IPL 2018: Top 5 Underrated Players this year

Success in a tournament such as the Indian Premier League comes from a blend of experience, youth, and form. The contributions made by every member plays a role eventually no matter how small they seem to be.

This year's edition of the Indian Premier League has seen several swashbuckling batsmen, bowlers on a rampage and electric fielding display. But there are some, who have been hiding behind all this and making immense contributions for their sides.

These set of players have not been under the spotlight as expected despite performing well for their respective franchises. While the talks around town have been for the orange and purple cap contenders, these soldiers have continued to plough throughout the tournament.

Here's a look at five such players who have done the task for their teams.

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#5 Shreyas Gopal

Gopal was prolific in his maiden campaign for the Royals

The former Mumbai Indians leg-spinner made most of his time with the mentor of his new side, Shane Warne this season. The legendary spinner's guidance was evidently seen as Gopal proceeded to pick up 11 wickets in the 11 games he played.

Gopal gelled well alongside his Karnataka team-mate Krishnappa Gowtham as the spin twins managed to perform above expectation and often carried the brunt of the side's lackluster pace attack.

The spinner had his best season with the IPL and also succeeded in keeping his economy rate under check by just conceding over 7.5 runs an over.

To cap all of that, he also managed to bowl arguably the spell of the tournament in a must-win clash against the Royal Challengers Bangalore with figures of 4-16 that helped them seal the playoff berth.

#4 Evin Lewis

Lewis in full flow for the Blues

The West Indian was touted as Mumbai Indians' best buy at the auction considering his stellar exploits in the shortest format of the game. While the defending champions did not have a tournament to remember, their opening stands were a treat to watch right throughout the course of the event with Lewis partnering alongside Suryakumar Yadav.

The spotlight soon shifted onto Yadav on his breakthrough season, but Lewis too had a good debut campaign for the men in blue and managed to notch up 382 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 140.

While the left-hander did not turn up with any mammoth knocks, Lewis played some valuable hands in the victories that the franchise managed to secure after yet another poor start. Mumbai Indians would hope that Lewis brings the goods in the next campaign as well, with their eyes locked on a record-breaking fourth title.

#3 Deepak Chahar

Chahar has managed to rattle batsman with

swing

in this tournament

The seamer is the biggest revelation for the Chennai Super Kings in this year's IPL. Chahar was slated for great things ever since trouling Rohit Sharma in the first game of the tournament.

The true need for Chahar was realized when he was ruled out for a while in the middle. Chahar's absence brought a void in the pace attack for the two-time champions.

While Chahar was not influential during his time with the Rising Pune Supergiant, he has turned up this campaign to scalp 10 wickets at an economy of 7.40, which is brilliant considering he bowls majority of his overs in the powerplay itself.

The value for Chahar cannot be highlighted with his stats as he usually discomforts the batsman with his natural ability to swing the ball. He also keeps the economy under check and will definitely be a part of the Super Kings side for a long time to come.

#2 Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav was simply sublime as a wicket-taking bowler in the Powerplay

The Vidarbha pacer was a crucial buy for the Royal Challengers Bangalore this campaign as they looked to straighten their bowling which has let them down on several occasions.

While the bowling department was nowhere near it's best after conceding 200 runs several times, Umesh Yadav shone out alone in the pack as he made a huge statement ahead of the England tour.

Yadav has often been overlooked with the peaking emergence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. The right-arm pacer brought his A-game under Kohli by picking 20 wickets in 14 matches with an economy just under 8. To add to that, Yadav also bowled the highest number of dot balls in the powerplay.

Yadav was however not much of a talking subject with the focus on overseas bowlers such as Andrew Tye, Rashid Khan, and Mujeeb Rahman.

1. Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya unexpectedly turned up with the ball for the Mumbai Indians

Hardik Pandya is not someone who is generally associated with the term "underrated" but this time around, despite his performances for the Blues, he has not been much of a trending subject as expected.

While Suryakumar Yadav and Mayank Markande rasped through the minds of Mumbai Indians, Pandya fulfilled his role to perfection and even managed to fill in the void of Kieron Pollard in the side. With the bat, he managed to score 260 runs at a strike rate of 136, while this may be down from last year, he has done well in several situations under pressure.

It was with the ball that Pandya truly managed to shine, as he took the load of the underperforming seamers such as the likes of Mitchell McClenaghan, Mustafizur Rahman and even Jasprit Bumrah to an extent. Pandya managed to get 18 wickets which is 12 more than his previous best.

While most people talked about Andre Russell, Shane Watson, and Jofra Archer. Hardik Pandya was writing a script of his own.