This year’s top five contenders for the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) Orange Cap have been fairly spectacular.
Faf du Plessis is at the top of the rankings, having improved his spin game to total 631 runs. Alongside him, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devon Conway, and Suryakumar Yadav combine consistency and explosiveness to play crucial roles for their respective teams.
Certain batters, on the other hand, started the tournament strongly and appeared to be on track for important seasons before their form began to wane. Some of these names have struggled to consistently post high scores, while others have had their technical weaknesses catch up with them.
Here are three superstar batters who have faltered following a strong start to the IPL 2023 season.
This article was written before the commencement of the Punjab Kings vs. Delhi Capitals matches on Wednesday, May 17.
3) Virat Kohli
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) superstar Virat Kohli is the top run-scorer in IPL history, with numerous notable innings. His strokeplay against spin and inability to maintain his foot on the pedal, on the other hand, are proving to be serious difficulties these days.
Kohli got off to a fast start in the powerplay and appeared to be trying his hardest to take on the spinners in the middle overs. However, as the wickets have slowed, so has he.
Kohli has only scored 50 runs in his previous six innings twice, and neither of those performances came at a very high strike rate. He struck at 119.56 (team-lowest) in one and 145.94 (in a losing chase for 201) in the other.
RCB has a couple of critical games coming up, and Kohli can’t afford to keep eating balls. Despite being sixth in the Orange Cap leaderboard, he hasn’t been doing Bangalore any favours recently.
2) Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan is accustomed to leading the IPL Orange Cap rankings, but the 2023 season has not been kind to him. With 356 runs at an average of 50.86 and a strike rate of 143.54, the Southpaw is 19th on the list. which are good figures, but they do not convey the complete story.
Dhawan began his career in a spectacular manner, scoring 40, 86, and 99 in his first three outings. The veteran batter hasn’t been at his best since returning from an injury which occurred a couple of weeks.
Dhawan has only scored more than 30 runs in one of his past six IPL 2023 innings. The Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain has scored 50 runs once in five matches since his comeback. He has tried to play his shots with recklessness on the powerplay, which has not always worked out.
1) Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s form has decreased significantly in IPL 2023. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener began the season with straight half-centuries but hasn’t batted in the last 11 games.
Gaikwad is eighth on the Orange Cap list after scoring 425 runs at an average of 38.64 and a strike rate of 146.55. However, his latest performances have been underwhelming, looking timid against both speed and (surprise) spin.
Gaikwad is often renowned for starting slowly and then putting up high numbers as the tournament continues, but this season has been quite the reverse. It remains to be seen if he can capitalise in the long run.
