We have completed two weeks of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. After the first two weeks, Rajasthan Royals (RR) are leading the points table with three wins from four matches. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have also won three of their four games, but are second on the points table based on the run rate.
Defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) are third, also with three wins from four games. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all have four points from four games. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) were on two points after week 2, while Delhi Capitals (DC) hadn’t opened their account. Here is the flop XI of week 2 from IPL 2023.
Openers: Prithvi Shaw, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
Prithvi Shaw is having a horror run in IPL 2023. He was caught behind for a duck by Trent Boult against RR. In the game against MI, he was dismissed for 15 off 10 balls, sweeping Hrithik Shokeen to a backward square leg. DC have suffered due to his failures.
PBKS opener Prabhsimran Singh registered ducks in both matches of week two. He was trapped lbw by Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s first ball in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Prabhsimran failed to score against Gujarat Titans as well, getting a leading edge while attempting a flick off Mohammed Shami.
Middle-order: Sanju Samson (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Rovman Powell
RR skipper Sanju Samson will lead the flop XI as he too, registered two ducks in both matches of the week. Against DC, he looked to take on Kuldeep Yadav but was caught near the boundary. In the match against Chennai, he was cleaned up by a brute from Ravindra Jadeja, beaten all ends up.
Suryakumar Yadav registered two more failures for MI in week two of the competition. He was out for 1 against CSK, gloving a sweep off Mitchell Santner. Against Delhi, SKY lasted just one ball. He helped a delivery from Mukesh Kumar down the leg on its way only to find the fielder at fine leg.
Rovman Powell’s horror run with the bat for Delhi continued. He claimed the wicket of Riyan Parag against RR but was out for 2, miscuing a big hit off R. Ashwin. Against MI, he lasted for four balls, scoring four runs. He was trapped lbw by a Piyush Chawla googly.
All-rounders: Krunal Pandya, Shardul Thakur
LSG all-rounder Krunal Pandya featured in the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He went for 35 in four overs without claiming a wicket. Pandya fell for a duck with the bat, caught behind off Wayne Parnell.
Shardul Thakur was out for a duck against Gujarat Titans. With the ball, he was clubbed for 40 in three overs without claiming a wicket. Against SRH, he bowled five balls for 14 and was out for 12 off 7, miscuing a big hit.
Bowlers: Adam Zampa, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, T Natarajan
Aussie leggie Adam Zampa had a forgettable match for RR against CSK. He managed to get the wicket of Moeen Ali but went for 43 runs in four overs. KKR fast bowler Lockie Ferguson had two very poor games. He went for 40 in four overs against Gujarat Titans and 37 in two overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad as Harry Brook went berserk. In both matches, he failed to claim a wicket.
GT left-arm pacer Yash Dayal had a horror game against KKR as Rinku Singh slammed him for five sixes in an over. He finished with figures of 0/69 and was dropped for GT’s next game. SRH left-arm pacer T Natarajan looked out of sorts in week 2 of IPL 2023. He registered figures of 0/40 against Punjab and 1/54 against KKR.