IPL 2018: Team of the week 1

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Right, so one week has whizzed past us, the Indian Premier League is slowly warming up, the teams are getting close to the combination which might help them go all way, the franchises are establishing connections with their fan bases again, and along the way, Chennai Super Kings have been moved out from Chennai to Pune.

Seven days, eight matches, and plenty of highlights already from the league. The usual suspects have not yet arrived, the new prodigies are doing their reputation no harm, and brand IPL looks solid.

So now we try to mould a team which will have the best players from week one.

Openers

KL Rahul

The Karnataka-boy was a big ticket signing for Kings XI Punjab and in the two innings he has played so far, he has already vindicated the decision.

From smoking a 14-ball half-century against the Delhi Daredevils to playing a stroke-filled 47 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rahul seems to have his eyes fixed on a more permanent role with the Indian team across all the three formats.

Shikhar Dhawan

The southpaw has been in sublime form for India in white ball cricket over the last 15 months and he has carried this form into the IPL for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

In the absence of David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan has taken the responsibility on his shoulders to not only bat with an elevated strike rate but also bat deep into the innings and win matches for his team.

He has scored 123 runs in the two matches so far with an average of 123 and at an impressive strike rate of 144.70. No surprises that SRH have won both their matches!

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