IPL 2018: Best auction pick for each team

With just over a month to go, before the 11th edition of the IPL kicks off, cricket analysts are busy discussing and debating each teams' chances in the IPL. Almost all the teams came out of the auctions with a strong XI, but as we have seen before, IPL being a long tournament, it is usually the teams, with the strong reserves that eventually makes it through.

Each team has a core bunch of players, around whom the entire team is built. It is these core set of players, whose performances serve as the deciding factor for a team. Hence, we see franchises 'go all out' behind certain players, whom they believe to be potential match-winners. As the IPL draws closer, let's take a look at each team's 'Most Valuable Pick' from the auctions, considering the sheer amount of talent these players will bring along with them.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Billy Stanlake (AUS)

Stanlake plays for the Adelaide Strikers in the BBL

The 7-foot pacer from Queensland is a great utility addition to the Hyderabad squad. In a recent interview, the former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was all praises for Stanlake, saying he has all the potential in the world to become one of the greats of the game.

Coming back from a surgery mid-tournament, Stanlake picked up 11 wickets in this year's Big Bash League. Stanlake is known for bowling at a brisk pace, generating speeds upto 150Km/hr. He has the ability to swing the ball, and can trouble the batsman with his bouncers. Stanlake was selected for the Trans-Tasman series, and impressed everyone with his performances throughout the series.

Chennai Super Kings: Faf Du Plessis (SA)

Faf Du Plessis is the captain of the Proteas across all formats

There is a reason why Faf Du Plessis was retained by the Super Kings management via the RTM card. A technically-sound and highly dependable batsman, Du Plessis will provide great balance to the team. Du Plessis has enjoyed spectacular success in the IPL, with the Chennai team, and will look to have a similar showing this year too.

Du Plessis is a valuable asset, given his ability to move anywhere round the batting order, from opening the innings to providing stability to the middle order. The South African has scored runs on an average of 30.11, while maintaining a healthy strike rate of 127.96 in the 53 IPL matches that he has played. A livewire in the field, Du Plessis is a perfect T20 package.

Delhi Daredevils: Glenn Maxwell (AUS)

Maxwell 's presence provides huge boost to the Delhi sidee

Making his comeback to the Delhi squad after a brief stint with them in 2012, Maxwell currently is in red-hot form. An explosive batsman, an impressive fielder, Maxwell is worth every penny. Maxwell has the capability to strike fear in the hearts of even the most experienced bowlers.

Maxwell had a phenomenal showing in the Trans-Tasman series, smashing a blistering 103 off just 58 balls against England in the second T20I. Joining the elite group of players who have scored more than one ton in T20 internationals, Maxwell will look to make his presence felt at this year's IPL. With a strike rate of 164.39, which is the third best in IPL history, Maxwell will be a huge threat throughout the tournament.

Kings XI Punjab: Andrew Tye (AUS)

Andrew Tye was one of the three bowlers to pick up a hat-trick in the 2017 IPL

Andrew Tye was successful in making a name for himself in the 2017 IPL, garnering praises from world over, for his performances with the ball. Tye made his debut for the Gujarat Lions, and registered the best bowling figures by a bowler on IPL debut(5/17). Tye earned a call-up for the Australian ODI side recently, owing to his impressive performance in the Big Bash.

Tye is a T20 specialist and is pretty good at deceiving batsman with his slower ones. The Punjab management were wise enough to pursue Andrew Tye, even if meant spending a little bit more.

In IPL, Tye maintained a pretty decent economy rate of 6.71, and finished with 12 wickets in the 2017 edition from just 6 matches. Coming off the back of a highly successful Trans-Tasman series, wherein he picked up 4 wickets for just 23 runs in the opening game, Andrew Tye is a great addition to the Punjab side.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Robin Uthappa (IND)

Uthappa is the prime candidate to lead the KKR

Robin Uthappa is a big reason why Kolkata Knight Riders are two-time IPL Champions. Uthappa has been a run-machine throughout his run with the Knight Riders. A consistent performer with the bat, Uthappa can also keep wickets, which makes a huge asset. Knight Riders will no doubt, depend on the services of their most prolific performer, if they wish to win the tournament for a third time.

In his four years with the KKR, Uthappa has scored around 1806 with a strike rate of 131.79, He is also third on the list of most dismissals as a wicket-keeper in IPL history, with 58 catches and 32 stumpings.

Rajasthan Royals: Ben Stokes (ENG)

Stokes was the Most Valuable Player of IPL 2017

The English all-rounder was the most expensive pick at this year's auction, going for a whopping Rs 12.5 crores. He became the most expensive overseas player in the history of the tournament when he was bought for a jaw-dropping Rs 14.5 crores by the Supergiants. Stokes was a vital cog in Pune's journey to the final last year, and was adjudged the 'Most Valuable Player'.

Rajasthan have always been good at the auctions, and bagging a player as big as Stokes, is a huge step towards winning the title for a second time. In the 12 matches he played, Stokes scored 316 runs at a strike rate of 142.98, which included a century and a half-century, while also picking up 12 wickets at a decent economy rate of 7.18.

After making his comeback to the England side for the New Zealand series, Stokes has already shown why his presence is so important, scoring a crucial 62 and also picking up two wickets in a Man of the match winning performance in the second ODI

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Yuzvendra Chahal (IND)

Chahal was bought for Rs 6 crores by RCB via RTM

Yuzvendra Chahal has become a key figure of the Indian side, and was pivotal in India's success in the ODI series against South Africa, picking up 16 wickets from just six matches. Chahal was the leading wicket-taker in T20Is in 2017, picking up 23 wickets. Chahal is one of the only two bowlers in T20I history to have taken a 6 wicket-haul.

Chahal has been instrumental for the Royal Challengers of Bangalore, picking up wickets at crucial stages of the game, and that is probably why they didn't wish to let him go.

Mumbai Indians: Evin Lewis (WI)

Lewis was bought for a meagre Rs 3.8 crores by the Mumbai Indians

Ewin Lewis is slowly creeping up the ranks as a T20 specialist, with great performances in T20Is in 2017. The Trinidadian is an explosive top-order batsman, having the ability to hit massive sixes. The 26 year-old left-hander usually comes out with all guns blazing, and Mumbai will want him to be at his attacking best. It is Lewis's time to leave his mark on the IPL and exert his will on the opposition bowlers.

Lewis has played 14 T20Is in his career so far, scoring 468 runs at a massive strike rate of 154.97, which includes two hundreds and two fifties. In his second T20 match itself, Lewis smashed a 48-ball hundred against India. Indians were forced to feel his wrath once again, when he hit a scintillating 125* at Sabrina Park in July last year. In February 2018, Lewis was named as one of the ten players to look out for ahead of the upcoming 2018 World Cup Qualifier tournament, by the International Cricket Council(ICC).