IPL

CricIndeed’s Best XI of IPL 2018 [INFO-GRAPHICS]

This article details the CricIndeed’s Best XI of IPL 2018. The Best XI players who featured in the IPL 2018 has been decided based on their valuable contributions to their respective IPL teams. Hope you enjoy it.

This IPL 2018 Best XI, is picked based on two factors,

1. The Most Valuable Contribution to the Teams

2. Based on the Twitter Polls we conducted through our official Twitter handle. (@cricindeed)

Let’s get into the list right away.

Openers

No. 1 –> KL Rahul

KL Rahul has had a sensational tournament this season, as he is the 3rd Top Run Scorer in this IPL –> 659 Runs in 14 innings.

Initially, he was a doubtful opener for the Kings XI Punjab as the team was filled with openers –> Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch and himself. But the KXIP think tank had their faith on Rahul to back him as the opener in their very first match against Delhi Daredevils.

And, it worked brilliantly as Rahul went on to score the Quickest 50 in the IPL History off 14 deliveries. And then there is no coming back from that. He went on to score almost every match ending up with an average of 54.91.

His Average is the best of the Top 10 runs scorers in this year IPL.

No. 2 –> Shane Watson

This could be a controversial decision with Jos Butler also in the line up to the Best Opener of this season.

To me, the innings played by Shane Watson under the pressure of IPL FInals is one of the finest T20 innings played under pressure.

Scoring the highest score in any  IPL Finals –> 117*, Shane Watson could also be a useful bowling arm.

He has also got 2 Centuries in this season playing for CSK -> The Most Centuries in IPL 2018.

Shane Watson IPL 2018

Players who almost made it to the Openers list–> Jos Butler, Ambati Rayudu & Suryakumar Yadav.

Middle Order

No. 3 –> Kane Williamson

It has to be him. Kane Williamson captaining the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the absence of David Warner proved that he can also be the best in the business of the shortest formats.

The Orange Cap Winner with the total tally of 735 Runs in 17 innings,

He also scored the Most Fifties in the tournament –> 8 50+ Scores.

Kane Williamson - Orange Cap - IPL 2018

Player who almost made it to the No.3–>  Virat Kohli (530 Runs in 14 innings)

No. 4 –> Rishabh Pant

The list will not be fulfilled without the player who scored the Most Fours & Sixes in IPL 2018.

Rishabh Pant has hit 37 Sixes & 68 Fours in his 684 Runs tally.

He is also the 2nd top run scorer of IPL 2018, next to Williamson.

The youngster is rightly awarded the Emerging player of the season award. He is also the Stylist Player of the IPL 2018.

Unfortunately, despite his heroic stats, his franchise Delhi Daredevils ended up at the 8th position of the IPL points table.

Player who almost made it to the No.4 –> AB De Villiers

No. 5 –> Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik coming after the heroic finish in the Sri Lankan Tri-Series asked to captain the Kolkata Knight Riders team, which he did reasonably well, finishing at the No.3rd position as a team.

He along with the captaincy played sensibly as a middle-order batsman helped his team on more than one occasion to finish well.

Karthik showed calmness and grit at the field and made sure his team finishes on the right note.

Dinesh Karthik scored a total of 498 runs in 16 innings at an average of 49.80.

It is also noted as Dinesh Karthik is unanimously the best No.5 in the tournament, as no other player has come close to what DK has achieved in Number or showed character as he has done.

Wicket Keeper/Captain

No. 6 –> MS Dhoni

Can’t imagine the best XI without the right man to lead in the front. In this case, MS Dhoni leads from behind.

No, I don’t mean as a keeper, but he leads the team in his own style. He backs the players he trust, show them the route and wait back. Surprisingly, it has worked for him in most of the cases, almost every cases.

His numbers as Captain in IPL shows his consistency on being the best captain of IPL History.

Interestingly, this year IPL has been the best of MS Dhoni as a batsman, as he ended up with his highest runs in a season  –> 455 Runs in 15 Innings.

Also, he has got the Best Batting Average in the IPL 2018 –> 75.83

Adding to all, he contributed with 11 Catches & 3 Stumpings behind the stumps.

