5 Indian athletes who performed below expectations in 2017

It has been was a great year for Indian sports in general. Athletes scaled great heights across all sports, ranging from cricket to badminton.

However, there were some athletes who performed a lot below what was expected of them. After performing exceptionally in 2016, these athletes could not live up to the expectations. Here is a look at 5 athletes who performed below their expectations in 2017.

#5 Sakshi Malik

After winning the bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, expectations from Sakshi Malik were sky high. At the Paris Wrestling World Championships, the onus lied on Sakshi Malik to clinch a medal for India.

To everyone's surprise, Malik crashed out in the first round itself, losing to Luisa Niemesch of Germany. The Olympic medallist's only success in 2017 came in the Asian Championships in New Delhi where she ended up winning the silver medal in the 60kg category.

#4 Sardar Singh

Sardar Singh

The former Indian hockey team captain, who has made 191 appearances for the country had a year to forget as he was dropped from the squad for the World Hockey League final, which was held earlier this month. Because of controversies related to his personal life the veteran halfback could not play a role as India won the bronze medal.

Sardar's performance in the Hockey Asia Cup was miserable. Even though India wonthe tournament without losing a game, Sardar's individual performance was lacklustre. The veteran player will be looking to brush away the controversies surrounding him, train harder and perform much better in the coming year.

#3 Anup Kumar

Anup Kumar

Anup Kumar led India to their third Kabaddi World Cup title in 2016, under his leadership, India lost just one game in the group stage and defeated Iran in the final 38-29. He also won the Pro Kabaddi League with U-Mumba. A lot was expected from Anup Kumar in 2017 but he couldn't deliver.

U-Mumba could not even make it past the group stages in 2017. The biggest shock came in November when Kumar was dropped from the list of 35 players who were expected to play in the Asian Championships in Iran earlier this year. A reason for this could be age, Anup is now 34, but he will be looking to prove his critics wrong and come back stronger in 2018.

#2 Dutee Chand

Dutee Chand(Extreme Right)

The 21-year-old sprinter had a lot of hopes on her when she participated in the Asian Athletics Championships that were held earlier this year at Bhubaneswar, India. Chand got a quota entry in the event despite failing in the qualification round finished sixth in heat number five, crashing out of the event in the first round heats itself.

After a disappointing show in the Asian Athletics Championship, she failed to take part in the National Inter-State Championships that were held in Guntur. Failure at the International as well as the National levels for Dutee meant that 2017 was a year to forget. She must train harder for the 2018 season.

#1 Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane

One of India's finest middle order batsmen in 2016, Ajinkya Rahane's performance in 2017 was below par. Rahane scored 653 runs in 15 innings at an average of 54.41, he scored two centuries and two half-centuries, he also scored his highest test score in 2016, 188.

Rahane's performance in 2017 has been very poor comparatively. He scored 554 runs in 18 innings at an average of just 34.62, a worrying sign as India gets ready for a tough away tour to South Africa.

His return to form is key if India have to maintain their number one Test ranking. He has, on an average performed better away from home and will be hoping that the South Africa tour in January is the start of a new purple patch for him.