IPL 2018: Best XI from the bottom four teams

An enthralling end to the league stages of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw some disappointing outcomes for a few sides. No prizes for guessing the names of those teams, it’s the Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the Delhi Daredevils.

It really comes in as a huge surprise to see Kings XI Punjab not in the top 4 especially after the way they kick-started their campaign. They lost 7  of their final 8 matches, thus finishing 7th on the points table. The Mumbai Indians failed to make it to the playoffs for only the second time in the last 9 seasons.

Delhi Daredevils have been an attractive side to watch this season, but their poor run has sabotaged their chances big time. Something similar can be said about Royal Challengers Bangalore, who once again failed to live up to their fans expectations. Here’s the best XI amongst these bottom four sides, an XI which can compete against any side in the world.

Openers – KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav

KL Rahul has been a one-man warrior for the Kings XI Punjab this entire season. If he gets the runs, they end up scoring good and if he doesn’t, they end up with a paltry score. Rahul was trying to defend the indefensible, but his effort was outstanding and gets a straight entry into the playing XI.

Suryakumar Yadav has been outstanding this season with the bat. He opened the innings with Evin Lewis this season and played some great knocks throughout the tournament. With over 500 runs in the league stages, there was never a second thought on including him in this XI.

Middle Order – Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), AB de Villiers

Now, this middle order has some scintillating names in world cricket. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers from the Royal Challengers Bangalore, they’ve been the two lone warriors for their side. Heavy reliance on these players to perform really put their side under the hammer and no wonder why they don’t find themselves in the playoffs.

Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant enlightened the Delhi Daredevils’ campaign with their outstanding batting prowess. Iyer had a great season as a captain and a batsman whilst this can be considered as Rishabh Pant‘s breakthrough season for sure. He currently holds the Orange Cap as well, but considering Williamson still has a minimum of 2 matches, it’ll be difficult for him to retain that cap.

All-rounders – Hardik Pandya

Touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Hardik Pandya had a decent season this year, but certainly not as good as he would’ve liked. With the ball, he picked up way too many wickets than what he would’ve imagined, but his batting performance let him down. Nevertheless, he was the best amongst all-rounder amongst these four sides.

Bowlers – Andrew Tye, Mujeeb Zadran, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav

Andrew Tye sits right on top of the list of purple cap holders with 24 wickets to his name, with Umesh Yadav in the second place. Both fast bowlers have done very well for their sides, but just not good enough as it turns out. Umesh has been lethal with the new ball whilst Tye’s variations have been stellar.

One of the best death overs bowlers in the world, Jasprit Bumrah once again pulled off some breathtaking spells. Another cricketer who really deserves a special mention in this list is the teenage sensation from Afghanistan, Mujeeb Zadran, who time and again has troubled batsmen with his wonderful variations.