The biggest hits and flops in IPL history

By Jaideep Varma and Jatin Thakkar

To use the obscene parameters by which modern-day life is judged, we look at the 5 years of IPL so far and see who justified the money they got with their performances. 
By combining the impact a player made that IPL year with the public pay packet he got, we determine who delivered the most value, and the least. Sometimes, the sheer magnitude of the pay packet makes certain performances, which would be deemed adequate otherwise, seem like not such a good value, so to prevent such performances/names from getting into the list (like Andrew Flintoff in 2009, who had a more-than-reasonable IMPACT of 2.29 in 3 matches which still did not justify a pay-packet of $1,550,000), we limit the flops to players who did not even register an IMPACT of 1 per match. 

NOTE: All IMPACT numbers on a scale of 0 to 5. 

IPL 2008 -

Biggest hit – Shane Watson 
(Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2008 IMPACT 4.20, 15 matches, was bought for $ 125,000 at the second round of IPL auctions in 2008)

Shane Watson was the highest impact player in 2008 (he is also the highest impact player in IPL history, as it happens). Besides his remarkable consistency, he delivered big match performances in both the semi-final and final for Rajasthan Royals, which also transformed into a tournament-defining performance (as RR won that season). He had a failure rate (the inability to register an IMPACT of even 1 in a match) of just 7% that IPL season. A true international star was born that year. 

Other hits in 2008:

• Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan Royals, 2.78, 11 matches, $ 100,000)
• Luke Pomersbach (Kings XI Punjab, 2.67, 5 matches, $ 50,000)
• Salman Butt (Kolkata Knight Riders, 2.40, 7 matches, $ 100,000)
• Farveez Maharoof (Delhi Daredevils, 3.58, 10 matches, $ 225,000)

Biggest flop - Shivnarine Chanderpaul 
(Royal Challengers Bangalore, 0.37, 3 matches, $ 200,000)

Other flops in 2008:

• Ricky Ponting (Kolkata Knight Riders, 0.87, 4 matches, $ 400,000)
• Manoj Tiwary (Delhi Daredevils, 0.99, 9 matches, $ 675,000)
• Shoaib Malik (Delhi Daredevils, 0.97, 7 matches, $ 500,000)
• Brett Geeves (Delhi Daredevils, 0.43, 2 matches, $ 50,000)

IPL 2009 -

Biggest hit – Pradeep Sangwan
(Delhi Daredevils, IPL 2009 IMPACT 1.67, 13 matches, was bought for $ 50,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)

His wicket-taking ability, coupled with good economy, and the ability to break partnerships, brought Sangwan good dividends in South Africa. A memorable performance against eventual winners Deccan Chargers (3 for 18 in 4 overs) was his highest impact performance that IPL season. 

Other hits in 2009:

• Ross Taylor (Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2.20, 11 matches, $ 100,000 at the 2008 IPL 2008 auction)
• Dwayne Smith (Deccan Chargers, 2.85, 8 matches, $ 100,000)
• Tillakaratne Dilshan (Delhi Daredevils, 2.97, 14 matches, $ 250,000 at the 2008 IPL 2008 auction)
• AB de Villiers (Delhi Daredevils, 2.60, 15 matches, $ 300,000 at the 2008 IPL 2008 auction)

Biggest flop - Manoj Tiwary (Delhi Daredevils, 0.13, 2 matches, $ 650,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)

Other flops in 2009:

• VVS Laxman (Deccan Chargers, 0.17, 5 matches, $ 375,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)
• Theron Henderson (Rajasthan Royals, 0.82, 2 matches, $ 650,000)
• Wasim Jaffer (Royal Challengers Bangalore, 0.47, 2 matches, $ 150,000)
• Joginder Sharma (Chennai Super Kings, 0.97, 4 matches, $ 225,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)

IPL 2010 -

Biggest hit – Adam Voges
(Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2010 IMPACT 1.73, 9 matches, was bought for $ 50,000 at the 2010 IPL auction)

He may not have been amongst the highest impact players in the tournament but Voges delivered consistent support for Rajasthan Royals in the middle-order batting. A high Runs Tally IMPACT (proportion of runs in the match) and Pressure IMPACT (absorbing the pressure of falling wickets) characterised his performances. For $ 50,000, he was a great value-for-money player as compared to many high-priced players in the tournament. 

