7 surprise performers of IPL 2015
The 8th edition of the Indian Premiere League came to an end with the Mumbai Indians triumphing over the Chennai Super Kings in the final at the Eden Gardens. The tournament sprung up various surprises during the course of 46 action-packed days, and there was plenty of excitement to get the adrenaline levels soaring.
While the likes of David Warner, Darren Bravo, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Rohit Sharma and Shane Watson were always expected to perform, there were a few dark horses who pulled out astonishing performances in the most unanticipated manner. We take a look at the 7 surprise performers of IPL 8:
1. Ashish Nehra
The Indian pacer recorded the best bowling figures of 4-0-10-4 in the tournament with a splendid show against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. An inspired performance from Nehra saw the Chennai Super Kings snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against the Bangalore side.
He ended up 4th on the list of Purple Cap holders, with 22 wickets in 16 games at an average of 20.40. After having a look at the Chennai bowling attack that boasts of Team India regulars Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohit Sharma, very few would have expected much from Nehra. But the experience of the pacer shone, as he stood out of the pack, surprising one and all.
2. Andre Russell
The Most Valuable Player of IPL 8, Andre Russell came up with stellar performances throughout the tournament. It was probably the absence of Sunil Narine that made his West Indian counterpart’s selection in the KKR team a given in the initial matches of IPL.
His hurricane 66 off 36 against the Kings XI Punjab is a knock worth remembering for a while. The all-rounder played some breezy knocks down the order and achieved them at a blistering pace, winning quite a few matches for KKR in the process. Russel finished the season with 326 runs and 14 wickets from 13 matches and proved to be extremely handy for the Kolkata Knight Riders.