IPL 2022: Best Benched XI of the first week of the tournament

The first week of the 15th edition of the IPL is over with the match between KKR and PBKS. KKR managed to beat their opposition by 4 wickets and earned two crucial points in the points table. The first week of IPL 2022 was quite an eventful one. Meanwhile, some new faces made their name with their stealth performances and while a few didn’t get a chance to make their place in their respective teams. The benched players indeed have a lot of talent and the ability to turn the game around in their respective team’s favor. Selecting the best XI from the 18-25 players squad is never an easy task. Keeping that in mind, we have picked 11 benched players from the first week of IPL 2022 who can create a strong team that will have the capability to beat any side. Take a look at best benched XI of the first week of IPL 2022: 1. Karun Nair (Rajasthan Royals) Karun Nair plays a shot. (Photo Source: Twitter) Karun Nair, a top-order batter, has been a part of the IPL since 2013. He is a well-known name in the IPL and has played some good knocks but due to lack of consistency he often has to sit on the bench. He is the kind of batsman who can rotate strike along with powerful shots and put pressure on opposition bowlers. The Karnataka-born is popularly known for his triple hundred, which came against England in Chennai in 2016. However, after that he didn’t get much opportunity to play for the country but every year he participates in the IPL. The right-hander was bought by Rajasthan Royals at a price of INR 1.4 crore. Due to the availability of many top-order batters in the Rajasthan team, he couldn’t get a place in the first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. As the 2022 season progresses, it is going to be interesting to see at which number he will play if he gets a chance. 2. Manan Vohra (Lucknow Super Giants) Manan Vohra. (Photo Source: Instagram) Manan Vohra, the talented stroke-maker, made his IPL debut for PBKS against RCB in 2016 and impressed everyone with an unbeaten 43 off 26 balls. The following year, he played a crucial knock of 67 runs in the 2014 IPL final but it went in vain as KKR claimed their second IPL title. The Chandigarh-born batter was picked by new franchise Lucknow Super Giants in the mega-auction. During the auction, no team showed any interest in him other than Lucknow and he was bought at his base price of INR 20 lakh. Coming to his IPL performance, in 53 matches he has scored 1054 runs at a strike rate of 130.61 and his best inning of 95 runs off just 50 balls came against Sunrisers Hyderabad on 17 April, 2017. 3. Rassie van der Dussen (Rajasthan Royals) Rassie van der Dussen. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images) Rassie van der Dussen was set to join the Rajasthan Royals last year as a replacement pick. But he couldn’t due to some reason. However, the middle-order batter was bought by RR at a price of INR 1 crore for the 2022 season. Dussen is one of the most destructive batsmen in the world. In T20Is, he has smashed 933 runs for South Africa with a strike rate of 130.86. His hitting ability makes him one of the most fearful batsmen to bowl at. He has experience playing in different T20 leagues across the globe. It is just a matter of time before he will make his IPL debut. Van der Dussen has impressed very much across all formats with his batting and is touted to be the next big thing in international and franchise cricket. 4. Srikar Bharat (WK) (Delhi Capitals) KS Bharat. (photo source: IPL/BCCI) Srikar Bharat is one of the most talented wicket-keeper batsmen on the domestic circuit. While playing for Andhra Pradesh, he became the first wicketkeeper batsman to score a triple-century in the Ranji Trophy in the 2014-15 season. He was unknown to many before featuring for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last season. In 2021, he featured in 8 games and stitched some crucial partnerships with AB de Villers. The 28-year-old came into the limelight in a match against the Delhi Capitals, where he scored an unbeaten 78 and finished the game by hitting a six. This year, Bharat was bought by Delhi Capitals for a sum of INR 2 crore. He got 10 times higher than his base price at the mega auction but didn’t get a chance to play in the first week. 5. Sarfaraz Khan (Delhi Capitals) Kings XI Punjab’s Sarfaraz Khan (Photo Source: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Last year Sarfaraz Khan was a part of the Punjab team but didn’t get an opportunity to play much cricket. He is known for his hard-hitting ability but unfortunately warmed the bench in the first game of the 2022 IPL against Mumbai Indians. At the age of 17, he became the youngest player to be picked up by a team in the 2015 IPL auction by the Bangalore franchise. In 40 matches, the right-handed batsman has scored 441 which includes just one fifty. The Mumbaikar was bought by Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022 for his base price of 20 lakhs. He is capable of changing the course of the match and recently scored some heavy runs for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. 