FLOP T201 XI OF 2022

South Africa's T201 captain, Temba Bavuma, was at the centre of criticism for most of 2022, particularly in the T201 World Cup, for his underwhelming contribution to the Proteas at the start. The 32-yearold looked like a rookie in a professional set-up as he amassed just 134 runs in 12 matches...

- RENIN WILBEN

With the historic IPL media rights sale, the memorable Asia Cup, the emergence of new T20 leagues, and the T20 World Cup, the focus was on the shortest format of the game. The year witnessed the emergence of new faces of T20I cricket, such as Suryakumar Yadav, Sam Curran, and Sikandar Raza. Meanwhile, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam carried their form from the previous year. However, the passing year has been sad, forgettable, and frustrating for several big stars who would love to erase 2022 from their career. This article will focus on the flop XI of 2022.

1. TEMBA BAVUMA South Africa's T20I captain, Temba Bavuma, was at the centre of criticism for most of 2022, particularly in the T20I World Cup, for his underwhelming contribution to the Proteas at the start. The 32-year old looked like a rookie in a professional set-up as he amassed just 134 runs in 12 matches, averaging 13.40. There were demands for his ouster during the World Cup, as many accused him of taking up the spot of in-form Reeza Hendricks. Bavuma had a big hand in South Africa's early exit from the premier T20I competition.

2. KL RAHUL KL Rahul is another opener whom the critics barely gave breathing space. Rahul had a fantastic IPL but looked like a pale version of himself in international cricket as he scored 434 runs in 16 matches, at an average of 28.93. The numbers fail to reveal that Rahul was disappointed on occasions when he was required to perform the most. In the Asia Cup, Rahul scored just one fifty-plus score and gathered 132 runs. While in the T20 World Cup, he scored big, a bit late in the competition and amassed just 128 runs in six matches.

3. NICHOLAS POORAN