IPL 2022's 'Flop XI' - An Off-Season For The Big 'Stars' Of Cricket World

IPL 2022: The IPL 2022 started on March 26th, 2022 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai and since then more than half of the league stage matches have been played. Where many new stars have impressed the cricketing fraternity with their fresh skills, many renowned and expensive players have gone without marking their presence with their performance. 

Here's the flop XI of IPL 2022 after 37 matches of the 15th season of the Indian Premier League. 

Openers - Ruturaj Gaikwad & Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians' captain Rohit Sharma and Chennai Super Kings' opener Ruturaj Gaikwad are having a terrible season with the bat till now. 5-time IPL winning captain Rohit has scored just 153 runs in 8 innings, averaging a mere 19.13, with a top score of 41. While the orange cap holder of the last season, Ruturaj Gaikwad has averaged just 15.43 this season, scoring 108 runs. Gaikwad's top scorer this season has been 73. Both these openers were retained by their respective franchises ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. 

Middle Order - Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana & Shahrukh Khan

This season has been a nightmare for the former RCB captain Virat Kohli. 'King Kohli' has scored a mere 119 runs in 8 matches, averaging 17 with the best score of 48. Kolkata Knight Riders' Venkatesh Iyer has scored 126 runs in 8 matches and his teammate Nitish Rana has scored 143 runs in 8 matches. Punjab Kings' youngster Shahrukh Khan has scored a mere 98 runs in 7 matches. Kohli and Iyer were retained by their respective franchises ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction, while Nitish Rana and Shahrukh Khan were bought back by their former teams in the auction for 8 crores INR and 9 crores INR respectively. 

All-rounders - Ravindra Jadeja & Kieron Pollard 

Chennai Super Kings' captain Ravindra Jadeja and Mumbai Indians' Kieron Pollard are among the most successful all-rounders in IPL history. However, both of them have failed to leave a mark this season. With the bat, Jadeja has scored mere 96 runs in 7 matches, and only 5 wickets to his name with the ball. While MI's Kieron Pollard has scored 115 runs in 8 matches and 3 wickets to his name with the ball in hand. Both of these players were retained by their respective franchises ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. 

Bowlers - Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy

Also Read: IPL 2022 - Scorecard

RCB's retained bowler Mohammad Siraj has taken only 6 wickets in 8 matches, with a below-par economy of 9.73 in 30 overs he has bowled till now. KKR's mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has taken just 4 wickets in 8 matches, averaging 61.75 with an economy of 8.82. Punjab Kings' Arshdeep Singh has managed only 2 wickets in 8 matches with an economy of 8.40. All three of these players were retained by their franchises ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction.