IPL 2018: One player who stood out with his individual performance from the bottom six teams

The Chennai Super Kings will be playing the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the finals of IPL-11. These two teams have done exceptionally well in the IPL this year. The teams have proven match-winners and standout performers who helped them reach the finals.

However, the teams which could not make it to the finals also had some great performers this year. These players stood out from the others and played a crucial role in achieving whatever their teams did this season. But, these players couldn’t alone take their teams through despite the good performances.

Here are the players who stood out from the bottom six teams:

1. Sunil Narine | Kolkata Knight Riders

Sunil Narine has had a terrific season with the Kolkata Knight Riders this season. Although he wasn’t at his best with the ball, he performed decently well to help KKR go the distance. With the bat, he was as brutal as he ever is and provided the team with some lightening starts.

With the bat, Sunil Narine has scored 357 runs this season. He scored his runs at an average of only 22 but his strike rate was a mammoth 190 this year. He did well with the ball as well picking 17 wickets in the 16 games played. His economy rate was under 7 although his average was about 41. Narine has contributed both with the bat and the ball making him one of the most valuable players in KKR.

2. Jos Buttler | Rajasthan Royals

The Rajasthan Royals have made it into the playoffs courtesy Jost Buttler. He set the league on fire after he was made to open the innings. He shouldered the entire burden of the Royals in quite a few games and helped them bag some crucial wins.

After he began to open, Buttler had the scores of 67, 51, 82, 95, 94, 39 and has failed to cross 50 only once. Out of the 548 runs he scored in 13 innings, he scored 428 in just 6 innings at the opening slot. The Royals clearly missed him during the playoffs and he absence affected their chances.

3. Suryakumar Yadav | Mumbai Indians

This IPL season was quite a revelation for Suryakumar Yadav. He has shifted bases from Kolkata to Mumbai in the mega-auction this year and has worked wonders for the team. Yadav turned things around after having had a disastrous IPL 2017. He featured in all the MI games and is the leading run-scorer in the side.

In the 14 games he played, Yadav scored 512 runs with a high score of 72 and an average of 37. He scored his runs at a strike rate of 133 and has also crossed the 1000-run mark in the IPL this year. He hit the ball very sweetly but he would be gutted not to have converted his starts into something huge.

4. Umesh Yadav | Royal Challengers Bangalore

Umesh Yadav was never known for his T20 abilities much. There were often complaints about him not able to control the ball well despite having the pace. He had shown glimpses of what he could do in 2017 but was not as consistent as one would like.

But, in 2018, he was a completely different bowler. Umesh hit beautiful lines and lengths with the new ball and troubled the batsmen with his pace. In a highly inconsistent RCB bowling attack, he was the pick of the bowlers although he failed badly at the death. He has picked 20 wickets this season in 14 games making him one of the leading wicket-takers this season.

5. KL Rahul | Kings XI Punjab

Undoubtedly, KL Rahul was the best performer for KXIP this season. Although there might be arguments about Mujeeb or Tye being the best, KL was the one-man army in the KXIP batting lineup. He has played a crucial role in helping the team win their first five games.

But, as the tournament progressed, teams found a way to dismiss the batsmen at the other end putting a lot of burden on KL. He didn’t have much support and expecting him to win you all the games single-handedly is a bit too much of an asking. In 14 games this season, KL has scored 659 runs at an average close to 55.

6. Rishabh Pant | Delhi Daredevils

Just like KL, Rishabh Pant was the stand out performer for the team this year. Dehli won most of the matches when this dashing left-hander did well. The way Pant took on the dangerous SRH bowling lineup was one of the standouts of the tournament this year.

He smashed the best of the bowlers for huge sixes showing the world how dangerous a player he is. Pant has had one of his best IPL seasons ever. He scored 684 runs at an average close to 53 this year. These stats prove the kind of impact he had for the Daredevils. However, despite all the efforts, his team ending last is quite disheartening.