A combined playing XI of the best Indian performers from the 2022 edition of the IPL
While multiple overseas stars glint the tournament with their presence, the IPL 2022, like the league’s previous editions, was decided by the quality Indian performers.
With the competition expanding to 10 teams, India’s talent depth came up for a stern test, and many of the players came out with flying colours.
Today we are making up an XI from the best of these Indian performers, who lit up the season by making a huge impact on their team’s fortunes over the past two months, stamping their authority in the toughest domestic T20 league.
Openers – KL Rahul and Shubman Gill
Let’s not cloud our judgement of Rahul’s batting performances for the season because of the criticism around his slow starts. In a Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batting unit which wasn’t quite consistent with its performances, Rahul was a stand-out performer with 616 runs from 15 innings at a healthy strike-rate of 135.38. He made two hundreds in the tournament and earns a spot in this XI.
Enjoying his most fruitful IPL campaign with title-holders Gujarat Titans, Shubman Gill joins Rahul at the top after producing 483 runs, including a best of 96, over 16 innings at an average of 34.50 and strike-rate of 132.42. Gill, who finished the IPL 2022 fourth on the list of top run-makers, struck four half-centuries and a critical unbeaten 45 on the night of the final.
Middle-order: Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson
He may have played only eight games for a consistently losing Mumbai Indians (MI) side but the quality of performances from Suryakumar Yadav was such that the aggressive right-hander had to be in this XI and lead the middle-order pack at No.3. Yadav averaged 43.28 with a strike-rate of 145.67 for his 303 runs.
Breaking a sequence of right-handers in the XI is Rishabh Pant, the Delhi Capitals (DC) and another player who managed to swim above the troubled waters that his team found itself in. In what wasn’t his most fruitful seasons with the bat, Pant still managed to produce 340 runs at a strike-rate of 151.78.
Talking of middle-order aggressors, Sanju Samson continued to stamp his authority. While he didn’t come to the party during the playoffs, Samson managed to ace his role for the better part of the season, scoring 458 runs at a strike-rate of 146.79. Samson maximised his stay in the middle and made an impact, even as he faced question marks from the traditionalists, who continue to brood over an irrational lack of consistency from him.
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Allrounder – Hardik Pandya
Captaining an IPL side for the first time, not only did Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya lead the Titans to a maiden trophy, but he also rejuvenated himself as a robust utility guy. Taking extra responsibility on the batting front at No.3-4, Hardik topped the runs chart for Titans with 487 runs at an average of 44.27 with a strike-rate of 131.26.
But what makes him the premier allrounder of this side is how well he filled in in the fifth/sixth bowler’s capacity, taking 8 wickets with a healthy economy rate of 7.27 to dispel doubts around his bowling fitness. Hardik, the right-arm seamer, reserved his best for the last by delivering an impactful spell of 3 for 17 off his 4 overs in the final.
Wicketkeeper: Dinesh Karthik
The protagonist of arguably IPL’s most heartening fairytale this season, Dinesh Karthik revived his career aged 36 with an incredible campaign for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Given the difficult end-overs duties by RCB, Karthik nailed his role to perfection, scoring his 330 runs at an eye-catching SR of 183.33 while averaging 55. Through his terrific run for RCB, Karthik also reclaimed a spot in India’s T20I side for the series against South Africa in June.
Bowlers – Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah
Leaving the struggles with injuries over the past few seasons behind him, Bhuvneshwar Kumar reinforced his standing as one of India’s finest white-ball seamers, nailing it with the ball inside the powerplay and in the end-overs. He took 12 wickets at 7.34 runs an over, which may look just about decent. But he bowled his powerplay overs with an ER of 5.92 and went at only 8.60 an over at the death, emerging as SRH’s most in-control bowler in the toughest phases.
With MI compiling their weakest support cast around him, Jasprit Bumrah had his most challenging IPL season. The Indian ace quick found life difficult to manage without sustained pressure at the other end in the initial few games. But he soon overcame the paucity around him to produce a few stand-out spells. He took 15 wickets at 7.18 runs per over.
On the spin front, one can’t look beyond the ‘Purple Cap’ holder Yuzvendra Chahal, who took a whopping 27 wickets – the most by a spinner in one IPL season – with a healthy economy rate of 7.75. Chahal was at his very best in IPL 2022, attacking for wickets but while pragmatically keeping the ball away from the arc.
Last but certainly not the least is the Royals’ understated contributor Ravichandran Ashwin, who played his part more or less to perfection with the ball and even with the bat. On good pitches as a fingerspinner, Ashwin played an able other-end controller to Chahal, delivering his overs with an ER of 7.50 with 12 wickets.
Ashwin also played a useful role on the batting front by relishing the promotion up the order. Used as a pinch-blocker/hitter in a constantly varying role by Royals to try and cover up for their lack of depth, Ashwin made his 191 runs with a SR of 141.48.
He played multiple critical knocks, with the best of the lot being his maiden IPL fifty versus DC and his critical unbeaten 40 odd in the chase against CSK, which was a win that helped RR finish second in the points table and earn two bites at the cherry.
