Picking the best playing 11 from Week 6 of IPL 2024 ft. Will Jacks and Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Week 6 of the IPL 2024 concluded with the game between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), which the latter won by 24 runs. This was Kolkata’s seventh win in 10 games, and they comfortably sit in second place in the points table with 14 points.
Meanwhile, the only team that’s above them is Rajasthan Royals (RR), who have won eight out of ten games. They are just one win away from confirming their place in the playoffs.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who are in third place with 12 points from 10 games, and the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), who are in fourth place with the same number of points from 10 games, are eying the other two playoff spots after Week 6.
Meanwhile, defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Delhi Capitals (DC) are in fifth and sixth spots, respectively, with 10 points each, though the Capitals have played a game more.
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) have won their last two games and are in seventh place with eight points. The last-year runners-up, the Gujarat Titans (GT), are eighth with eight points. The bottom two teams after Week 6 are the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Fans witnessed several incredible performances during the sixth week (April 27–May 3), thus we've selected the best playing 11 for the same.
Openers - Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was in amazing form in Week 6 of the IPL. Gaikwad led from the front in their match against SRH, where he missed a well-deserved century by two runs. He continued his good run in the next game as well, scoring 62 runs against Punjab. Gaikwad has been in amazing touch and will be looking to continue his great form in upcoming matches.
RCB only played one game in Week 6, and Virat Kohli was there for them once again, playing an important knock. Chasing a target of 201 runs against Gujarat, the former RCB skipper remained unbeaten on 70 and brilliantly supported Will Jacks, who went on to score an amazing century.
Middle order/ All-rounders: Will Jacks, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, and Nitish Reddy
Will Jacks played an amazing knock against the Gujarat Titans. While chasing a target of 201, the RCB batter initially batted carefully; he got to his fifty in 31 balls and went berserk after that. Jacks took only 10 balls to score the next 50 runs, scoring a century in 41 balls. He also hit Rashid Khan for four sixes and one four in a single over, taking RCB to win with four overs remaining.
Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson played yet another match-winning knock against LSG while chasing a target of 197. Sanju remained unbeaten on 71 runs off only 33 balls. He hit seven fours and four sixes, guiding RR to their eighth win of the tournament.
Venkatesh Iyer was in decent form in Week 6. Against the Delhi Capitals, he remained unbeaten on 26 runs and took KKR to a comfortable win. Meanwhile, on Friday, May 2, the KKR player scored 70 runs in 52 balls against the Mumbai Indians to take his team to a decent total of 169 runs. Eventually, KKR won the match by 24 runs, and Iyer was named Player of the Match for his inning.
There’s no stopping Marcus Stoinis; the Australian batter scored a brilliant century in Week 5 against CSK. In Week 6, he played a brilliant 62-run knock against the Mumbai Indians and also took one wicket to take his team to their sixth win of the season.
All-rounder Nitish Reddy is the new star in the making. SRH lost two early wickets in their game against RR. Then came Reddy, who scored a brilliant half-century, taking his team's score past 200 runs. The young player remained unbeaten on 76 from 42 balls and struck eight sixes in his innings.
Bowlers: Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Varun Chakaravarthy
Mitchell Starc finally came to the party in the match against the Mumbai Indians wherein he took four wickets. Starc came to bowl the penultimate over of the match, with MI needing 32 runs. Tim David hit Starc for six on the first ball; however, the pacer came back strongly on the next ball, dismissing David. He took two more wickets in the next three balls, ensuring a comfortable win for his team.
It was just another day at work for Jasprit Bumrah when he took three wickets against KKR. The Indian pacer conceded only 18 runs and made sure KKR didn’t get away with many runs in the death overs.
Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was having an ordinary IPL season, finally had his moment against the Rajasthan Royals. He dismissed Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson in the very first over. However, things got spicy when he came to bowl the last over, with the Royals needing 13 runs.
In the end, it came to two runs from one ball, and Kumar bowled a low full toss that hit Rovman Powell on the pads, and he was adjourned out. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets and ensured an important win for his team.
Varun Chakaravarthy had a fantastic Week 6 of the IPL. The KKR bowler took three wickets against the Delhi Capitals, and KKR won that match by seven wickets. He continued his good form against MI. Varun bowled brilliantly when KKR was defending only 170 runs; he took two wickets and only conceded 22 runs in his spell.