Other hits in 2010:

• Dale Steyn (Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2.28, 15 matches, $ 325,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)
• Chaminda Vass (Deccan Chargers, 2.97, 6 matches, $ 200,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)
• Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings, 3.28, 16 matches, $ 650,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)
• Yusuf Pathan (Rajasthan Royals, 2.55, 14 matches, $ 475,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)

Biggest flop - Brett Lee(Kings XI Punjab, 0.14, 4 matches, $ 900,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)

Other flops in 2010:

• Kemar Roach (Deccan Chargers, 0.36, 2 matches, $ 720,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)
• George Bailey (Chennai Super Kings, 0.06, 1 match, $ 50,000 at the 2009 IPL auction)
• Cameron White (Royal Challengers Bangalore, 0.65, 7 matches, $ 500,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)
• S Sreesanth (Kings XI Punjab, 0.95, 6 matches, $ 625,000 at the 2008 IPL auction)

IPL 2011 -

Biggest hit – Aiden Blizzard
(Mumbai Indians, IPL 2011 IMPACT 1.89, 6 matches, was bought for $ 20,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)

Blizzard was good in all aspects of batting except absorbing pressure. He even provided a big match performance in the first eliminator against KKR to set up a successful chase. 

Other hits in 2011:

• Jesse Ryder (Pune Warriors, 2.39, 13 matches, $ 150,000)
• RE van der Merwe (Delhi Daredevils, 2.35, 4 matches, $ 50,000)
• Alfonso Thomas (Pune Warriors, 1.49, 10 matches, $ 100,000)
• Amit Mishra (Deccan Chargers, 2.52, 14 matches, $ 300,000)

Biggest flop - Michael Lumb 
(Deccan Chargers, 0.06, 1 matches, $ 80,000)

Other flops in 2011:

• Colin Ingram (Delhi Daredevils, 0.04, 2 matches, $ 100,000)
• Muttiah Muralitharan (Kochi Tuskers Kerala, 0.61, 5 matches, $ 1,100,000)
• Matthew Wade (Delhi Daredevils, 0.15, 2 matches, $ 100,000)
• Tim Paine (Pune Warriors, 0.49, 2 matches, $ 270,000)

IPL 2012 so far -

Biggest hit – Kevon Cooper
(Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2012 IMPACT so far 2.65, 6 matches, was bought for $ 50,000 at the 2012 IPL auction)

A wicket-taker who is stingy with runs and even tends to build pressure with quick wickets. His high point came earlier in the tournament (4-26 in 4 overs and 11 in 3 balls) and it is a pity he has been injured ever since (and back home). 

Other hits in 2012 so far:

• F du Plessis (Chennai Super Kings, 2.56, 12 matches, $ 120,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)
• James Franklin (Mumbai Indians, 2.27, 10 matches, $ 100,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)
• Steven Smith (Pune Warriors, 2.29, 15 matches, $ 200,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)
• Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings, 2.42, 14 matches, $ 200,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)

Biggest flop -  Andre Russell 
(Delhi Daredevils, 0.13, 1 match, $ 450,000)

Other flops in 2012:

• Clint McKay (Mumbai Indians, 0.24, 2 matches, $ 110,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)
• Davy Jacobs (Mumbai Indians, 0.25, 1 matches, $ 190,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)
• Cheteshwar Pujara (Royal Challengers Bangalore, 0.39, 3 matches, $ 700,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)
• Abhishek Nayar (Kings XI Punjab, 0.47, 4 matches, $ 800,000 at the 2011 IPL auction)

On a team level, just on the basis of the list above, we get an interesting picture. It emerges from this that Rajasthan Royals (despite the financial disaster on Henderson in 2009) have the best record of getting the most effective players for less. Delhi Daredevils have a history of getting hits and flops in equal measure and tend to take more risks than others.  As do Royal Challengers Bangalore somewhat but their flops are more pronounced than their hits. On this list, Pune Warriors has a good record of 3 hits and 1 flop but overall (and especially in 2012), their buying has been shaky. However, that’s another story for another time.