The current Indian Premier League (IPL) season so far has been full of surprises for instance two of the league’s most successful franchises Mumbai Indians (MI)and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are at the bottom of the league table and the two new side Gujrat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are on the top (at the time of writing).
The current season has not been the same for individuals as well. Young players who were retained or brought with huge expectations and loads of money in terms of salary have failed to deliver on the promises so far. We’ll take a look at three such players who have underperformed massively in IPL 2022 so far.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad was one of the most instrumental figures in CSK’s title victory last season. The youngster scored 635 runs and high score of 101* in 16 matches in the 2021 edition of the league. He was the orange cap holder and the CSK management decided to retain him ahead of the 2022 edition of the league for INR 6 crore.
The opening batsman who hails from Pune was picked over vetren Faf Du Plesis who was released by the team and eventually brought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The 25-year-old has failed to deliver on the promises as he has just scored 35 runs so far in the five matches he has played. His critics have lablelld him a one season wonder and he has also left CSK scratching their heads as their decision to retain him has gone terribly wrong so far as letting seasoned veteran Suresh Raina has added insult to injury.
Venkatesh Iyer
Just like Gaikwad, Iyer was also a hot prospect before the 2021 IPL season and A look at his domestic record would tell you why the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were keen to pick him ahead of the 2021 season. The Madhya Pradesh all-rounder has made quite a name with his hard-hitting batting and useful bowling. The youngster scored 370 runs and picked up 3 wickets in 10 matches he played and was instrumental in KKR’s late title charge as the side finished as runner-up in the 14th edition of IPL. The performances last season earned him a national team call out.
He was brought for his base price RS 20 Lakhs in 2021 and his price has plummited 40x in just one season. He was retained a whopping RS 8 Crores by KKR during the mega auctions. He has also failed to deliver on the promises as he was only scored 103 runs in 5 matches he has played and has failed to pick any wickets so far with a economy of 8.11 so far.
Varun Chakravarthy
The 30-year-old spinner from Tamil Nadu Varun Chakravarthy was the highest wicket-taker for KKR last season, picking up 18 wickets in 17 matches.
He drew a lot of eye balls as many teams wanted to avail his services. But KKR wanted the spinner to stay as they splashed RS 8 Crore to retain him.
But the mystery spinner who has the ability to bowl as many as seven different variations, has failed to inmpress so far this season. He has played 6 matches in the tournament so far and managed to bag just 4 wickets. In the 24 overs he has bowled so far, he has given away 146 runs, at an economy rate of 8.30.
The weight of delivering on the promises has seemed to take a toll on these players and the price tag has added extra pressure. It will be interesting to see what rest of the season has in store for these players.