The league stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 13 was an attritional one with players struggling to regain form once they hit a rough patch. This has often resulted in teams, seemingly cruising at one stage, stumbling their way across the line.
There are players who got off the flying starts, only to lose their way over the course of the season while there were those who struggled to find form for much of the group stage and by the time they did, it was too late for their team.
Let’s take a look at some players who failed to fire in the league stage this season:
MS DHONI
There was an added anticipation to the start of Dhoni’s campaign in IPL 2020 because he had not played any professional cricket for over a year and had announced his international retirement a month before the start of the tournament.
It ended up being Dhoni’s worst season with the bat for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the worst overall for his team as well. He scored just 200 runs across 12 innings, the lowest run tally he has ever raked up in an IPL season and his highest score was an unbeaten 47.
SHANE WATSON
Watson and Faf du Plessis’ 181-run partnership to lead CSK to a 10-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in early October seemed like a return to form for the three-time champions and their star opener. However, it only turned out to be a false dawn, with Watson managing just three 30-plus scores in six innings after that. He announced his retirement from professional cricket after CSK’s final game.
PRITHVI SHAW
Shaw’s 42 off 23 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on October 5 prompted commentators to hail him as the next superstar of IPL. The performance followed up on scores of 5, 64, 2 and 66. However, the match against RCB was also the last time that he scored more than 20 runs in an innings this season. The scores in his next five innings read 19, 4, 0, 0 and 7.
GLENN MAXWELL
Kings XI Punjab stuck with him throughout the season but Maxwell, the batsman, just failed to turn up. Maxwell’s highest score was a 24-ball 32 this season and that was also the only time he managed a score higher than 20 all season long.
Captain KL Rahul said after the match that Maxwell brings “balance” to the side which is why the team is sticking with him. “Glenn has been batting well in the nets. He is a great team man and we know the balance he brings to the table,” he said.