Six teams were eliminated in the league stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Delhi Capitals (DC) were the first to be knocked out, paying the price for beginning the tournament with five consecutive losses. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had another disastrous year, finishing last with eight points from 14 games. Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had a mathematical chance of qualifying till the last few games but finished on 12 points each. Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were the last two sides to be eliminated, failing to cross 14 points. Here is the flop team of IPL 2023, week seven.
Openers: Jos Buttler (c &wk), Shikhar Dhawan
Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler will be the skipper of the flop XI of the week. Buttler signed off the tournament with two consecutive ducks – third in a row and a record fifth of the season. He perished to Wayne Parnell against RCB and was trapped lbw by Kagiso Rabada against PBKS.
PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan had a forgettable end to the tournament after a memorable start. In three of last week’s matches for Punjab Kings, he registered scores of 7, 0 (both against Delhi) and 17 against RR. He looked completely out of sorts on each occasion.
Middle-order and all-rounders: Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Mahipal Lomror, Axar Patel
KKR’s Venkatesh Iyer also finished his IPL 2023 campaign poorly. He scored 9 off 4 against Chennai Super Kings and was out for 24 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). KKR suffered due to Iyer’s poor form.
SRH’s Rahul Tripathi kicked off a poor tournament on a disappointing note. The right-handed batter registered a hat-trick of failures in week seven. After scoring 20 against LSG, he followed it up with 1 against Gujarat and 15 versus RCB.
Tripathi’s SRH skipper Aiden Markram also finds a place in the XI again. Markram could not make a significant contribution. He scored 10 against Gujarat, 18 against RCB and 13* against Mumbai. Hyderabad needed much more significant contributions from him.
RCB’s Mahipal Lomror also finds a place for his flop show. He miscued a big hit against Adam Zampa in the game versus RR and was out for 1. Noor Ahmad stumped him against GT as he again fell for 1.
DC all-rounder Axar Patel is a surprise entry to the list. After an excellent IPL 2023, he could not finish the tournament on a high note. He was out for 1 against Punjab and registered figures of 1/27 against Punjab. In DC’s next game against Punjab, he went for 1/27 in three overs. Axar signed off with 15 and 0/32 from three overs against CSK.
Bowlers: Wayne Parnell, Khaleel Ahmed, Umran Malik, Sandeep Sharma
RCB’s left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell was Player of the Match for his figures of 3/10 versus RCB. However, he could not stand up when it mattered the most. He went for 0/35 against SRH and followed it up with 0/42 from 3.1 overs as RCB went down to GT.
DC’s left-armer Khaleel Ahmed also failed to make an impact in week seven. In his last three games, he registered 0/36, 1/20 and 1/45 figures. He was constantly expensive in the last few games.
In the team’s last match, SRH finally gave fast bowler Umran Malik a chance in IPL 2023. He looked completely out of sorts in the match against Mumbai Indians (MI). He was clobbered for 41 runs in his three overs without claiming a wicket.
RR pacer Sandeep Sharma failed to make an impact in the last week of IPL 2023. He went for 1/34 against RCB and signed off with 0/46 against Punjab Kings. Rajasthan suffered due to Sharma’s lack of form at the end.