IPL 2020: 'The 10-crore cheerleader proved costly for KXIP' - Virender Sehwag picks 5 big names who turned out to be flops
Former Indian captain Virender Sehwag recently picked five star players who could not live up to their billing in IPL 2020. He carried out this exercise in a video shared on his Facebook page, and pointed out that the players are not in any particular order.
Sehwag's first pick of a big-ticket player to have underperformed in IPL 2020 was Aaron Finch. He observed that the Royal Challengers Bangalore's ill-fate in the tournament might have struck the Aussie as well.
"Aaron Finch, I gave him my name as a nickname, thinking he would be Viru to Thakur Kohli. Instead, it looks like the Bangalore curse affected him badly and the engine of his batting stalled this season."
The former Indian opener named Andre Russell as the second player who did not live up to his reputation in IPL 2020. He pointed out that the Jamaican could not flex his muscles in this edition of the league, which led to the Kolkata Knight Riders not qualifying for the knockout phase.
"Andre Russell's muscles remained lazy this season and slept after giving us hopes in every innings. Because of that Kolkata didn't make it to the playoffs this season."
Shane Watson was Virender Sehwag's third pick of a prominent player who failed to deliver the goods in IPL 2020, with the Chennai Super Kings opener even announcing his retirement at the end of the tournament.
"Shane Watson, the Chennai fans and we had high hopes from this Diesel Engine but in this season, even after many kickstarts, it didn't start properly and as the season ended he said that the vehicle cannot be pulled any longer and retired it."
Virender Sehwag's two other picks of big-name players who failed to fire in the IPL
Glenn Maxwell was Virender Sehwag's penultimate pick of a player who failed to deliver the goods in IPL 2020. The former KXIP coach highlighted that the Australian refused to take enough responsibilities and was an utter failure this year.
"Glenn Maxwell. This 10 crore cheerleader proved very costly for Punjab. His IPL routine for the last few years has been of shirking from work but this season he broke that record as well. This is what you call a highly paid vacation."
The former Delhi Capitals skipper chose Dale Steyn as the final big-name player who flopped in IPL 2020. Sehwag pointed out that the South African pacer is no longer the potent threat he was before and that he is unlikely to get any takers in the future editions of the league.
"Dale Steyn. There was a time when everyone was afraid of the bullets from the 'Steyn Gun' but this season instead of the 'Steyn Gun' we got a homemade pipe gun. I could not believe my eyes seeing him getting hit but one thing became clear that we are unlikely to find a buyer for him now in the IPL market."
Glenn Maxwell was one of the biggest let-downs in IPL 2020. A lot was expected from him, since he was on the back of some excellent performances during Australia's tour of England before the IPL.
Maxwell could only score 108 runs in the 13 matches he played for the Kings XI Punjab, that too at a mediocre average of 15.42. To add insult to injury, the big-hitter failed to hit a single maximum in the entire tournament.