IPL 2018: 7 Players who are doing wonders for their new Franchise

The 11th edition of Indian Premier League entered its third week with the double-header last night, and the first two weeks have been as thrilling and exciting as the fans could have asked for.

Kings XI Punjab are sitting right at the top of the table, whereas Delhi Daredevils, despite having one of their strongest squads in years, is drooling at the bottom of the table.

While most of the victories have been combined efforts of the players of the respective squads, certain usual suspects have continued to make an impact this season as well.

Virat Kohli and Sunil Narine, retained by their respective sides RCB and KKR, are leading the batting and bowling charts, while AB de Villiers, Andre Russell and Chris Lynn have set the stage on fire with their explosive batting styles.

However, most of the impact has been made by the players who were expected to be retained by their previous squads because of their exceptional record playing for them but were surprisingly let go.

Here are the seven players who are doing wonders for the new franchises they are playing for in this season.

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#1 Nitish Rana (Kolkata Knight Riders)

The batsman who turned out to be the partnership breaking bowler

Even though he was one of the main reasons for Mumbai Indians' victorious campaign last year, no one was expecting Nitish Rana to be retained by the defending champions.

I mentioned this that Rana will the wild card for KKR in one of my articles and, so far in this season, Rana has played the same role for KKR that he played for MI.

Given that they are floundering near the bottom of the table, the Mumbai-based franchise is definitely regretting the decision they made regarding Rana's retention.

So far, Rana has been the backbone of the KKR middle order, scoring runs in all but one match in this season.

With 165 runs scored at a strike rate of over 135, Rana is the second highest run scorer for KKR.

However, it has been his hidden talent with the ball that has done wonders the team, with his prized scalps of Kohli, De Villiers, Ajinkya Rahane and D'Arcy Short laying the foundation of two victories for KKR.

#2 Trent Boult (Delhi Daredevils)

The only bright spot in Daredevils campaign

Despite possessing one of the strongest playing XI and bench strength in years, Delhi Daredevils are still struggling to find their footing in this season of IPL, with their only victory coming in that high-scoring, yet close, encounter against Mumbai Indians.

Trent Boult, however, has been on a roll in this early part of the season. With KKR, his previous team, struggling in the fast bowling department, it won't be completely wrong to say that Boult's presence could have helped them win more matches.

Boult has taken seven scalps so far in five matches, which is joint fourth highest in the tournament and the highest among the Daredevils' bowlers.

A bowling average of 23 and an economy of 8.5 might not present the right picture, but when your team gives away over 170 runs each in three innings, those figures look like a gem.

Add to the fact that he took arguably the best catch in the history of IPL to dismiss Kohli, and you can easily say that Boult was easily the best buy for DD in this year's IPL at the moment.

#3 Umesh Yadav (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Yadav has been on fire for RCB

Imagine this scenario - You let your best fast bowler, who has been playing for you for four years, go because of one poor season and, to your bad luck, he goes to some other team and temporarily becomes the highest wicket-taker of the tournament.

This is exactly what has happened with Kolkata Knight Riders and Umesh Yadav. Barring a few on-and-off bad balls, Yadav has been the best fast bowler of this season of IPL.

If one takes out that dismal bowling performance against Rajasthan Royals, where he went wicketless and for 59 runs in his four overs, Yadav's performance has been second to none.

Joint highest wicket-taker of the tournament so far, his double strike in the first two balls against Mumbai Indians was the best start that his team could have asked for.

His triple strike over against KXIP laid the foundation of the victory for RCB. With eight wickets in five matches, Umesh will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming RCB matches as well.

#4 Ambati Rayudu (Chennai Super Kings)

Making a jump from one arch-rival to the other

For almost 8 years, Ambati Rayudu was a permanent member of the Mumbai Indians squad. Not only was he a part of each of their IPL victories, he played a vital role in each of those title wins as well.

Along with Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard, Rayudu formed the core of Mumbai Indians' batting order that used to give nightmares to the bowlers all around the world.

However, the arrival of Nitish Rana in 2017 forced Rayudu out of the squad. He was not retained by MI and was subsequently bought by CSK, where he has magically regained his old form during the early part of this season.

Famous for his exploits in the middle order, Rayudu was promoted to the top of the order by CSK and he has been a revelation so far in his new role as an opener.

Rayudu has contributed greatly to the victories of the yellow army, with scores of 22, 39, 49, 12 and a match-winning 79 solidifying his place in the team.

With 201 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 160.8, Rayudu is currently the top scorer for CSK and will play a vital role in the upcoming matches of the team as well.

#5 KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab)

Laying his claim as India's first choice opener in T20I.

Just like 2014 edition of the tournament, where they reached their first ever IPL final, a complete revamp in the squad is doing wonders for the Kings XI Punjab as currently sit near the top of the points table after five fixtures.

One of the pillars of the Royal Challengers batting order, KL Rahul has brought a new wave of explosive batting to the KXIP lineup after he was surprisingly not retained by the franchise from Bengaluru.

Despite the pressure of playing up to the level of the money he is being paid, Rahul has played the best game of his career so far in IPL.

His performance in KXIP's opening fixture, where he scored the fastest fifty in the history of IPL, will forever be remembered as one of the best IPL knocks of all time.

So far in five matches, Rahul has accumulated 213 runs at a gigantic strike rate of 184. Barring a failure against SRH, where he scored 18 runs, Rahul has scored 51, 47, 37 and 60 in four of his last five innings.

Trailing near the bottom of the table, RCB are definitely regretting letting a player of the calibre of Rahul go after his successful stint with the franchise.

#6 Chris Gayle (Kings XI Punjab)

The Universe Boss is in the form of his life

It was quite surprising that Chris Gayle was neither retained by his former franchise RCB and nor was bought by any other franchise during the first rounds of auctions.

Even when he was finally bought by the KXIP at his base price, his chances of playing every match were very slim considering that Aaron Finch was also present in the team as a specialist opener.

But everything that has transpired in the last three fixtures of Punjab has made one thing very clear - Gayle has never been in a better form in his whole life.

After missing the first two games, Gayle started his campaign with a bang with a tremendous 33-ball-63 against the mighty CSK.

In the very next match, he entered the berserker mode and scored his 5th IPL hundred against table toppers SRH.

His performance in the match against KKR, where he compiled a 100-plus opening partnership with former RCB teammate Rahul and scored 62*, was enough to bring the orange cap back on his head.

Even though he lost the cap to former teammate Kohli, it won't be long before he takes it back from him and holds it till the end of the tournament.

#7 Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings)

Doing wonders with both bat and ball.

After a successful eight-year stint with Rajasthan Royals, during which he won the player of the tournament award twice, Shane Watson had a rather average two years with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Just like the two players before him Rahul and Gayle, Watson was also released by RCB before this season with the reason being his inability to score runs and take wickets the way he used to during his prime.

However, Watson's stint with CSK so far has made one thing very clear - Watto has not lost a single step on the cricketing field.

Watson has been solid at the top of the batting order for CSK, with quick fire 19-ball-42 against KKR and a blistering 57-ball-106 against RR helping CSK achieve huge victories in both encounters.

Often regarded as a shadow of the bowler that he was during the early years, Watson has made a stunning return to the bowling department where he has taken six wickets in five innings at a misery strike rate of 15 and a respectable economy rate of 7.92.

He has easily been the best all-round performer of this edition of IPL.

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