IPL 2018: 4 players who have made a big impact in IPL

IPL 2018 was full of unpredictability. In the early part of the season, we saw dramatic run chases. The second half turned out to be different as low totals were defended. The Sunrisers were pioneers in this.

Some of the players who were playing their first edition surprised everyone with their good show. Also, since only 5 players were allowed to be retained this year, all the players were shuffled and it was a great challenge personally for the players to gel well at their new franchises.

However, they did not have any trouble and brought out their 'A' game. Let us take a look at 4 players who made a big impact this IPL.

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#4 Siddarth Kaul

Knuckle ball

has been Kaul's main weapon.

Siddharth Kaul has come of age in this IPL. He is the leading wicket-taker among the fast bowlers of the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He has complemented the spinners Rashid Khan and Shakib beautifully in this year's IPL.

Sunrisers have a knack of picking low-key bowlers and making them great. Kaul is one such product in whom David Warner had great faith, in his first burst in the IPL. From that point onwards, he has developed into a matured bowler.

In this year's IPL, he has picked up 19 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 24.84 and at an economy rate of 8. His best figures of 3/23 came against Mumbai Indians. His knuckle ball has been mighty effective this IPL and has picked him loads of wickets.

#3 KL Rahul

Rahul was the lone warrior with no support from the other end

KL Rahul has found great form this season. This year he has come out all guns blazing. He has scored 659 in 14 matches, at an average of 54.92 and at a strike rate of 158.41 for the Kings XI Punjab.

He was bought by the KXIP in the auction for a whopping 11 crore. He registered the fastest 50 (off 14 balls) ever in the history of IPL breaking Narine's record who had previously done it of 15 balls. His highest score this IPL was 95 against the Rajasthan Royals.

Unfortunately, no other KXIP batsman stepped up with the bat and supported Rahul. A sensational batting show was not enough to see his side through to the playoffs.

#2 Andrew Tye

Tye was one of the very few Australian bowlers to make an impact this IPL

Andrew Tye is a very clever bowler. He possesses a variety of slower bowls in his armoury. He is a tough bowler to score against. Tye is both effective at the death overs and in the powerplay.

He had picked up a hat-trick in last year's IPL for the Gujarat Lions. Tye is the current holder of the purple cap picking 24 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 18.67 and at an economy rate of 8. He was lethal against the Mumbai Indians for KXIP in the second last match of the season.

He picked up his best figures in the IPL in this match of 4/16. Unfortunately, his performance could not lead Kings XI Punjab into the playoffs since no other Punjab bowler barring Mujeeb made a significant impact.

#1 Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson has been the guiding light of SRH

Kane Williamson has taken up the leadership role perfectly for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He was a surprise package for everyone as he is not considered a T20 batsman for not being a hard hitter of the cricket ball. He is currently the orange cap holder scoring 685 runs.

In the absence of David Warner, he has stepped up and is scoring prolifically for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. It is ironic, as for the last two seasons he wasn't picked regularly and was considered a backup batsman. He is the best batsman in finding the gaps. As a captain, he has led his team to the top of the table in the league stage of the IPL.

Kane has also marshalled his bowlers well. He has been instrumental in rotating his bowlers in the match and hence for most of the season he has used only five bowlers. He is a very calm and cool personality as a captain.