5 IPL stars who flopped in Round 3 of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 ft. Venkatesh Iyer 

Round 3 of the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy was held on Monday, December 29, as teams looked to grind through the group stage of the competition after settling in post the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign. Much like the earlier rounds, high-scoring affairs dominated the majority of the fixtures, leading to some incredible match totals and even run chases.

While several Indian Premier League (IPL) stars like Dhruv Jurel and Priyansh Arya chipped in with solid outings, it was not the case for some of the other high-profile players in the competition.

On that note, let us take a look at the five IPL stars who flopped in Round 3 of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26.

#1 Jitesh Sharma

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicket-keeper, recently dropped from the Indian squad ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup, did not have an eventful outing for Baroda in their 54-run loss to Uttar Pradesh.

After being tasked with chasing a mammoth 370-run target in Rajkot, Jitesh Sharma came out to bat at No.3 after a promising start by Shashwat Rawat and Shivalik Sharma. However, his stay only lasted four deliveries after he was dismissed for two runs by Sameer Rizvi in the 16th over of the innings.

The dismissal marked the beginning of a collapse as Baroda slumped from 80-1 to 124-4 in the space of seven overs. Skipper Krunal Pandya launched a fightback with a brilliant fifty, but the team were eventually bowled out for 315.

#2 Venkatesh Iyer

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) marquee signing in the recent IPL 2026 Auction, Venkatesh Iyer, struggled in the low-scoring encounter against Kerala in Ahmedabad.

Coming into bat at No.5 when the side were reeling at 51-3, the skipper could only score eight runs of 16 deliveries, before being run out in the 19th over. His innings did not include a single boundary, and his dismissal left Madhya Pradesh in even more trouble at 69-4.

Prior to the contest, he had a couple of cameos to his name in Madhya Pradesh's recent twin wins against Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.

#3 Naman Dhir

The emerging Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder, touted for huge things after being bought back and retained by the franchise, failed to make an impact in Punjab's five-wicket loss to Uttarakhand in Jaipur.

Naman Dhir came out to bat towards the end of the powerplay after a promising start by the explosive pair of Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh. However, he struggled over the course of his stay at the crease, and was dismissed for two runs off 10 deliveries in the 13th over.

He has now recorded three single-digit scores in his last four outings across formats, but also has a stellar 97 to his name in the Vijay Hazare Trophy opener.

#4 Rishabh Pant

With his place in the Indian ODI squad under threat, Rishabh Pant is hanging on desperately to prove his worth in the format. While he showed promise in the hard-fought win over Gujarat, his inconsistent run continues.

In the clash against Saurashtra, he could only contribute with a 26-ball 22 in Delhi's attempt to chase down a 321-run target. Pant came into bat in a crucial juncture of the run chase on the back of a solid platform laid down by the top order.

However, he was dismissed by Chirag Jani in the 33rd over after the 200-run mark was breached. The wicket-keeper has 97 runs in three matches at an average of 32.33 and a strike rate of 85.08 so far in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26.

#5 Rasikh Salam

Another RCB name makes it to the list as pacer Rasikh Salam had a disastrous outing for Baroda amid Uttar Pradesh's carnage with the bat in Rajkot. The right-arm pacer ended with dismal figures of 1-102 as the opposition smashed 369-7 in the first innings.

Rasikh Salam dismissed Rinku Singh in the 39th over, but only after the in-form player scored 63 runs off 67 deliveries. The young pacer was recently retained by RCB ahead of the IPL 2026 Auction, but had a mediocre SMAT campaign recently, and an unconvincing start in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well.

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Edited by Gokul Nair