6. Jimmy Neesham (Rajasthan Royals) Jimmy Neesham. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) The Kiwi-allrounder Jimmy Neesham made his IPL debut in 2014 for Delhi Daredevils and this season he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals at a price of INR 1.50 crore. The 31-year-old has played 12 games in his IPL career, but his numbers does not justify his potential. With the current squad setup, Neesham could potentially play the finisher’s role as well as bowl crucial overs for the Rajasthan Royals. Talking about his bowling, Neesham can bowl his quota of four overs on his day. This makes him an asset to any team. In T20Is, he has picked up 21 wickets. 7. Mohammad Nabi (C) (Kolkata Knight Riders) Mohammad Nabi. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Mohammad Nabi is one of the clever off spinners in world cricket. The Afghanistan cricketer was picked by the Kolkata-based franchise for a sum of 1 crore. But in the opening encounter of the 2022 IPL against Chennai Super Kings, he could not make it to the playing XI. Nabi has been very impressive in international cricket; he has played an important role in Afghanistan’s rise through the ranks to the 2015 Cricket World Cup and their induction into the Test club. In 17 IPL matches, he has picked up 13 wickets with an economy of 7.14. Along with bowling, he can contribute in the lower order as well. Nabi is just 4 runs away from becoming the fifth player in T20 history to score 3000 runs and take 300 wickets. 8. Karn Sharma (Royal Challengers Bangalore) Karn Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter) Karn Sharma has been a part of several IPL-winning teams in the past, and whether he can transfer his fortune to RCB remains to be seen. The leg-spinner has not played more than nine games in any of the last six IPL seasons and warmed the bench throughout the 2021 season. His economic status has never been lower than seven since 2017, and he has picked 59 wickets in his 67 games in IPL history. At the 2022 mega auction, Karn Sharma was bought by the Bangalore-based franchise at his base price of Rs 50 lakhs. He is a very impressive leg-spinner and brings a lot of experience to the table as well. But it will be interesting to see if he gets a chance to play this season. 9. Jaydev Unadkat (Mumbai Indians) Jaydev Unadkat. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Jaydev Unadkat is one of the most experienced bowlers to be playing in the IPL this season. He is the kind of bowler who has the ability to bowl in pressure situations. His variations are hard to pick for any batsman in the T20 format. In the last two seasons, he has not been consistent having played just 13 games and scalped 8 wickets. This year, Unadkat was bought by five-time champions Mumbai Indians for INR 1.30 crore. The left-armer pacer’s breakthrough performance came in the 2017 IPL, when he played for Rising Pune Supergiant where he picked up 14 wickets in 12 matches, including a hat-trick and a five-wicket haul. 10. Chetan Sakariya (Delhi Capitals) Chetan Sakariya. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Chetan Sakariya is a youngster who can bowl over 140 kph regularly. His excellent bowling skills were on display during last year’s IPL when he made his debut against Punjab Kings. Within just a few months, after giving a remarkable performance in his first IPL season, he made his international debut on the Sri Lanka tour in July and it was a dream come true moment for the Saurashtra cricketer. The left-arm medium-pacer will be seen in action for the Delhi Capitals as they bought him for a whopping price of Rs 4.2 crore. However, he couldn’t make it to the playing XI in the first match against MI due to the permutation and combination of the team. 11. Chris Jordan (Chennai Super Kings) Chris Jordan. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) England’s speedster has a reputation for being a successful death bowler, but he has failed to impress in the IPL. He did not make a great IPL debut for RCB against Rising Pune Supergiant where he leaked 43 runs in 4 overs and managed to pick up just 1 wicket. However, his raw pace can trouble the batsmen in any format. Jordan has played 24 IPL games and has picked up 25 wickets. His best bowling figures of 4/11, came against Gujarat Lions in his debut year. This year, he is a part of the Chennai Super Kings squad. The franchise showed faith in him by picking him at a price of Rs 3.6 crores but didn’t play him in the first two matches of the side.