Senior Indian players and their performances in IPL 2018

Chennai Super Kings showed that age does not matter but experience does after they ended up as the Champions of the IPL 2018 having 30-year olds form the majority of their squad. This IPL season saw several young performers giving tussle and threatening the positions of regular names at the national level. At the same time, many senior players were seen using their experience to take their team home. Few players brought back their best times to perform well while few others got a reality check at the big stage.

Here we look at how the senior Indian star players fared in the IPL 2018:

5. Yuvraj Singh:

Yuvraj Singh fetched 14 crores, 16 crores and 7 crores respectively in 2014, 2015 and 2016 IPL Player Auction. However, the veteran all-rounder was picked at his base price of 2 crores this time following his Syed Mushtaq Ali Performances. Yuvraj had a tough time in the IPL too and didn’t get backing of the franchise either. He scored 65 runs in six innings he batted with the best score of 20. The 35-year old hit a total of eight boundaries in the tournament at an average of 10.83 and a strike-rate of 89.04.

4. Gautam Gambhir:

Gautam Gambhir started the season with a 55 in their first match against Kings XI Punjab but managed to score only 30 runs in the four innings after that. With the team losing four of the first six matches, the left-hander decided to step down as the captain of Delhi Daredevils. Soon after his decision, the Delhi ‘senior-statesman’ was kept out of the playing XI. This meant he missed out a game for his teams in the IPL for the first time since 2010.

3. Harbhajan Singh:

After 10 successful seasons with the Mumbai Indians, Harbhajan Singh moved to the Chennai Super Kings. He featured in 13 matches this season but in most of them, he seemed to be in the playing XI for the sake of filling up a spot on the roster. The off-spinner bowled only 31.5 overs in the tournament for his seven wickets and conceded runs at an economy rate of 8.48. Harbhajan is known for his batting exploits in the IPL but got to bat only three times this season scoring 29 runs with a best of 19 when he was promoted to bat at No.4.

2. Suresh Raina:

One would be surprised to look at 445 runs in Suresh Raina’s IPL 2018 tally as his runs had the least impact. The left-handed batsman scored at an average of 37.08 and a strike-rate of 132.44. This was also probably the first time Raina put himself into anchor role. Raina, well known for chipping in with a couple of overs, didn’t get a chance to bowl after his blunders during the South Africa T20I series. The 2018 season also witnessed Raina missing a game for the Chennai Super Kings for the first time in their Twenty20 history.

1. MS Dhoni:

2018 witnessed MS Dhoni play the best in an IPL season as he scored 455 runs in 15 innings; six runs less than his highest season aggregate of 461 runs in 2013. Dhoni’s finishing skills were in question over the last 12 months given his struggles at the International level. He responded strongly scoring runs at an average of 75.83 and a strike-rate of 150.66. Dhoni scored three fifties including his individual IPL score of 79*. He struck a total of 24 fours and 30 maximums, the same he hit across the last two IPL seasons.

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