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IPL 2018: From Shane Watson to Prasidh Krishna - players who excelled beyond expectations

In every season of cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) certain players stun everyone with their superlative efforts. The eleventh edition of IPL was no different where some players impressed all.

IPL 2018: From Shane Watson to Prasidh Krishna - players who excelled unexpectedly

New Delhi, May 29: In every season of cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) certain players stun everyone with their superlative efforts.

The eleventh edition of IPL was no different where some players impressed all with their exceptional performances. While some seasoned campaigners who proved that they still have a lot of gas left in them, there were others who garnered the attention of the selectors with their stellar show on the field.

IPL SPECIAL SITE | IPL BEST XI | STATS

Shane Watson, who was adjudged the man of the match in the final between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, was one of the players who performed beyond expectations.

Here MyKhel presents you an eleven that stunned all with their performance in this year's IPL.

Shane Watson:

Shane Watson:

Watson had gone through a horror IPL season in 2017 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as he scored just 67 runs at a poor 11.16 and took a mere four wickets at an economy of 10.02 last year and people started signing him off.

The 36-year-old, who was awarded the man of the tournament in the inaugural season in 2008, rewound the clock as he entertained everyone with his stellar show.

Watson scored 555 runs at an average of 39.64 and strike rate of 154.60 for Chennai Super Kings and slammed two centuries and a fifty in 15 games. The right-handed batsman, who opened the innings for CSK, looked in a prime form all through the season.

"Throughout the back end of the tournament I was hanging on for dear life, Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni have been looking after me really well and I am really glad to contribute like I did tonight," said Watson after slamming his second ton of the season in the all-important final and guiding CSK to their third IPL triumph.

Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu

Just like his teammate Shane Watson, the veteran batsman wasn't retained by his former franchise during the IPL auction. After leaving Mumbai Indians' camp for Chennai Super Kings, the 32-year-old Hyderabadi cricketer attained an even better form.

In 16 games for his new outfit, Rayudu emerged as the leading run-getter for CSK. He scored 602 runs, including three fifties and a century, in this season.

Rayudu was asked by MS Dhoni to open the innings for CSK and this was the reason for a turnaround performance for him. Rayudu has once again found his place in the Indian national side owing to his performance in the IPL.

Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson

The New Zealand captain emerged as the Orange Cap winner of the season by scoring 735 runs from 16 games, including 8 half-centuries.

Many felt that the Kiwi top-order batsman wouldn't have featured in Sunrisers Hyderabad's playing eleven if not made the captain of the franchise in the absence of David Warner.

But the way Williamson scored runs at ease, led his team to the final he, perhaps, silenced all those who were critical of him.

Williamson would certainly be looked at with some respect in the upcoming seasons, something which this exceptionally talented batsman was denied.

Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler

The English wicketkeeper-batsman was amongst most destructive and consistent overseas player in this season of IPL.

Ever since he was asked to open the innings for Rajasthan Royals, the former Mumbai Indians stumper never looked back. The swashbuckler slammed five back-to-back fifties and equalled former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's record. From 13 games, Buttler scored 548 runs at a strike rate of 155.24 with the bulk of those runs came while opening.

Purchased at Rs 4.40 crore, the right-handed batsman proved to be a great buy for his franchise and his absence was badly felt when RR faced Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator as they lost that game.

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav

Just like Jos Buttler for RR, opening the innings for defending champions Mumbai Indians brought the best out of Suryakumar Yadav.

The right-handed batsman amassed 512 runs, including four half-centuries, from 14 games. Every time he came into bat, Yadav got a decent start and played pacers as well as spinners equally well.

It was the first occasion when the Mumbai cricketer was asked to open the innings and he proved his mettle. Ever since making his IPL debut in 2012, it was the first time when he scored 200-plus runs and ended up at the eighth spot in most run-scorers' list of the season.

Mayank Markande

Mayank Markande

The young leg-spinner from Punjab was one of the finds of the season as he emerged out of nowhere and stunned all with his stellar show in his debut game itself.

Markande, whom none had heard of turned out to be a revelation after trapping Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni in a single over in the inaugural game between MI and CSK. Dhoni and Rayudu failed to read the googly from the debutant and ended up getting leg-before.

The 20-year-old Punjab bowler surprised all as he kept picking up key wickets and even bowled economically. He picked up 15 wickets from 14 games in the season which isn't bad from a debutant's point of view.

Mujeeb Zadran

Mujeeb Zadran

The 17-year-old spinner from Afghanistan lived up to his billings as he picked up 10 wickets from 11 games he played for Kings XI Punjab. The mystery spinner proved to be a key bowler for Kings in the early stages of the tournament as batsmen failed to read him.

In the latter half of the season, before his injury, batsmen tried to play cautiously against the Afghan. No one had thought that the young Afghan would be as good as his compatriot Rashid Khan.

Zadran was one of the most misers of the bowlers in the season as he bowled at an economy of 6.99. The youngster has shown a lot of promise and has been immediately rewarded by his board by getting a place in Afghanistan's debut Test match against India in June.

Shreyas Gopal

Shreyas Gopal

The 24-year-old uncapped all-rounder from Karnataka, purchased at the base price of Rs 20 lakh, was one of the best performers for Rajasthan Royals. He picked up 11 wickets from as many games and bowled at an economy of 7.61.

The leg-spinner's match-winning figures of 4/16 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a must-win game would be remembered for long.

Krishnappa Gowtham

Krishnappa Gowtham

The 29-year-old all-rounder from Karnataka was acquired by Rajasthan Royals for an eye-popping price of Rs 6.40 crore.

Many felt it could be a costly buy for the franchise as they had invested too much in an uncapped player but Gowtham vindicated the franchise's decision with his all-round show in the league. He picked up 11 wickets from 15 games, scored 126 runs, and took some stellar catches as well in his debut season.

His emotional celebration after the match-winning knock of 11-ball 33* against Mumbai Indians was one of the highlights of the season from a youngster.

Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav

The senior India speedster wasn't given a chance on India's tour of South Africa and the Vidarbha pacer came out to make a statement that there's still a lot of gas in him.

One of India's premium pace bowler, Umesh stunned everyone with his pace, bounce and seam movements. He emerged as the leading wicket-taker for Royal Challengers Bangalore with 20 wickets from 14 games.

Nobody had imagined Umesh would be this good as many started considering him a Test bowler as he no more fits into the limited-overs' set up.

"Bowl wicket to wicket and tempt the batsmen for boundaries," Umesh revealed his bowling plan for the season.

With his brilliant effort in this season, Umesh would certainly be in skipper Virat Kohli's mind on India's future assignments.

Prasidh Krishna

Prasidh Krishna

Another player who came out of nowhere and left his impression in this season was Kolkata Knight Riders' young pacer Prasidh Krishna.

The uncapped speedster from Karnataka came as a replacement to India U-19 star Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who was ruled out due to injury. Krishna ended the season with 10 wickets from 7 games with 4/30 (against Sunrisers Hyderabad) being his best figures.

The 22-year-old, who once was a net bowler for RCB, was shown the confidence by his skipper Dinesh Karthik and he reciprocated well with a disciplined show.

Story first published: Wednesday, May 30, 2018, 18:26 [IST]
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