IPL 2018: Biggest flop from each team
The biggest T20 league in the world started off in a grand fashion. The first few weeks witnessed some high scoring encounters, and we also saw the return of ‘The Universal Boss’, Chris Gayle when he scored a century.
Additionally, the return of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royal were the key highlights of the season. It cannot be denied that this year, in particular, has seen some spectacular performances with the bat and ball.
While they were a few standout performers this year, there have also those select few who let down their team. This year's IPL concluded with Chennai Super Kings lifting the trophy, it’s time we take a look at the biggest flops of this year’s IPL.
#8 Sarfaraz Khan (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
The world was shocked when Virat Kohl and RCB decided to retain Sarfaraz Khan over the likes of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul. Perhaps they saw something in him that no one else could.
Last year he missed the IPL due to injury, but Kohli asked him to work on his fitness prior to the IPL.
However, when he returned, it appeared as though he hasn’t worked hard enough. This year, he has been totally forgettable with the bat. He played only seven matches and scored 51 runs with a strike-rate of 124.39. In fact, his highest score this year is 22*.
One could speculate that this will probably be his last year playing for RCB. It’s quite clear he crumbled under pressure after given more responsibility. More was expected of him from his captain and he just could not live up to the hype.
People who doubted Kohli’s decision to retain Sarfaraz were proven right. This is a decision that caused RCB to fall short of qualifying in the playoffs. One can only speculate what would have happened had RCB decided to retain KL Rahul and Chris Gayle.