I have shared MS Dhoni’s complete Wicket Keeping records compared with the other legendary Wicket Keepers – Adam Gilchrist, Mark Boucher & Kumar Sangakkara in my blog.

MS DHONI IPL BEST CAPTAIN

All-Rounder

No. 7 –> Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine, the Magician – The Most Valuable Player of IPL 2018 has also been the Super Striker of the IPL 2018 event.

With 357 Runs & 17 Wickets in his name, he is easily the best all-rounder of IPL 2018.

Sunil Narine Best All rounder IPL 2018

Players who almost made it to the All-Rounder list –> Hardik Pandya & Shakib Ul Hasan

Bowlers

Bowlers gave me the real head-ache as there were too many good options to pick for just 4 spots.

I considered players who had:

Economy Rate – Under 8 (which do we think the most critical thing as a T20 bowler)

More than the Wicket counts, I worked on finding the bowlers who the captain trusted to pick the key opponent wickets & succeeded.

No. 8 –> Rashid Khan

The most expected player of the tournament, right from the IPL auction ended up as the most valuable contributor to his team, helping his team to finish as THE RUNNERS in IPL 2018.

Especially in the Qualifier 2 against KKR in their home ground of Eden Garden, Rashid Khan contributed excellently with both bat and ball, the rightful Man of that Match.

Rashid Khan’s wicket tally counted to 21 in 17 matches at an economy rate of 6.73, which is the best of the season among the bowlers who played 10+ matches in IPL 2018.

Rashid Khan also bowled the most number of dot balls in IPL 2018 –> 167 with 3 3+ Wickets hauls.

Rashid Khan IPL 2018

No. 9 –> Andrew Tye

The Purple Cap winner for the Most Wickets in IPL 2018, Andrew Tye walks next into our Best XI –> 24 Wickets in 14 matches.

He has also got the most 4 wickets haul in IPL 2018 –> 3 times he picked 4 wickets this season.

Andrew Tye, played for Kings XI Punjab, almost put their team into the Playoffs single-handedly.

N0. 10 –> Umesh Yadav

RCB always has its worries with their bowling department, but this time Umesh Yadav had something different in his mind.

Umesh Yadav at full flow is always an exciting thing to witness in Cricket.

He was simply great in form this season. Picked up 20 wickets in 14 matches, placed himself at the No.4 position of leading wicket-takers of IPL 2018.

He picked 3+ wickets 3 times in IPL 2018 equaling Andrew Tye & Rashid Khan.

Umesh was brilliant this season, especially in the powerplay overs, firing bullets at the batsmen & ended up picking the wickets most of the times. He was striking almost every 16 deliveries he bowled.

Also, the best part is he kept his economy rate under 8 throughout the season–> 7.86

Check what Umesh Yadav said on Virat Kohli’s Captaincy.

No. 11 –> Mujeeb Ur Rahman

It was a close call with more players picking more wickets.

But it was Mujeeb who contributed to his team more than any other bowlers excluding the above names.

His unfortunate injury during a league game kept him out of the rest of the tournament. Still, he picked 14 wickets in just 11 matches he played. He was always the call-to man whenever his captain needed a wicket.

His Economy rate under 7 –> 6.99 is one of the important factors he gets into this list.

Players who almost made it to the Bowlers list –> Lungi Ngidi, Siddharth Kaul, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah & Jofra Archer

CRICINDEED’S BEST XI of IPL 2018

KL RAHUL, SHANE WATSON, KANE WILLIAMSON, RISHABH PANT, DINESH KARTHIK, MS DHONI(CAPT/WK), SUNIL NARINE, RASHID KHAN, ANDREW TYE, UMESH YADAV, MUJEEB UR RAHMAN.

An amazing set of Players, right!?!

To Close

I understood some of you must not be happy with the selections I have made. Still, It is just my projection on what I have witnessed in the last 2 month of IPL 2018.

More than the No of Runs scored or the No. of Wickets picked, it is the valuable contribution to the team matters in a tourney like IPL and that is where I focussed on. Hopefully, this list of mine would make you like it.

Also, Please get into the comment section and post your Best XIs of IPL 2018. Show who’s boss!!!

Indeed, I would like to use this thread as a two-way communicable forum.

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