IPL 2018: Best Indian XI at this stage of the tournament
The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League has reached the half-way stage. The first half of this season saw some mind-blowing matches with thrilling finishes. When it comes to the individual performance aspect of the tournament, the level has been quite high as not only some big names proved their name-value but some new faces, both domestic and foreign, have made quite an impact with their skills and impressed fans in the season.
There have been players like Ambati Rayudu and Sanju Samson, who have reinstated their claims as top cricketers of the tournament and there have been uncapped players like Mayank Markande, Ankit Rajpoot and Siddhant Kaul who have impressed with their talents and intelligent understanding of the game.
The Indian players have dominated this season more than the overseas recruits. Here we take a look at such Indian cricketers who have stolen the show on numerous occasions. They have been extremely successful for their respective sides in the first half of the season and their teams hope that they continue the momentum in the second half of the season as well.
Openers:
#1 Ambati Rayudu (CSK)
Ambati Rayudu is in the form of his career. Rayudu has opened for the Chennai Super Kings as well as played a vital role in the middle-order. He has been very efficient in both cases as reflected by the Orange Cap on his head.
At the half-way stage in the tournament, Rayudu leads the list of top scorers in the tournament. He has scored 370 runs in the eight matches with an average of 46 and strike rate of 133. His best came against RCB when he scored 82 off 53 to guide CSK’s chase of 205.
#2 KL Rahul (KXIP)
KL Rahul has been in a splendid form this season. He has been a key player for KXIP. He registered a half-century in 14 balls against the KKR in the KXIP's first game of the season which is the fastest fifty in the history of the IPL.
Rahul continued his momentum his with a string of good scores in the matches that followed to boast KXIP's opening partnerships.
Another brilliant inning that came off his bat was against the KKR where he hammered a splendid 60 in the match. Currently, he has 268 runs to his name in seven matches and is the seventh highest run scorer so far in the IPL 2018.