IPL 2018: Rating the 3 retired international players who played this year
Indian Premier League has given a stage to the retired international players to stay in touch with the game and bring their experience to the team. It has now become a trend that players who retire from international cricket keep on playing in T20 leagues around the globe.
While some of them are signed as potential players, most of the retired players are signed by the T20 franchises more as mentors who brings experience to the team. Three players who have retired from all forms of international cricket were part of the IPL this year.
Here's a look at how they have fared in the season:
Note: AB de Villiers is not included in the list as he took retirement after the league stage of this year's IPL.
#3 Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell Johnson who is Australia's best fast bowler after Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee took retirement from international cricket in 2015. It was surprising to see Johnson's name in the IPL players' auction list this year as his performance has gone downhill in the recent times.
The speedster failed to find a bidder in the first round of the auction but was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the later round for his base price of Rs. 2 crore. Although the Kolkata based franchise relied on Mitchell Starc to lead the pace attack his unfortunate injury meant Johnson had to undertake the responsibilities.
Johnson was ineffective with the ball in the initial games and was thus dropped from the team. He returned again in the match against Delhi Daredevils only to be dropped again after four games.
Overall, he took just 2 wickets at a poor economy of 10.28 in the 6 matches that he played this season. Johnson kept on leaking runs and struggled taking wickets. It looks like his future in the IPL is uncertain and he might remain unsold in the auction next year.
Rating: 2/10