IPL is a highly competitive league. The league has progressed significantly since its debut in 2008, and even in its 16th edition, the event keeps surprising spectators night after night.
When the IPL 2023 mini-auction took place in December of last year, the majority of fans believed that the SunRisers Hyderabad had recruited a fantastic team. Many cricket fans have predicted them to win the IPL in 2023.
In their pace attack, SRH kept Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Marco Jansen, Kartik Tyagi, and Fazalhaqi Farooqi. They boosted their spin attack by bringing in foreign talents Adil Rashid and Akeal Hosein, as well as Mayank Markande, who is in good form.
Markram, a South African batter, has been named as Hyderabad’s captain. Markram led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the SA20 title just a few months ago.
With Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Dale Steyn on the coaching staff, it appeared that no one could stop SRH from winning the championship this year.
After 50 matches, the team from Hyderabad is last in the standings. They’ve just won 3 out of 9 games, and it’s tough for them reach the playoffs.
It’s not the first time a top pick before the tournament has let fans down in the league’s history. Here are three such teams who started as favourites to win the championship but fell short of expectations.
1) Punjab Kings, IPL 2015
Punjab Kings (PBKS) made their very first final game in the 2014 season. They finished second after failing to defend a 200-run mark in the final against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
For the 2015 season, PBKS maintained its top performances from the previous season, including George Bailey, Virender Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson, David Miller, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha, Sandeep Sharma, Karanveer Singh, Axar Patel, and Rishi Dhawan.
Fans had great hopes for PBKS, but they never got off the ground. With only three victories from 14 games, Punjab finished lowest in the IPL 2015 points standings. It was the most disappointing season for them.
2) Mumbai Indians, IPL 2021
Mumbai Indians (MI) were unstoppable in 2019 and 2020, winning the championship in both seasons.
MI, with many star players, was expected to win their third consecutive IPL title in 2021. However, they failed to even make the playoffs.
However, MI couldn’t even reach the playoffs. They won only seven of their 14 league stage games and ended sixth in the standings. Mumbai’s performance in the UAE phase of the competition was subpar.
MI lost four of their first five games in the Gulf country, forcing their exit from the tournament early.
3) Delhi Capitals, IPL 2013
The Delhi Capitals (DC) won the points race in 2012, however they failed to make it to the final.
For the upcoming season, DC kept its top players Mahela Jayawardene, Morne Morkel, Kevin Pietersen, Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Irfan Pathan, Andre Russell, Naman Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Pawan Negi, and Roelof van der Merwe.
Despite a great team, DC finished last in the standings. The Delhi-based franchise finished ninth in the nine-team championship after losing 13 of their 16 matches.
