Indian Premier League (IPL) is a platform that provides an opportunity to talent. There have been many IPL stars who have later gone on to have a successful international career. The likes of David Warner, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Steve Smith were all discovered in the IPL. But on the other hand, there have been few international legends who flopped badly in the IPL. We at StumpsandBails will be looking at 5 such legends who failed in the IPL.
#5 Ricky Ponting
One of the most successful captains in world cricket and arguably one of the best batsmen in the game, Ricky Ponting is a legend in every right. But he wasn’t even half the player in the IPL as he was a flop show right since the first season in 2008. He was acquired by KKR in 2008 and Mumbai Indians in 2013 but Ponting couldn’t contribute significantly as batsmen for both the franchisees. For a player of his calibre to have such returns was an embarrassment, to say the least.
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#4 Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke was a two time World Cup winner. He has a triple century to his name. But all that couldn’t help Clarke succeed in the IPL. He was initially reluctant to play in the IPL and later the IPL teams were against the idea of picking him up for their team. Clarke was finally picked by the Pune Warriors franchise in IPL 2012. But all that Clarke managed was to feature in 6 games where he scored a total of 98 runs at an average of 16.3 It was tough to see a veteran struggle like this in the IPL.
#3 Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh was one of the prime reasons why the IPL came into existence. His 6 sixes in an over feat was one of the highlights of the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. Singh singlehandedly demolished Australia in the semi-finals of the World Cup. But for some strange reason, Yuvraj Singh could never replicate his form in the IPL. He was appointed the KXIP captain but he always flattered to deceive.
Royal Challengers Bangalore spent a whopping INR 14 crores in 2014 while the Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) acquired him for INR 16 crores in 2015. But both these investments proved to be futile as Yuvraj Singh failed to deliver. He finally retired after having a disappointing season with Mumbai Indians in 2019.
#2 Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly was an inspirational captain who made the Indian team believe that they could win anywhere in the world. But sadly Ganguly couldn’t replicate the same kind of success when it came to the IPL. He led franchisees like Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors but with little or no success. He cut a sorry figure in the IPL when players with limited experience took over the captaincy reigns from him.
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#1 Andrew Flintoff
The big built Andrew Flintoff was purchased by CSK for a whopping 7.5 crores in IPL auctions in 2009. It was widely expected that Flintoff will raise the standards of IPL with his pyrotechnics but nothing of that sort emerged. Flintoff featured in just 3 games for the Super Kings and managed to score just 62 runs at an average of 31 with a strike rate of 117. He didn’t fare any better with the ball as he could just scalp 2 wickets at a poor economy rate of 9.54. The star all-rounder remains the biggest disappointment for CSK and the IPL.
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