5 IPL stars who flopped in Round 4 of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 ft. Rishabh Pant

The fourth round of the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy took place on Wednesday, December 31. A total of 16 teams locked horns in eight games across the country. With just three games left in the group stage, they aimed to secure as many points as possible to boost their chances of advancing to the quarterfinals.

Popular IPL players like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devdutt Padikkal smashed centuries, but many failed to show up in the fourth game of their respective state teams. Here are five players who failed to deliver:

Rishabh Pant - LSG

Rishabh Pant - Source: Getty

Amid question marks over his future ahead of the ODI series between India and New Zealand, Rishabh Pant flopped with the bat against Odisha. The wicketkeeper-batter departed for just 24 runs off 28 balls, which included one six and three fours. His wicket reduced Delhi to 50/3 in the 11th over while chasing 273. Later, the team got bundled out for 193 in 42.3 overs, losing the match by 93 runs. It was his third failure in four innings, having managed 22 and 5 against Saurashtra and Andhra, respectively. The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Delhi captain, however, smashed 70 against Gujarat in the second round.

Priyansh Arya – PBKS

Priyansh Arya - Source: Getty

Delhi’s opening batter Priyansh Arya, who plays for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL, departed for a run-a-ball five against Odisha in Alur. The youngster had also perished for just one run against Gujarat. Having said that, the 24-year-old slammed 78 and 74 against Saurashtra and Andhra, respectively. The Punjab-based franchise retained him for INR 3.80 crore for IPL 2026. That's because Arya had a breakthrough debut IPL season, scoring 475 runs in 17 matches with the help of one century and two fifties. He followed that up with 197 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 155.11 for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Vaibhav Arora – KKR

Vaibhav Arora - Source: Getty

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowler Vaibhav Arora failed to deliver with the ball for Himachal Pradesh against Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The medium pacer leaked 47 runs at an economy rate of 6.70, managing just one wicket. Himachal lost the game by six wickets as Punjab achieved 223 with 13.5 overs to spare.

Vaibhav had previously managed just two wickets in three previous matches in the 50-over domestic tournament. The Knight Riders retained him for INR 1.8 crore for the IPL 2026 season after he scalped 17 wickets in 12 games, but at an economy rate of 10.11.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi – KKR

Angkrish Raghuvanshi - Source: Getty

Another KKR batter, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, failed to show up for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Goa. The right-handed batter departed for 11 runs off 18 balls. It was his second failure in the tournament, having scored 11 against Uttarakhand. His other scores are 38 and an unbeaten 68 against Sikkim and Chhattisgarh, respectively. The Knight Riders retained the 21-year-old for INR 3 crore ahead of IPL 2026.

With no Venkatesh Iyer (bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru) in their squad next year, Raghuvanshi will have to become more consistent, as he could play a key role at No. 3 for KKR next season.

Harshal Patel- SRH

Harshal Patel - Source: Getty

After returning with impressive figures of 3/69 against Haryana, Harshal Patel failed to replicate his good form against Railways in his next Vijay Hazare Trophy game. The speedster returned wicketless for 63 in his nine overs as Gujarat lost to Railways by four wickets. With Gujarat managing just a solitary win in the first four rounds, he needs to step up in the remaining three games.

The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) retained Harshal for a whopping INR 8 crore ahead of IPL 2026 auction. He scalped 16 wickets in 13 games last season, but at an economy rate of 9.80.

Edited by James Kuanal