IPL 2018: Overseas batsmen who failed to leave a mark this season
Over the years, the IPL has been blessed with premier overseas stars. Without the overseas players, the tournament would have never been the competition it turned out to be.
In the eleventh edition of IPL, overseas players played a huge role in the campaign of both finalists. Players like Shane Watson and Dwayne Bravo performed brilliantly for CSK, while Rashid Khan and Kane Williamson were the key players for SRH.
Form and consistency are the most important factors for players to keep their place in the playing eleven.
Some foreigners dominated this year's IPL, while some found it difficult to perform on Indian pitches. It is a big blow for any franchise when their star overseas players fail to perform at crucial stages.
Here is a list of such overseas players who failed to impress in the eleventh edition of IPL.
#1 Aaron Finch (Kings XI Punjab)
After missing the first match due to his wedding, Aaron Finch featured in the second match for KXIP. Following the conclusion of IPL 2018 auctions, the worry for Punjab seemed to be its inconsistently erratic batting.
With inexperienced batsmen in the order, Finch was relied upon to turn out to be a pillar in Punjab's batting order. The Australian, who is in the top 5 ICC T20 batsmen rankings, failed miserably in this season.
In the 10 matches he played, Finch managed to score only 134 runs at an average of just above 16. His poor form was a big blow for KXIP, who failed to find a place in playoffs.
#2 D'Arcy Short (Rajasthan Royals)
D'Arcy Short came into the spotlight when he scored 572 runs in just 11 matches in BBL 2017-18 season. He scored the runs at top of the order with a strike-rate of 148.57 and an average of 57.20.
The Australian was picked by Rajasthan Royals in the auction for Rs. 4 crores. With Steven Smith not a part of this year's IPL, the platform was set for Short to make it count.
Unfortunately, the left-hander failed to live up to the expectations of his franchise. In 7 matches, Short only managed to score 115 runs at an average of 16.42. His strike rate of 116.16 at the top of the order was also a thing to worry.
Jos Buttler, who replace Short at top of the order, proved to be the key player for Rajasthan Royals, who qualified in the playoff positions.