IPL 2018: Top Seven Batsmen This Season
The eleventh edition of the IPL has officially concluded as Chennai Super Kings laid their hands on the eluded trophy after a major gap of seven long seasons. It’s been one hell of a journey over the past two months and has surely given us countless moments to cherish at the end. Now, as analysts or sheer lovers of the game, we would discuss the best performers in the league over the course of the tournament. To begin with, here I will list down seven best batsmen in this edition of the IPL:
7. MS Dhoni:
MSD might not have made it to the top ten run-scorers this time, but he had an excellent role to play in this kind of new-look CSK side. We have been deprived of witnessing the genius of MSD—the batsman in recent times, but this season was different. As Ambati Rayudu was promoted to open the innings for major portions of the season, Dhoni was the fulcrum who kept the middle order intact.
His stupendous stroke-play was on display consistently, as he was fearless yet calculative in his approach towards the situation. Dhoni had developed a tendency to go a bit pragmatic against spinners in recent times, but he completely changed this part of his game this season. Dhoni kept up the onslaught against the tweakers throughout the tournament, sending the ball all across the park with some brute force.
Against the pacers, he was smart and chose his bowlers, often threading gaps with good timing too. He scored three half-centuries and scored 455 runs at a strike rate of 150.66. His knocks against KXIP and RCB will be stitched into the memory of any cricket fan, as there were displays of the style of batting that has so often been associated with MSD.
6. Dinesh Karthik:
Might be a left-field choice, but Karthik was at his influential best for KKR this season. Having taken over the captaincy mantle, he took the added responsibility admirably well and hence his team managed to finish third despite having a mediocre squad of sorts. Karthik, like Dhoni, held the middle order together.
He controlled the tempo of the game, deciding accurately about the time when he had to go on the attack mode or when to rotate the strike. Karthik was a calming figure in that rather inexperienced middle-order, as he usually stayed until the end to finish off games. Dinesh scored 498 runs in 16 innings, staying not out six times. He struck runs at a rate of 147.77 per hundred deliveries, and that shows that he built his innings briskly too.
What makes Karthik’s contribution to this team even more special is the fact that he came into bat at tricky situations, and often bailed his team out by effectively carrying out the role of a finisher to perfection. He usually dug in deeper in the innings, and diligently ensured that his team crossed the finishing line. Due to this peculiar aspect of his game, the KKR captain deserves a spot in this list.
5. Shane Watson:
Watson was dubbed too old to carve an impact in such an electrifying, high-paced T20 league. Especially his injury record was concerning, but CSK stuck with him and allowed him to play in a position where he succeeds the most.
Watson consistently opened this innings for CSK and was given the freedom to go berserk with his astonishing big-hitting ability. Watson recorded a strike rate of 154.59 and scored 555 runs in 15 innings.
He scored 2 half-centuries, and two tons, most remarkably, against SRH in the finals. After starting slowly, scoring no runs in 11 deliveries, he scored a brilliant 117 runs not out to see his team get through in the end. Watson built his innings patiently, before capitalizing on Sandeep Sharma’s poor 12th over.
Watson was equally effective against the spinners, as he took advantage in the correct situations of the innings. Moreover, his experience was quite visible throughout his century knock in the finals, and his temperamentally strong attitude deserves to be lauded to a great extent.
4. Ambati Rayudu:
Rayudu’s switch to CSK might be the most beneficial one, from an individual perspective, that he has taken in a while. Having played in the middle-order majorly in his MI career, CSK gave him the freedom to play from the start of the innings this season. Ambati’s talent was trusted upon, and the team reaped its benefits at the end of the season.
Rayudu was surprisingly clinical and efficient, as he regularly broke free in the fielding restrictions, before rotating the strike post the first six overs. His footwork was impressive, as Rayudu constantly found the gaps in the field to score boundaries at a regular rate. He scored 602 runs in 16 innings, including a century and three half-centuries too.
More importantly, it was his capability to play as a floater in the lineup. Rayudu has the ability to build an innings, or attack as soon he arrives on the crease too. Hence, he was demoted to number four in the batting order when Faf was also brought into the team. It is his flexibility, as a batsman, as well as his fluent batting style that enabled him to score runs at will this season.
Rayudu’s strike rate of 149.75 was impressive for an opener, and his story would be one of the most defining tales of this IPL edition.
3. KL Rahul:
Rahul was roped in by KXIP for a whopping sum of money (11 crores), so naturally, it was clear that the franchise wanted to form the team around the charismatic batsman. His stature would have surely increased now, as KL was brilliant and often led a sole battle against the opposition due to the team’s somewhat fragile middle-order.
He was enigmatic at the top of the order, as KL often made it sure that he stayed throughout the innings to guide his team’s batting order. It was a temperamentally strong performance from the lad, who along with Virat Kohli is the only Indian batsman capable enough of succeeding constantly in all three formats of the game.
The fluency in his batting, coupled with sheer elegance and timing of his shots was hard to ignore as KL scored 659 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 158.41.
He started the tournament in a remarkable fashion, as Rahul registered the fastest fifty by scoring a half-century off 14 deliveries against Delhi Daredevils. He was rock-solid at the top of the order as he demonstrated a strong mentality to take up extra responsibility in a team having an often-unreliable batting lineup.
2. Kane Williamson
Despite top-scoring in the tournament, Kane is placed in the second spot due to another player and we will talk about that later. Firstly, I will accept that I had reservations about the fact that whether Kane could propel in the T20 format.
Before this season, he had hardly ever left a good impact in the IPL. However, David Warner’s absence helped as all the limelight was now shifted towards Williamson and he certainly enjoyed this fact. Williamson could be the perfect example of the fact that having a proper Test match-esque technique is essential.
Hence, Kane significantly molded his batting style. His immaculate technique, coupled with a brilliant footwork helped him dominate the spinners in the middle-overs. Kane showed an excellent tendency to send the ball over the rope too, as he hit 28 sixes in 17 matches.
He scored 735 runs throughout the tournament and scored runs at a brisk strike rate of 142.44. This season demonstrated Williamson’s versatility as a batsman and just goes on to display that he could be trusted as an equally reliable and explosive batsman in the shortest format of the game too.
1. Rishabh Pant
If you have to find an example of a young lad performing consistently in one of the most competitive leagues in world cricket, Rishabh Pant would be the optimum name on the list. Pant had a stellar season, in which we can say that his true potential was finally unlocked. Often before, we had seen that Pant was in a hurry and looked to hit big shots early in the innings.
This time, he was much more assured and composed on the pitch. Rishabh chose the bowlers he wanted to attack and accordingly capitalized whenever an opportunity arose. Pant was instrumental in the middle-order and showed tremendous mentality to carry the batting lineup all by his own.
His swashbuckling demeanor allowed him to hit big sixes at a very consistent rate, eventually finishing as the player with the highest number of maximums to his name. He scored 684 runs in 14 innings, striking at a rate of 173.60.
Pant scored five half-centuries, but the most remarkable one would be the 128* runs that he scored against SRH, which can surely be regarded as the best batting innings of this tournament.
He finished just 51 runs behind the highest run-scorer Williamson, despite having played three matches lesser than Kane. For all his incredible batting prowess, Rishabh could not take his team to the playoffs, but that should in no way demean what he did individually for the team.
