side –since a player like Stokes can change a match single-handedly but Stokes didn’t really gift back with the rewards.
At a price tag of Rs. 12.5 crores to his name, Stokes could only deliver 196 runs and 8 wickets in the 13 matches that he played.