IPL: 3 great T20 players who flopped for DC
The Delhi Capitals (DC) head into the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a squad that is as solid as it has ever been.
With Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane at the top of the order, followed by Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, they have the perfect blend of youth and experience. Marcus Stoinis, Jason Roy, Shimron Hetmyer and Kagiso Rabada are quality overseas options, and DC also recently announced the signing of Anrich Nortje as a replacement for Chris Woakes.
The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma lend valuable veteran leadership to the bowling attack, and Delhi are real title contenders going into the 2020 IPL.
3 great T20 players who flopped for DC in the IPL
Although this pattern is one that has been seen in the past, quality T20 players like AB de Villiers and Gautam Gambhir have been released due to some bizarre decision-making. Due to the management not giving them chances or simply due to poor form, these 3 great T20 players flopped for DC.
#3 Colin Munro
In January 2018, Colin Munro became the first player to score three centuries in T20I cricket. The aggressive left-hander was then expected to play a crucial role for his IPL franchise DC at the top of the order, but managed only 147 runs in the 9 games that he played across the 2018 and 2019 seasons, at an average of 16.33 and a strike rate of 132.43.
Munro's shots were often reckless, and he was guilty of throwing his wicket away far too easily in the powerplay, thereby putting a lot of pressure on his teammates very early on in the innings. The Kiwi has proven himself to be handy with the ball, but didn't bowl a single ball for DC.
Things went from bad to worse for Munro in the 2020 IPL auction, in which he went unsold at his base price of 1 crore INR.
#2 Carlos Brathwaite
Apart from his heroics against England in the final of the 2016 T20 World Cup and his nearly-match-winning century against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup, Carlos Brathwaite has not done much to convince fans that he is an all-rounder of the same mould as Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell.
Brathwaite's IPL career has been horrible to say the least, with only 181 runs spread across 3 franchises. His worst spell arguably came for DC in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the IPL. In 10 games for the side, he scored 95 runs at an average of 11.88. The 32-year-old did pick up 8 wickets at an economy rate of 8.78, but did nothing to persuade his franchise to keep him.
Brathwaite reached a new low in the 2020 IPL auction, going unsold. He did speak of his desire to participate in the tournament as a replacement player, and if he performs well in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL), an IPL team could give him the chance to resuscitate his career.
#1 Andre Russell
Andre Russell has won the MVP award twice in the IPL and is one of KKR's greatest players of all time. But a little-known fact about the West Indian is that he was part of DC's setup in the 2012 and 2013 editions of the IPL.
Russell played 7 games for side, and scored only 58 runs at an average of 14.5. With the ball in hand, he picked up only 1 wicket and gave away runs at an economy rate of 9.96. The all-rounder's bowling average of 229 and bowling strike rate of 138 lend some weight to DC's decision to release him, but had they kept faith in him, they might well have won an IPL title by now.
Russell had already made his debut for West Indies in all three formats by the time the 2012 IPL rolled around, and really should've been persisted with by the management despite his uninspiring initial performances. Speculation aside, the 32-year-old is arguably DC's biggest flop in IPL history.
Also Read: 3 players who have won the MVP award twice in the IPL