IPL 2020 | Virender Sehwag names Maxwell, Finch and Russell in his list of tournament flops
Virender Sehwag, known to be witty and honest with his assessments, named his list of âFlopsâ from IPL 2020 and included five players - Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, Andre Russell, Dale Steyn and Shane Watson. Sehwag, in fact, went a step ahead and branded Maxwell a â10 cr cheerleaderâ.
Franchises splashing the cash for players in the auction based on their reputation is not something new, and the same took place 11 months ago, where multiple overseas stars were signed for extravagant sums. Ahead of IPL 2020, despite them not boasting a historically great record in the competition, there was hype around the duo of Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch, who were purchased for a combined sum of INR 14.9 crore, given they entered the competition in rich vein of international form. However, as it turned out, history repeated itself and both Finch and Maxwell ended up being overpriced liabilities who became more of a burden and less of a valuable addition to their respective franchises.Â
Both Finch and Maxwell, who struck at a SR below 115 in the season, were dropped by their respective franchises at the fag end and thus, unsurprisingly, made Virender Sehwagâs âFlop listâ of IPL 2020 as the first two entrants. Sehwag, in fact, was brutally honest about his assessment of Maxwell, and branded the all-rounder a â10 crore cheerleaderâ.
âGlenn Maxwell. This 10 crore cheerleader proved very costly for Punjab. His IPL routine for the last few years has been of shirking from work but this season he broke that record as well. This is what you call a highly paid vacation,â Sehwag said of Maxwell in his video âViru Ki Baithakâ, reported Hindustan Times.
"Aaron Finch, I gave him my name as a nickname, thinking he would be Viru to Thakur Kohli. Instead, it looks like the Bangalore curse affected him badly and the engine of his batting stalled this season,â he summarized Finchâs season.Â
Sehwag, interestingly, also included a third Australian in his five-person list - Shane Watson. The veteran Aussie ended up being a perennial disappointment, scoring just 299 runs in 11 appearances, and the Nawab of Najafgarh noted that Watson was a Diesel Engine that never started.Â
âShane Watson, the Chennai fans and we had high hopes from this Diesel Engine but in this season, even after many kickstarts, it didnât start properly and as the season ended he said that the vehicle cannot be pulled any longer and retired it,â the 42-year-old said of Watson.
While fans were anyway skeptical about the aforementioned three delivering, one superstar who left the entire universe shocked and disappointed with his rather innocuous display was IPL 2019âs MVP, Andre Russell. The Jamaican, in IPL 2020, averaged just 13.00 with the bat, and Sehwag claimed that the reason behind the same was the 32-year-oldâs muscles remaining lazy.
âAndre Russellâs muscles remained lazy this season and slept after giving us hopes in every innings. Because of that Kolkata didnât make it to the playoffs this season.â
Dale Steyn, who was purchased in the auction by RCB, completed Sehwagâs list. In three matches, the veteran South African gun picked just 1 wicket at an ER of 11.40 and Sehwag noted that he cannot see any franchise buying the 37-year-old in the years to come.
âDale Steyn. There was a time when everyone was afraid of the bullets from the âSteyn Gunâ but this season instead of the âSteyn Gunâ we got a homemade pipe gun. I could not believe my eyes seeing him getting hit but one thing became clear that we are unlikely to find a buyer for him now in the IPL market,â Sehwag said of Steyn.
Virender Sehwagâs Flops of IPL 2020: Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, Andre Russell, Dale Steyn and Shane Watson