Hits and Misses from the eliminated teams

IPL 2018 has reached its business end. The knockout stages have begun with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals making to playoffs.

On the other hand, Delhi Daredevils were eliminated early in the season and became the first team to be eliminated from the IPL 2018. Somehow, Delhi salvaged their pride in the end, winning the last 2 games against Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

Kings XI Punjab, the team which looked to qualify easily by remaining in the top four for the most of the season, just fell apart, losing the last few matches of the league stage.

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, the late-surging teams, couldn't make into playoffs, who fell short in their last matches of the group stage against RR and DD respectively.

Here are the hits and misses from these teams after their early exit from the tournament:

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#5 Miss: Sarfaraz Khan(RCB)

The franchise of the Garden City showed immense faith in this young lad by retaining him before the auction. Retaining Sarfaraz Khan ahead of KL Rahul and Chahal raised eyebrows of many.

In 7 matches, averaging less than 11, he just scored 51 runs. His only cameo came against the Sunrisers in the penultimate game of the group stage, scoring 22 just of

#4 Hit: Rishabh Pant(DD)

A swashbuckling batsman, Rishabh Pant was one of the three players retained by DD ahead of the 2018 auction. In the 2017-18 season, he scored the fastest T20 century by an Indian.

The best efforts from the lad couldn't salvage the DD's campaign as they ended in the last position. His best of 128* against the Sunrisers bowling unit also came in the losing cause.

He bettered the tally of Robin Uthappa, amassing more than 660 runs, most by a wicket-keeper batsman. In 14 matches, he scored 684 runs, averaging more than 52 with an astonishing strike rate of 173.80.

#3 Miss: Rohit Sharma(MI)

One of the most talented and exceptional batsmen in the history of Indian Cricket, Rohit Sharma, had one of the most miserable seasons regarding both batting and captaincy.

In the edition which was hailed as the "Best vs. Best", Rohit Sharma played in different batting positions in the tournament. Playing at No 4 position and even lower than that in certain matches didn't help the cause for the Mumbai Indians. Opening in certain matches proved to hugely successful for him and also the team. His only match-winning innings came against RCB, where he scored 94 runs at Wankhede Stadium.

In 14 matches, that he played in 2018, Rohit could score only 283 runs at an average of just above 23. In fact, this is also his first sub-300 score in the 11 editions.

#2 Miss: Gautam Gambhir(DD)

Gautam Gambhir, the captain who led Kolkatta based franchise for glory twice, in 2012 and 2014, returned to his home franchise( Delhi Daredevils) for just ₹2.8 crores. Much was anticipated from him going to the 11th edition of IPL.

But the things didn't go well for both Gambhir and DD. He failed to prove himself, failing consecutively in 6 matches. Following this, Gambhir stepped down from captaincy, handing the baton to young Shreyas Iyer. After resigning from captaincy, he never featured in further games of the season. In the six matches he played, Gambhir scored mere 85 runs with an average of 17.0.

#1 Hit: KL Rahul(KXIP)

KL Rahul is one of the most promising stars of Indian cricket. He missed the previous edition due to a shoulder injury. He was bought for Rs. 11 crores by KXIP, which made it difficult for RCB to play their RTM card on him.

Just a or 2 months ago, he was branded as a test cricketer and went out of focus from the national team scene. He then made a statement by scoring the fastest T20 half-century in the IPL. He alone dragged the team into the borders of the playoffs qualification. However, heavy reliance on Rahul dented the hopes of KXIP.

These are his numbers in the tournament: 14 matches. 659 runs. Average 54.91. Strike rate 158.41. Six fifties.