We track the highs and lows of the 10 big-ticket players including Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc in IPL 2024 as the season nears its halfway mark.
The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is almost at the halfway stage. The season has already witnessed a plethora of stunning performances with new stars shining as bright as some all-time greats. However, there is a certain elite set whose overall impact is yet to leave any significant mark on the tournament. The 10 most expensive players at the IPL 2024 Auction have failed as a collective and with the exception of Pat Cummins, their performance continues to spiral down in the competition.
We track the highs and lows of the 10 big-ticket players in IPL 2024.
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1. Mitchell Starc (24.75 cr – KKR)
Mitchell Starc has been poor and inconsistent with the new ball and failed to live up to his billing of an all-time great in limited-overs’ cricket. He has just three wickets in the powerplay and has also been expensive with an economy rate of 9.8. Starc has gone wicket-less in this phase of play in four of six innings and with the exception of his performance against the Capitals and the Super Giants, has not made any impact in the tournament. Overall, he has just returned with five wickets from six matches at an average of 46.4 and economy of 10.5.
LSG vs CSK Live Score
Starc has also been taken to the cleaners in the death overs where he has been smashed for 64 runs in just 24 deliveries – his economy of 16.25 in the last 4 overs is the third-worst for a bowler (min. 4 overs) after Anrich Nortje and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
2. Pat Cummins (20.5 cr – SRH)
The SRH skipper had an average start to his campaign this season – essentially operating in the middle-overs, Cummins was controlling the flow of runs but not producing those match-defining performances expected of a player of his stature in a world tournament. However, that changed in SRH’s last encounter against the Challengers where Cummins bagged three crucial wickets, two of them at a critical juncture in the same over, to change the course of the match.
Cummins has also been very consistent, bagging at least one wicket in each of his six appearances for SRH this season. His economy impact can be measured from the stark difference between his performance and his team-mates. While Cummins has an economy of 7.87 this season, the other SRH bowlers have conceded at a rate of 10.8!
Cummins has also raised his game in the powerplay where he has an economy of just 5.8 which is second-best only to Jasprit Bumrah in the tournament.
Also Read: Big bucks, not so big performance: From Mitchell Starc to Alzarri Joseph, assessing IPL 2024’s most expensive players
3. Daryl Mitchell (14 cr – CSK)
Daryl Mitchell came in with big expectations after a stellar show with the bat for New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup but has failed miserably this season in the IPL. Purchased at the 2024 auction for a whopping INR 14 crore, Mitchell has an aggregate of just 135 runs in six innings for CSK with a strike rate of 125 and highest score of 34. He has not produced even one substantial performance with the bat. It is interesting that Mitchell has struggled against pace and has been dismissed three times in six innings while scoring at a rate of just 113.4 against them.
4. Harshal Patel (11.75 cr – PBKS)
Harshal Patel is a specialist in the death overs where he produces his repertoire of slower deliveries to fox the batters. However, the former RCB seamer has had a nightmare this season conceding at 15 runs per over in the last four overs also picking just one wicket in five innings. Barring his outing against the Sunrisers in Mullanpur, Harshal has conceded above 10 per over in each of his other five appearances.
5. Alzarri Joseph (11.5 cr – RCB)
Alzarri Joseph’s dismal show in RCB’s first three fixtures has meant that he has not been a part of the XI thereafter. The West Indian seamer has bagged just one solitary wicket while getting hammered at 11.89 per over. Joseph has made no breakthroughs with the new ball and has also been smashed all around at the death.
6. Spencer Johnson (10 cr – GT)
After an impressive showing in the death overs against the Mumbai Indians and some restrictive bowling against the Super Kings, Australian left-arm pace sensation, Spencer Johnson has gone off the radar in the tournament. Johnson has bagged just one more wicket in three matches while also going at above 9 per over.
7. Sameer Rizvi (8.4 cr – CSK)
Rizvi gave a glimpse of his hard-hitting prowess smashing two towering sixes in his six-ball 14 against the Titans but was out for a golden duck in the loss against the Capitals. He has since not batted for CSK this season.
8. Rilee Rossouw (8 cr – PBKS)
The Punjab Kings bought South African batter, Rilee Rossouw, for INR 8 crore, and gave him his first opportunity only this week, during the side’s match against Mumbai Indians. This, despite the fact that the PBKS batters have been sluggish in the powerplay and need someone to provide the impetus in the middle-order. He was dismissed for just 1 in his debut outing for the PBKS.
9. Rovman Powell (7.4 cr – RR)
Rovman Powell made a late entry this season but immediately had a massive impact smashing 26 off 13 deliveries helping the Royals to create history as they gunned down KKR’s 224 equalling the record for the highest chase in IPL history!
10. Shahrukh Khan (7.4 cr – GT)
Shahrukh Khan hit a couple of lusty blows in the 197-run chase against the Royals but could not convert it into an impactful performance. He was dismissed for a golden duck in the 89 all-out humiliation for the Titans against the Capitals.
IPL 2024
