IPL 2018: 5 youngsters who have performed better than their experienced teammates

It has been almost two weeks since the commencement of the Indian Premier League. As usual, the tournament has given a lot of entertainment right from its early stages. With each team having played a minimum of 3 matches, the league looks wide open as each franchise holds an equal chance to make it to the playoffs.

As of now, Kolkata Knight Riders are right on top of the table with 3 wins out of the 5 matches played. Teams like Kings XI Punjab and Sun Risers Hyderabad have impressed the viewers with their all-round performances. On the other hand, the bigger franchises in Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore have started the league on a slower note as both these teams have just 1 win in their kitty.

Interestingly, the 11th season of IPL has seen several big players not able to perform when their team needed them to. Ravindra Jadeja for Chennai Super Kings, Kieron Pollard for Mumbai Indians, Colin Munro for Delhi Daredevils and many more have not been able to hit their purple patch yet.

But, there's some beauty about this cash-rich carnival. When such big players are not in a supreme form, opportunity strikes for the youngsters. It's just a matter of time for these youngsters to grab the chances. The same has happened in this season as well. There have been many young players who have stepped up and helped their respective teams to perform better.

Here we look at 5 such players who have performed better than their experienced teammates:

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#5 Karun Nair instead of Yuvraj Singh

So far, it has been a disappointing season for Yuvraj Singh. The veteran Indian all-rounder has managed to score just 36 runs in the 4 games he has played. Although he did not get a chance to bat in the last game of KXIP, Yuvi has still failed to deliver for his franchise in the 3 innings he came in to bat.

He definitely has to thank Karun Nair, who has stepped up and performed for his team. In the 4 matches, he has featured in, Karun has 139 runs under his belt. He has scored these runs at an impressive strike-rate of 143 and has a half-century to his name in this season.

#4 Rishabh Pant instead of Gautam Gambhir

The skipper of Delhi Daredevils, Gautam Gambhir has had a silent outing so far. Playing for his new franchise, Gambhir made a good start to the tournament scoring 55 against the Kings XI Punjab. But after that, he has not performed as per the expectations. In the 4 matches, the classic Indian left-hander has managed to score just 78 runs.

Delhi is right at the bottom of the table. Still, they have something to cheer about. Their young wicket-keeper batsman, Rishabh Pant has been very impressive in the league so far. Pant has scored 138 runs at a destructive strike-rate of 176.92. He surely will score much more in the coming games.

#3 Sanju Samson instead of Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes was a huge buy for the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2018 IPL. The English all-rounder is yet to do justice to his INR 12.5 crore price tag at the Indian Premier League. In four matches, Stokes has scored only 62 runs and has taken just one wicket for 78 runs at an economy rate of 9.75.

While the Royals were hoping their costliest buy Ben Stokes to fire, it was Sanju Samson who caught everyone's attention. The young wicketkeeper-batsman from Kerala has had an outstanding start to the league. Samson has scored 185 runs at a strike-rate of 158 in his 4 matches. His knock of 92 against RCB made him earn the orange cap for a short period of time. At present, Samson is just behind Virat Kohli on the list of leading run scorer.

#2 Nitish Rana instead of Chris Lynn

Chris Lynn decimated bowling attacks in the 2017 IPL season and became one of the most feared opening batsmen of the league. But the 2018 season has been a mixed one for Lynn. The Aussie batsman has 107 runs to his name in 5 matches at a strike-rate of mere 120. With a reputation for hitting the ball hard, KKR will want their big purchase to fire.

Despite Lynn's failure, KKR remains at the top of the table. Thanks to some mature innings from Nitish Rana. An attacking left-handed batsman, Rana has been able to control KKR's innings even after losing some early wickets. He has scored 162 runs in the league so far at a healthy strike-rate of 138. Rana has also contributed with the ball, taking 4 wickets.

#1 Mayank Markande instead of Mustafizur Rahman

The left-arm pacer from Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman hasn't had a great few matches so far. Known for his deceptive slower ones, Mustafizur has managed to grab only 5 wickets so far, out of which 3 wickets were in a game against his former side, SunRisers Hyderabad. He has leaked 143 runs so far with a not-so-good economy of 9.03.

Mumbai Indians have won just 1 game so far, but what has been inspiring from them is the young leg-spinner in Mayank Markande. The current purple cap holder, Mayank also has the best bowling figures in the league as of now. With a best of 4/23, the emerging player has 8 wickets to his name.