IPL 2018: Top expensive buys who haven't proved their worth
The IPL is the most competitive and popular T20 league in the cricket world. The IPL auction marks the beginning of each IPL season and it adds a unique flavour to all the drama. Each auction brings with it a lot of surprises as we see a few players going for a higher sum than others. This heavy price tag brings in a lot of pressure as the players will have to deal with the weight of expectations from the franchise owners and fans, apart from the pressure in their own minds of being a crucial player for their team.
Most of the star players deal with it and dish out performances befitting of the money spent on them. However, a few players do struggle to cope up with the price tag and end up performing well below the standards expected of them.
We take a look at those players who have failed to justify their expensive auction fees:
#6 Chris Woakes
Woakes had an impressive debut campaign in the previous IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders where he picked up 17 wickets in 13 games, and this led to a bidding war at this year's auction. The English all-rounder was ultimately signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹7.4 crore, which translates into 1.1 million US dollars.
Woakes has been average with the ball this year. Though he has picked up 8 wickets, he has leaked runs at an economy rate of 10.36 runs per over. Moreover, most of his wickets have come in the last few balls of his spell when the damage has already been done.
The Englishman has also been unimpressive with the bat. He failed to provide the late flourish required in the game against KKR. Chasing a humongous score and with skipper Kohli batting besides him, Woakes was unable to raise the tempo to the necessary standards to make a fist of the target.
Woakes will have to step up with the ball in the death overs to restrict the flow of runs.