IPL 2022: From Rohit & Kohli to Venkatesh & Padikkal, Indian batters who haven’t found their best

We are well past the halfway stage of Indian Premier League 2022 and despite plenty of fine individual performances by Indian batters, there are also a number of highly-rated players who haven’t found their best this season.

There is still a fair way to go before the league stage ends, and we have seen in the past that top players turn things around eventually, but the lack of runs by some big names for a huge chunk of the season has surely hurt their team’s cause.

Here’s a look at the Indian batters who haven’t lived up to expectations so far in IPL 2022:

Rohit Sharma

A team struggling in a particular IPL season isn’t new, but they end up with a few wins eventually on the back of some individual brilliance. But that, precisely, has been one of the major issues for Mumbai Indians in their extraordinarily poor IPL 2022 campaign. They have neither fired as a unit, nor have their big guns single-handedly won matches (for example how KL Rahul has for Lucknow Super Giants). And skipper Rohit Sharma definitely deserves his share of the blame. The right-hander hasn’t been a consistent batter in the IPL for several years now, but the season so far has seen him provide remarkably low returns.

Virat Kohli

In his 10th inning, Virat Kohli finally got his first half-century of the season. Despite his 58 off 53 leading Royal Challengers Bangalore to lose that match, he was praised by skipper Faf du Plessis for finding form. That, perhaps, summed up the extent to which Kohli has struggled this season. Consecutive golden ducks, run-outs, soft dismissals – the former RCB and India captain has been a shadow of his glorious self. In the fifty he got against Gujarat Titans, he never really looked fluent. It was an appropriate knock in terms of ODIs, not T20s. Kohli has been promoted to the opener’s slot and his fans will hope he can break the shackles before the season ends.

Venkatesh Iyer

In IPL 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders struggled in the first half before mounting a comeback in the second to reach the final. And one of the key architects of their resurgence was Venkatesh Iyer. The left-hander played with freedom and provided fireworks at the top of the order to eventually find a spot in the Indian team too. But now, after being retained by KKR for Rs 8 crore, he has had a shocker of a season. The 27-year-old was first demoted down the order before being benched in the last game. From being one of the most exciting new batting prospects in India, he finds himself in a position where there’s little room for error going forward.

Devdutt Padikkal

It wouldn’t have come as a surprise had Devdutt Padikkal been one of the retained players at Royal Challengers Bangalore. The 21-year-old was the highest run-scorer for RCB in IPL 2020 and second-highest in IPL 2021 but he ended up at Rajasthan Royals this season, with the franchise bidding an impressive Rs 7.75 crore for him at the mega auction. But Padikkal has struggled to match the standard he set in the last couple of seasons. He was slotted in the middle order in the first three games but opened in the last seven. Besides one half-century, the left-hander hasn’t lived up to expectations. Jos Buttler’s magnificent form has eased the pressure on Padikkal, but RR will be hoping he finds his best as the business end of the season approaches.

Ishan Kishan

Just like Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan is one of the big guns who has let Mumbai Indians down big-time this season. He was the most expensive player at the IPL 2022 mega auction, having been retained by MI for a whopping Rs 15.25 crore. And he did start the season impressively, scoring an unbeaten 81 in the first game and a 54 in the second (albeit in losing causes). But it’s been all downhill since then. The left-hander has looked circumspect at the top of the order and found different ways to get dismissed. He played an instrumental role in MI winning the IPL 2020 title and there’s little doubt about his ability, but his team needs him to turn things around quickly.

Shahrukh Khan

The fact that no one really raised eyebrows when Punjab Kings paid a huge sum of Rs 9 crore for Shahrukh Khan was a testament to the right-hander’s growing stock as a finisher. He has been one of the stars for Tamil Nadu in white-ball cricket for years now and he was expected to provide the same sort of firepower for his team in the IPL. But after managing a total of just 98 runs in seven innings, the 26-year-old was left out of the playing XI by PBKS in their last three matches. Punjab have a number of big hitters in their ranks and one can only hope that Shahrukh finds himself in the midst again this season as his team pushes for a playoff spot.

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal has perhaps had the most curious season so far among all players. Like Venkatesh Iyer, he too is a retained player who has been dropped. Rajasthan Royals retained three players ahead of IPL 2022 and the youngster was one of them along with skipper Sanju Samson and star opener Jos Buttler. But Jaiswal, unlike Venkatesh, didn’t get a substantial amount of backing and was dropped from the playing XI after just three games. Yes, three games is all it took for RR to remove the 20-year-old opener they spent Rs 4 crore on retaining. The left-hander got scores of 20, 1 and 4 in those games. He has shown in the past – at the Under-19 World Cup, in domestic cricket and in the IPL – what he is capable of and one can only hope his confidence doesn’t spiral downwards.

Shubman Gill

It could be considered harsh to have Shubman Gill on this list, considering that he has amassed more runs than the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant so far this season. But like Ishan Kishan, Gill, in 10 matches, has done precious little apart from two knocks. After a duck in the first game, he registered scores of 84 and 96. But in the seven innings since then, he has got a total of 89 runs without any impactful cameo. Chennai Super Kings opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has also had a similarly below-par season but the right-hander seems to have turned the corner in the last few games. And this is something that can’t be said about Gill, who has struggled consistently. The 22-year-old, who was acquired by Gujarat Titans for Rs 8 crore, perhaps tries too hard to be innovative at the crease and his team will be hoping he finds his classical touch soon.

All statistics courtesy iplt20

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