5 most trolled Indian cricketers who could have breakout IPL 2026 season

The IPL 2026 will begin on March 28.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season will begin on March 28 and will see several cricketers fighting to keep their reputation as T20 batters intact. In the age of social media, there have been a host of players who have been under intense scrutiny for their batting.

Every failure or mistake of such players is quickly turned into memes and criticism that often go viral. Several Indian players, who will participate in the IPL 2026, have been facing relentless trolling from fans on social media for their performances, though they possess immense talent and potential. This includes some newbies and even legends.

Now with a fresh IPL season on the horizon, there will be a few players who have been trolled and criticized on social media, eager to prove their detractors wrong and silence their critics. Here are five such players who will be eager to turn the spotlight on their game with a breakout IPL 2026 season.

5 most trolled Indian cricketers who can have a breakout IPL 2026 season:

5. Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill, the Indian Test and ODI captain, will lead the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2026. He had an excellent IPL 2025, with 650 runs, including 6 fifties and a strike rate of 155.87. This performance was enough for Gill to be included in India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad, at the expense of Sanju Samson, who was opening the innings when Gill was focusing on Tests and ODIs.

However, Shubman Gill failed to light up the Asia Cup event and the other bilateral T20Is as India prepped for the T20 World Cup 2026. He made only 164 runs in 8 T20Is without a single fifty and ultimately was left out of the T20 World Cup 2026 squad. But coming into the IPL 2026, Gill will be eager to shut down his critics with another splendid performance for the GT and get back in contention for the Indian team.

4. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant was the most expensive player in the IPL 2025 auction, when Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bought him for INR 27 crores. Much was expected from Pant, both as captain and as batter, as he chose to bat in the top order for LSG. However, struggled a lot, scoring 269 runs in 14 IPL 2025 games, including one century and one fifty.

Pant was trolled on social media for his poor batting, especially in the T20 format, where his daredevil batting could be a game-changer. Due to his poor outing in the IPL, Pant was not considered for the Indian T20I team in prep for T20 World Cup 2026, including the Asia Cup 2025. Pant, who is the vice-captain of the Indian Test team, will be eager to reignite his India white-ball career as he finds himself out of T20I team.

3. Rohit Sharma

India’s 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy captain, Rohit Sharma, was under severe scrutiny last year for his poor fitness and unfit body. In an era where the majority of Indian players sport six-packs, Sharma’s flabby look stood out, and when he failed as a batter in the Australia Test series, the trolling got worse on social media.

Though Rohit was excellent as an opener in ODI cricket, he failed to do well in Tests, retiring from the format in mid-IPL 2025 in May. He scored 418 runs in the tournament with four fifties for the Mumbai Indians, but played mostly as an impact player. However, Rohit decided to get supremely fit, with a combination of diet and exercise, and debuted his new avatar in the Australia ODI series last year. Now, Rohit Sharma will be roaring when MI begins its IPL 2026 tournament, wanting to add a another IPL title to its cabinet.

2. KL Rahul

KL Rahul, who is an Indian mainstay in Tests and ODIs, last played a T20I in the 2022 T20 World Cup. He has since been sidelined in the shortest format, with Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Shubman Gill taking turns at the top, with Ishan Kishan jumping into the fray as well.

While KL Rahul has made 274, 520, and 539 runs in his last three IPL tournaments, there has always been criticism for his strike rate, which hovers in the 130s. For someone who has 5222 runs in 145 IPL games and 2265 runs in 72 T20Is with a total of 7 T20 tons, Rahul’s striking ability has been trolled on social media. Rahul will be eager to get himself in contention for the Indian opening spot and will want to prove his trolls wrong with an amazing outing in the IPL 2026 season.

1. Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw going unsold in the IPL 2025 auction seemed like a jolt to the Mumbai batter. Once considered the next Sachin Tendulkar after Shaw scored a century on his India Test debut, his career hasn’t been the same since the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series, where he was rattled by Australian pacers. He also had a poor IPL 2023 and 2024, with 106 and 198 runs, respectively.

Shaw was also trolled for his poor fitness and work ethic, with the Mumbai team suspending him for not following his fitness regimen properly. However, Shaw has seemingly turned his ways after moving to the Maharashtra team and has seemingly gotten fitter as well. The 26-year-old had a superlative outing in white-ball and first-class tournaments for India and Maharashtra and will be eager to have a brilliant outing in IPL 2026 to get back in contention for the Indian team in any of the formats.

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