IPL 2018: Top 5 flops from unqualified teams

Indian Premier League is in its final stage as the group stage has come to an end. SunRisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royal have been successful in making it to the playoffs.

On the other hand, teams like Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians, and Royal Challengers Bangalore were unlucky to not enter the playoffs. They climbed the whole mountain but just fell a foot short, losing their last matches of the league.

For Delhi Daredevils, the fortune was decided much before the league matches finished. They proved to be the least competitive side amongst all. Delhi could manage just 5 wins out of their 14 games.

There's a lot to discuss for these teams as to where they fell short. Yes, there will be questions on what could have been the best squad to be picked and who should have been picked in place of whom. But one thing that every franchise will be disappointed with is the failure of its key players.

Here we take a look at 5 flops from teams like RCB, MI, KXIP and DD who couldn't make it to playoffs:

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#5 Yuvraj Singh - Kings XI Punjab

Arguably Team India’s best limited-overs all-rounder in recent years, Yuvraj Singh has time and again risen to the occasion on the biggest of stages. But playing IPL 2018 has been one of those bad nightmares for Yuvraj which he would want to forget soon.

The prolific Indian all-rounder was bagged-in by Kings XI Punjab for 2 crores ahead to this season. But it did not prove to be a right purchase for them.

In the 8 matches that Yuvi played in this season, he managed to score mere 65 runs at an average of 10.83. What was more shocking was his strike-rate of just 89.04. In all the matches that he batted, Yuvraj never looked a player in form. He struggled to time the ball, and at most times failed to dispatch the ball out of the park.

With such a disheartening performance, this could well be Yuvraj's last IPL season.

#4 Glenn Maxwell - Delhi Daredevils

A destructive Aussie batsman, Glenn Maxwell was yet another cricketer to return to the Daredevils fold. The charismatic all-rounder was snapped up by the Delhi Daredevils for whopping 9 crores.

Maxwell missed the first couple of games for DD. The Delhi franchise was depending heavily on him for the success of their middle order. But Maxwell failed to live up to the expectations and failed miserably.

In the 12 games he played, Maxwell was able to score 169 runs at an average of just above 14. The stats of this season does justify his potential. It would be interesting to see if the Delhi franchise trusts the Aussie player, or will they drop him for the next season.

#3 Brendon McCullum - Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Kiwi wicket-keeper batsman’s batting memories go a long way in the Indian Premier League as he lit up the tournament’s first game, back in 2008 with a knock of 158 runs. One of the most destructive batsmen of this format, McCullum can single-handedly change the course of the game.

This was probably the reason that Royal Challengers Bangalore went on to pick him ahead of the Universal Boss, Chris Gayle. RCB franchise spent 3.60 crores for the former Kiwi skipper.

But it was a disappointing season for Baz, as he got to play only in 6 matches scoring 127 runs only. He failed to give those aggressive starts to RCB from where Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers could have capitalized. RCB will most probably drop him in the next season and look for some other promising opening batsman.

#2 Gautam Gambhir - Delhi Daredevils

Gautam Gambhir returned to the Delhi Daredevils after playing seven seasons with the Kolkata Knight Riders. The left-hand Indian batsman, who led KKR to the title glory in 2012 and 2014, was highly anticipated player for Delhi who could turn their fortunes.

But did not pan out as both Gambhir and the franchise would have liked. Just after 6 games of DD, the Indian batsman stepped down as their skipper due to his bad run in this IPL. This news came as a shock to every Delhi Daredevils fans. The captaincy role was then provided to Shreyas Iyer.

What followed the decision was that Gambhir never featured in rest of the DD's matches. In the six matches that Gambhir played, he managed to score 85 runs, from which he had scored a knock of 55 in his very first game of the season.

#1 Rohit Sharma - Mumbai Indians

One of the most naturally-gifted batsmen in the world, Rohit Sharma has been an integral part of the Mumbai Indians guiding their batting line-up. With his brilliant captaincy, Rohit has led Mumbai to 3 IPL title wins.

Ahead of this IPL, it was quite obvious to see MI retain the Hitman. A lot was resting on Rohit’s shoulders as Mumbai were the defending champions.

It was hard to explain season for Rohit. He played at a position unusual to his style of batting. He consistently played at number 4 position, while in few games he batted much lower than that. Such positions do not suit his game. Rohit should have opened the innings for MI, where he has proved to be very successful. And his success largely defines Mumbai Indians success.

In his 14 matches this season, Rohit could score only 283 runs at an average of just above 23. Mumbai's management should look into this aspect ahead of the next IPL season as Rohit is their most important asset.