Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
5 Unexpected Indian Underperformers in IPL 2020 | Which Indian players didn’t play to their potential in IPL 2020?
The thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League has provided us with so many points to talk about. One of those major points is the dismal returns from certain highly-rated Indian players. Their performances were much better in the previous seasons, but they have failed to live up to the expectations in IPL 2020. In this article, I am going to mention five of those names and show how their performances in this season differ contrastingly from those in previous seasons. Here we go.
5. Riyan Parag (RR)

Riyan Parag came to the limelight by playing some really delightful knocks in IPL 2019. So, we all had expected a breakout season from him in 2020, hadn’t we?
But, to be very honest, Parag was unimpressive throughout the tournament apart from one good knock of 42* against SRH at Dubai. His numbers also vary significantly from those he had in the last season. He scored 160 runs from five innings with a decent average of 32 and SR of almost 127 in 2019. His respective runs, average and SR are 86, 12.29 and 111.69 in 2020 despite being given the chance to bat before the 15th over four times (apart from the game vs SRH in Dubai) out of the eight times he batted. He was supposed to carry the finishing job for RR this year, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.
4. Deepak Chahar (CSK)

Deepak Chahar has been the major weapon for MSD in the powerplay phase for quite a while now. Being a genuine wicket taker in the PP, he has played a vital role in the success of CSK in past, especially in 2019.
But was he that impactful in the PP phase in 2020? The answer is ‘No’. I have drawn a table below showing how his bowling avg and SR in the PP have differed in 2020 from those in 2019.

The difference in his wicket taking ability is clearly visible as he has conceded almost 40 runs and bowled almost 32 balls to pick a wicket in the PP in 2020. Also, his overall avg, SR and economy rate all are on a higher side this season as compared to 2018 and 2019. So, I feel Deepak performed much less than his best in this season for sure.
3. Navdeep Saini (RCB)

Navdeep Saini had a decent IPL in 2019. He has the pace, hits the deck hard and gets some contrast swing too. So, it was quite obvious to expect a good season from him and establish himself as the premier fast bowler of RCB.
But, I must say it was a poor season from Saini considering the potential he has. He was impressive in patches, but overall his wickets column looks deserted. He took just six wickets from 13 games this season contrary to 11 wickets from the same number of games in 2019. His bowling avg and SR are thus 63.17 and 45.67 respectively, which is very unimpressive. So, he definitely didn’t live up to the expectations in IPL 2020.
4. Rishabh Pant (DC)

Rishabh Pant was speculated to carry the finishing job on his shoulders for the Delhi Capitals. Due to the image he had created before this season by his swashbuckling batting, it was hugely expected from him to score tons of runs in IPL 2020 with a terrific SR. But, he was not able to replicate his success this time. Although he managed to have a decent avg of over 31 (thanks to the knock in the final), his SR of just around 114 was nothing but poor as per his standards. I have compared his ‘balls per boundary’ ratio (BPB) in the year 2020 to that in 2019 in the table below.

From the table, it is clear that he has played almost the same number of deliveries in both the seasons; in fact one delivery more in 2020, scoring 145 runs less than 2019 having a significantly higher BPB. Therefore, he is in my list of unexpected Indian underperformers of this season.
1. Shreyas Gopal (RR)
Touted as the second-best leg-spinner in T20 cricket in India for a long time now, Shreyas Gopal was certainly expected to wreck havoc on the UAE tracks, as they have something for the spinners. But his performances were nothing short of abysmal this year. I have compared his average, SR and economy rate in 2020 to those in 2018 and 2019.

The differences in the mentioned parameters are clearly indicated in the table. Thus, Gopal was really ordinary in IPL 2020 unlike the other Indian leg spinners viz. Yuzi Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin.
This is my list of five Indian cricketers who didn’t stand up to the expectations this season. Do you agree? Share your thoughts!
Written by Debashish Sarangi. Follow Debashish on Twitter today.