IPL 2018 : 5 Players who need to prove their worth to their Franchise
Over the past 10 years, IPL has been home to some of the best batting, bowling, as well as fielding performances by the greatest players of this generation. Certain players, like Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga performed so well throughout the decade that, not only did they manage to top the statistics charts every year and prove their worth to their franchise, their teams were always ready to spend hefty amounts of money just to retain their services for the next seasons as well.
On the other hand, there has been a certain group of players, who were bought at a very high auction price due to the hype and buzz around them but failed miserably when their team needed them the most. Yuvraj Singh, for example, was bought by Delhi and Bangalore for 14 crores and 16 crores respectively but was released after just one season due to his inability to prove his worth.
This time out as well, there are a certain number of players whose franchises have spent a lot of money on them and who need to perform consistently well to prove their worth. Here are the five players who must perform consistently well to secure their place in the team for the next season as well.
#5 Axar Patel (Kings XI Punjab)
A lot of eyebrows were raised when Kings XI Punjab decided to retain only Axar Patel from their 2017 squad. After all, KXIP had many better options in Hashim Amla, their highest run scorer in 2017, David Miller and Skipper Glenn Maxwell.
Even though Patel performed very well in the previous season, few people expected KXIP to retain him, considering that it would have cost them a whopping 12.5 crores from their wallets.
With a squad that is probably their strongest since 2014, featuring the likes of KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh and R. Ashwin, Kings XI Punjab have a very strong chance of making it to the playoffs this season.
Despite that, a lot of responsibilities will be there on the shoulders of Patel. He was trusted by the franchise, who spent a full 5.5 crores more than his salary to retain him. He will have to prove his worth for his team by performing at his best and taking his team to their first playoff in 4 years.