IPL flashback: Top 10 Talking Points from the 2018 season

#4 The disappointments of the season

Yuvraj Singh flattered to deceive

Glenn Maxwell

Much was expected from Glenn Maxwell to spearhead Delhi's 2018 IPL campaign, but the Aussie swashbuckling batsman failed to get going on the low and slow surfaces.

In 12 games, Maxwell managed a meager 169 runs at an average of 14.08 with his highest score being 47.

D'Arcy Short

D'Archy Short had his stocks at an all-time high on the back of a swashbuckling BBL season prior to the 2018 IPL Auctions.

Short was snarred by the Rajasthan Royals for a whopping INR 4 Crores but struggled to make an impression with the bat as spinners proved to be his nemesis, and was eventually dropped mid-way through the season.

In 7 IPL games in 2018, Short could only manage 115 runs at an average of 16.42 and an underwhelming strike-rate of 116.16.

Jaydev Unadkat

To be the highest-bid cricketer of the season can have its own perils and Jaydev Unadkat's struggles accentuated it to the core. Unadkat started a bidding war at the 2018 IPL Auctions and was eventually racked up for a whopping sum of Rs 12.5 Crore by the Rajasthan Royals.

But, the season went downhill for Unadkat with every performance of his measured against the scale of his paycheck. Compared to his exploits in the 2017 season, where Unadkat claimed 24 wickets at an average of 13.41, every wicket that the left-hander claimed in 2018 came at a cost of 44.18.

Yuvraj Singh

One of the major reasons for Kings XI Punjab's meltdown in the second half of the 2018 IPL was their over-dependence on the top-order - especially KL Rahul. Punjab's middle-order which boasted of the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, and Yuvraj Singh failed to consistently deliver for their side.

The biggest disappointment was Yuvraj Singh. In 2018, we saw a pale shadow of Yuvraj Singh's glorious past, as the left-hander struggled with his timing, and was eventually dropped from the side.

In eight games, that Yuvraj featured in the 2018 edition, he managed just 65 runs at an average of 10.83 and a strike-rate of 89.04.

Manish Pandey

Like Jaydev Unadkat, Manish Pandey, too, was not able to justify his price-tag with his performances. Pandey was racked up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping deal of Rs 11 Crore but the Indian middle-order batsman struggled to get going for the entirety of the season, failing to close out games for his side.

In 15 IPL games, Pandey scored just 284 runs at an average of 25.81 and a hugely disappointing strike-rate of 115.41.