Hyderabad: The owners of IPL franchises shell out millions with an aim to build the best team possible and even in IPL 2019 auction, a big amount was again coughed out on certain players with a hope that they would be the game changers of this season. While some players proved out to be value for money and were successful in propelling their team to the top, some players were just big flops in accordance with the pay they received.
Hence, we take a look at the top five most expensive flop shows of IPL 2019.
Ben Stokes
England all-rounder Stokes was the most expensive overseas recruit in the IPL 2018 auctions as he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 12.5 crore and retained by the same franchise for 2019 season. However, the 27-year-old failed to live up to the hype in the recently concluded season of the cash-rich league.
Stokes played 9 matches for RR in IPL 2019, in which he scored 123 runs and picked 6 wickets.
- According to calculations, every run which came off Stokes's bat cost Rs 9.84 lakhs, while every wicket he picked cost Rs 2.08 crores.
Jaydev Unadkat
File image of Jaydev Unadkat Indian pacer Unadkat was another big flop for RR and he failed to justify his high price tag of INR 8.40 crores as he failed miserably. The 27-year-old pacer picked just 10 wickets in the 11 matches he played in IPL 2019 with an economy rate of 10.66.
- If we do the maths then the cost of Unadkat's every wicket is Rs 84 lakhs.
Varun Chakravarthy
File image of Varun Chakravarthy Dubbed as mystery spinner, Varun Chakravarthy was hardly known outside Tamil Nadu. That, however, changed from December 2018 after he went for a whopping Rs 8.4 crores to Kings XI Punjab that saw his bidding price rise 42 times from his base price of 20 lakh.
Chakravarthy was brought by the Punjab franchise after the hype created by his performance in the Tamil Nadu Premier League and local T20 matche. However, the 27-year-old managed to play only one game in IPL 2019 as he was later ruled out due to injury to his spinning hand.
Varun played his debut match against Kolkata Knight Riders and was hit for 25 runs off his first over by Sunil Narine – the most expensive first over in IPL history. Overall, he bowled three overs in the game and gave 35 runs while picking just a wicket.
- Hence, Varun's one wicket cost KXIP Rs 8.4 crores.
Colin Ingram
File image of Colin Ingram Delhi Capitals spent 6.40 crores to get South African middle-order batsman Colin Ingram on board. However, the 33-year-old southpaw failed to live up to his big reputation as he scored only 184 runs in the 12 matches he played in IPL 2019.
- According to calculations, the cost of Ingram's single run is Rs 3.47 lakhs.
Axar Patel
The bowling all-rounder from Gujrat, Axar Patel became one of the costliest Indian players in the IPL Auction 2019 as he was bought for Rs 5 crore by Delhi Capitals.
However, Axar failed to make an impact with either bat or ball this season. The 25-year-old scored only 110 runs in matches he played and picked only 10 wickets this season despite having an advantage of playing home matches at a sluggish pitch at Feroz Shah Kotla which supported spinners.
- Axar's every run was worth Rs 4.54 lakhs, while every wicket he clinched amounted to Rs 50 lakhs.
