The 15th edition of the IPL has now almost completed a month of riveting T-20 affairs. Despite the event boasting of some of the haloed cricketers, the impactful performances have come from less fancied quarters. Spectators expected a lot of fireworks from the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Ravindra Jadeja etc but the electrifying efforts have come from a different set of players who are not burdened by the weight of stardom. Hence, let us list out some power-packed performances from the cash-rich Indian T-20 carnival so far.
Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)
The current vice-captain of England’s white-ball cricket has set the latest season of IPL on fire by amassing 491 runs from seven innings. Unarguably one of the finest in the 50 and 20 overs formats, Jos Buttler has already managed 3 centuries in the current IPL. The superlative batting on Buttler’s part has put the Rajasthan franchise within close range of a spot in the IPL playoffs. The fact that his strike rate has been over 161 and he has scored 39 percent of RR’s total runs so far, shows Buttler’s extent of domination in the current edition. Resultantly, the English cricketer tops the batters’ list right now.
KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants)
The captain of the newest team to enter the IPL fold, Lokesh Rahul has proved yet again why he is dubbed as “Mr Consistent” in the world of cricket currently. Thus far, he has scored 367 runs from 8 innings, including two centuries against the “miserable” Mumbai Indians. Not surprisingly, the Karnataka batsman happens to be the second-highest scorer in the IPL season so far with a batting average of 61.33 and a strike rate of 147.9. Apart from batting like a dream, he has also astutely led the Lucknow Super Giants to take them within the striking distance of earning a playoff berth.
Yuzhvendra Chahal (Rajasthan Royals)
With 18 wickets from seven matches so far in the current edition, Chahal dominates the list of highest wicket-takers in the IPL 2022. The Haryana-born cricketer has claimed the first hat trick of this season as well. He achieved the feat in a dramatic four-wicket over against KKR. Presently, the midget bowler possesses a bowling impact score that is 42 percent more than the next best bowler. This makes his exclusion from last year’s T-20 World Cup all the more baffling. Hope better sense prevails among the selectors this time.
Maheesh Theekshana (Chennai Super Kings)
CSK have been going through a bad patch in the current IPL, but that has not stopped one of their spinners, Maheesh Theekshana, to make an indelible impression this year. He has provided breakthroughs at crucial points and has been instrumental in stopping the RCB in their tracks while chasing 217 with a four-wicket haul recently. Unfortunately, his two-wicket haul against Gujarat Titans, later on, did not go in favour of Chennai as Gujarat rode on the brilliance of David Miller and Rashid Khan to take the game away from the latter.
David Miller (Gujarat Titans)
It would be a grave injustice not to include the South African batsman among the top-notch performers this season. Though he has only 220 runs to show from seven innings, his priceless 94 not out has been more than critical in Gujarat winning a tight game against Chennai. With Gujarat struggling at 87/5 chasing 170, it was Miller who helped them overhaul the target eventually with good support from Rashid Khan towards the end. Also, in the league game against RR his unbeaten 31 off 14 balls aided in stretching the Gujarat total to 192, which finally proved too many for the Royals.
