Smith not IPL's biggest flop

GRAEME Smith may be failing in the Indian Premier League but he's not the most costly player in the competition. Not by a long shot.

The former South African Test captain's R500,000 price tag means his 42 runs in the IPL so far have cost more than R78,000 a run.

Smith, with a top score of 24 and an average of 10,50, has played in only four games for IPL rookies Pune Warriors, who splashed plenty of cash to piece together a team strong enough to compete.

The top run scorer to date is Delhi Daredevils opener Virender Sehwag, with 424 runs at R28,301 a run to justify his hefty $1,8 million (R12 million) price tag.

However, Sehwag yesterday withdrew from the IPL to have surgery on a shoulder injury. The injury could also keep him out of India's tour to the West Indies next month.

Sehwag's Indian teammate Sachin Tendulkar, who captains the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, is the second-highest run-scorer with 365. He has produced a value of R32,876 a run.

Jacques Kallis has been a better investment financially, his R7,3 million contract costing R21,519 a run.

But Smith isn't the worst on the list of lucrative non-performers.

Cameron White, the carefree Australian batsman who was bought by Deccan Chargers for $1,1 million (R7,3 million), has totalled just 89 runs at a cost of R82,022 a run.

And Kings XI Punjab couldn't have predicted that David Hussey, the Australian master blaster, would labour to only a 40-run tally for the tournament so far.

They bought him for $1,4 million (R9,3 million) at a return of R232,500 a run, making him the runaway leader in the flop purchase of the season.