The first half of IPL 2024 is officially in the history books. The competition started on March 22 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with a clash between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and three-time finalists Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Although the first half of the tournament is over, not a single team has qualified for the playoffs yet. In fact, none of the teams have been eliminated officially as well. However, some players have had a forgettable season, and here’s a look at the flop XI.
Openers of Flop XI in IPL 2024 so far – Devdutt Padikkal and Mitchell Marsh
Devdutt Padikkal moved from RR to LSG before the auction. So far, he has played six innings for LSG, scoring 38 runs at an average of 6.33 and a strike rate of almost 70. Meanwhile, Mitchell Marsh pulled out of IPL after scoring 61 runs at an average of 15.25 for DC.
Middle Order – Ricky Bhui, Glenn Maxwell, Hardik Pandya (c), Sameer Rizvi and Saurav Chauhan (wk)
The middle-order features two players RCB. Uncapped batter Saurav Chauhan was dropped after he got out for a golden duck against SRH, while Maxwell played so bad with the bat that he himself asked the management to be dropped.
Sameer Rizvi performed well in debut against Gujarat Titans but hasn’t done anything noteworthy for CSK after that. Hardik Pandya’s campaign has been his worst one as a captain and as an all-rounder as well. Uncapped DC batter Ricky Bhui managed just 3 runs in two matches.
Bowlers of Flop XI – Mitchell Starc, Mayank Markande, Alzarri Joseph and Shardul Thakur
Mitchell Starc was bought for a whopping 24.75 crore price at the auction, but he has leaked runs at an economy rate of more than 11, just like RCB’s Alzarri Joseph, who bagged a deal worth almost 12 crore. Leg-spinner Mayank Markande has failed to live up to the expectations, leaking runs at a hammering rate of more than 11 as well.
The last name of the team is also from CSK. Experienced fast bowler Shardul Thakur has gone for 10.40 runs per over while returning wicketless in three matches.
