The Indian Premier League Team of the Week is here !

Just a few days old, the Indian Premier League 2017 has already thrown a lot of surprises at us as well as witnessing a couple of nail-biting encounters. Looking at the performances of the players here is the Indian Premier League team of the week.

We have seen some entertaining and exceptional batting and bowling performances over the past five days. There have been some cricketers who were expected to perform well, but failed to do so and on the other hand, we have seen some surprising performances from relative unknowns. Some star players were not up to the mark whereas some players have excelled beyond expectations.

OPENERS:

Chris Lynn :

This Big Bash player has been Kolkata for some time now but played down the order in the matches! But the masterstroke in the first match of the season by the Kolkata camp fired miracles.

There was a lot expected from this 27-year-old big-hitting Australian and he did not disappoint as he smashed his way to an unbeaten 93 of just 41 deliveries to help Kolkata Knight Riders thrash the Gujarat Lions in their first match of the season. His knock included 6 fours and 8 sixes and he was involved in an 184 run partnership with Gautam Gambhir which turned out to be the highest ever opening wicket stand ever in IPL history.

Rishab Pant :

A youngster who have proved his worth. Pant played an exemplary knock of 57 in his first match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and almost single-handedly took his side to victory but was unfortunately dismissed in the very last over. What made his knock even more special was that he had just come back from performing his father’s last rites.

Gautam Gambhir: 

You just need to mention his name. The captain in charge looks excellent with his bat this season .The perfect combo of excellence and aggression. He is now the fastest scorer of highest number of 50s in IPL history along with Warner. With his awesome knock last night against Punjab notching up another 50, he was the recipient of the Orange Cap this season.

MIDDLE ORDER :

Nitish Rana :

The players has repaid his side confidence in him with a couple of stellar knocks. In the Delhi cricketing circles, Nitish Rana was always regarded as a terrific hitter of the ball. Perhaps not quite as explosive as his fellow compatriot Unmukt Chand or the young Rishabh Pant, but since scoring 299 runs in the 2015-16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, everyone took notice of the 23-year-old’s attacking prowess.

Following his knock of 45 which helped Mumbai Indians beat Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rana not only credited Gambhir, but thanked Sachin Tendulkar and Mahela Jayawardene for clearing his mental mess after he was dropped from the Delhi team.

Kedar Jadhav:

He has been the standout batsman in an average Royal Challengers Bangalore batting line-up. He threatened to take the game away from SRH in the first match but was cut short by a brilliant piece of fielding by Ben Cutting. He is stand out player in the RCB team which misses star players like Virat Kohli.

Dinesh Karthik :

He has had an exceptional domestic season prior to the IPL 2017 and carried his form into the tournament with two good performances for the Gujarat Lions. If he continues to perform the way he has over the past 12 months, he could make a strong case for himself to get picked for the ICC Champions Trophy.

LOWER MIDDLE ORDER:

Think of only a single name.

Hardik Pandya:

What has he not done to get a mention here? He brought the tournament to life by smashing Ashok Dinda for 30 runs in the final over of the first innings of their first match against Pune. He then smashed a 20-ball 37 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

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BOWLING:

Rashid Khan :

The first player to make it to the IPL from Afghanistan. But he has never let his limelight affect him. He has taken the tournament by storm with 5 wickets in 2 matches. With such great googlies he has bamboozled many star players.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar :

He has one of the best economy rates after the first week and has proved to be extremely successful by picking up wickets at regular intervals for his side. He picked up the purple cap last season and with 4 wickets to his name in 2 matches so far this year, he could well be on his way to becoming the first person to win the purple cap in two consecutive seasons. He now tops the list

Imran Tahir :

Imran Tahir went unsold in the IPL 2017 auction but was eventually picked up by the Rising Pune Supergiant just a few days before the tournament begun. With his performances in the first couple of matches, he could go on to challenge for the Purple Cap. He has taken 5 wickets in 2 matches at an economy rate of 7.12.

Yuzvendra Chahal :

Chahal has been the best bowler for the RCB since the beginning of last season. He missed out on the purple cap last year and fortunately continued his good run of form into this year’s IPL as well. He has a solid temperament and this holds him good stead and his record both home and away is brilliant. He has taken only 2 wickets in 2 matches but boasts a phenomenal economy rate of 5.12

Umesh Yadav :

He is the star pacer who just missed the first few days due to injury but joined KKR on the last day and bowled phenomenally with 4 wickets in his bag. If that happens for the rest of season then he is going to give big fight to others.

These names would keep on changing and hope other players show their worth to make this league more interesting!