IPL 2018: 5 most overrated Indian players
We are just weeks away from the start of the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League. Other than the total of 18 players retained by eight franchises, everyone else went under the hammer during the auction on January 27th and 28th.
Though there were 578 players who participated in the auction, only 169 were sold as franchises were very specific about whom they want in their team. Also, they were willing to go the extra mile for certain players, especially domestic talents.
Given the restrictions of only four foreign players in a matchday squad, franchises focused a lot on the Indian players. Some domestic players saw their base price multiplied by 20 or 30 times as a result of a bidding war between franchises.
Many deserve their price tag while some are definitely overrated. Without much ado, let’s take a look at the 5 most overrated Indian players in the IPL 2018.
#5 Manish Pandey, Sunrisers Hyderabad
Manish Pandey headlined the day 1 of IPL auction as Sunrisers Hyderabad paid Rs 11 crores to buy the Indian middle order batsman. As many as five teams fought for his signature but in the end, SRH brought him for a whopping fee.
This will be his 11th IPL tournament and he has played 103 IPL games so far and scored 2215 runs at an average of 28.39 and a strike rate of only 120.11, which includes a hundred and 9 fifties. Also, his international T20 record isn't great either. He is yet to become a regular in the side and his consistency is below-par.
Though he is a good batsman and an excellent hitter, only on a very few occasions he has played match-defining innings. Pandey is more of a leg-side player and teams have often restricted him because of his inability to play all around the wicket.