IPL 2018: Best performing Indians in first 2 rounds 

The Indian Premier League serves as the best platform for Indian players to prove their pedigree against some of the best international stars from around the globe. The IPL has also acted as a springboard for selection into the national team. It serves as the best opportunity for budding talents to showcase their mettle and for out-of-favor Indian players to show the selectors and fans that they can get back into the Indian team.

The second decade of IPL cricket has kicked off with a bang with riveting encounters and fabulous performances entertaining all the fans. Here, we take a look at those Indian players who have performed the best in the first week of action from the eleventh edition of IPL.

#5 Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)

Sanju Samson was bought back by his old side Rajasthan Royals for a massive sum of ₹8 crore. The young wicket-keeper batsman has impressed in both outings by playing responsible knocks. He fell 1 run short of a well-deserved fifty in the first match which ended in a loss for his side.

The Kerala lad played the defining knock in his side's second game. He was named man-of-the-match for his 22-ball 39, an innings which was crucial in increasing their run-rate in a rain-affected clash. This innings provided the bowlers with more runs to defend in a 6-over match, and they proved to be crucial as the bowlers just about managed to defend the target.

With Indian keeper MS Dhoni in the last stretch of his career, the onus will be on Samson to perform consistently in order to earn a spot in the national team.

#4 KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab)

Rahul scored the fastest IPL 50 ever

KL Rahul was bought for a staggering ₹11 crore at the auctions this year. A huge price tag has put additional responsibility on the shoulders of this man and this seems to have fired him up this season. Chasing 167 in their opening match against Delhi Daredevils, Rahul tore into the Delhi bowling attack en-route to scoring the fastest ever IPL fifty off just 14 balls.

He reserved special treatment for Amit Mishra as he smashed him for 24 runs in one over, with 3 fours and 2 sixes. He was dismissed a few balls later but had set the platform for his side to cruise home to the target. Rahul's innings was glittered with attractive and imposing strokes from the start, and he collected 6 fours and 4 sixes.

In the second match against former side Royal Challengers Bangalore, he began from where he had left off in the first match by smashing 16 runs off Chris Woakes' first over. He scored 47 runs from 30 balls before an uncharacteristic slog ended an innings that promised a lot more. His wicket prompted a collapse and Kings XI Punjab ended their innings at 155 having failed to bat out the quota of 20 overs. Lack of a big score on the board meant that Punjab ended on the losing side.

#3 Shikhar Dhawan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Dhawan is the Orange Cap holder after the first two matches

Shikhar Dhawan has begun the IPL the same way he finished his limited-overs season with India - with a bang! Dhawan has to shoulder extra responsibility this season with his regular opening partner and skipper David Warner banned for this edition. This seems to have done him a world of good though. With a small total of 126 to chase in the opening match against Rajasthan Royals, Dhawan mixed caution with aggression to score 78* and take his side home with more than 4 overs to spare. His innings was studded with 13 boundaries and 1 six and he was also awarded the Man of the Match for this classy knock.

Sunrisers Hyderabad had to chase a reasonable score of 148 against Mumbai Indians in their second match and it was Dhawan who gave the innings a push with his enterprising knock of 45 from just 28 balls. His team looked in complete control while he was at the crease and his wicket triggered a massive collapse. Sunrisers huffed and puffed home off the last ball with the last man hitting the winning runs.

Dhawan would know that he will have to hold this batting line-up together and we'll surely get to see more runs flowing from Gabbar's bat.

#2 Siddarth Kaul (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Kaul has led a strong SRH pace bowling unit

Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to retain Bhuvneshwar Kumar and build their bowling attack around him. However, Siddarth Kaul has been the pacer who has made the brighter start to this edition. With Bhuvi and Billy Stanlake going for runs against Rajasthan Royals at the start, it was Kaul who sent Ajinkya Rahane back to the pavilion. Kaul was brought back at crucial stages of the game and he managed to completely choke the flow of runs. He produced a match-winning display of 2-17 in his stipulated quota of four overs.

In the second match against Mumbai Indians, he stepped up in Bhuvi's absence and returned with figures of 2-29 in his four overs. With the opening bowlers again leaking runs in the powerplay overs, Kaul was brought on to slow the game down. He did that perfectly by dismissing the dangerous-looking Evin Lewis and the in-form Ishan Kishan.

The 27-year-old impressed in both outings and he's made it to the Indian squad a number of times without ever getting a chance to make his debut. A few more similarly good performances might help him get the coveted India cap.

#1 Mayank Markande

Markande is the Purple Cap holder after the first two matches

On analyzing Mumbai Indians' squad after the auction, it was clearly visible that they had failed to sign experienced and quality Indian spinners. So it was expected that either Rahul Chahar or Anukul Roy, both teenagers themselves, would be given the chance to don the Mumbai blue. However, Rohit Sharma pulled a surprise when he included little known 20-year-old Punjab spinner Mayank Markande, who has grabbed everyone's attention with sensational performances.

Not only did he torment the CSK batsmen in his debut match, he even left the umpires confused time and again. He dismissed Ambati Rayudu with a googly off his third delivery in IPL and got his rival skipper MS Dhoni in his second over. He wrapped up the spell with his third wicket in what was a spectacular debut. He also had Kedar Jadhav trapped plumb in front in his first over, but Rohit Sharma decided not to review a decision given not out by the umpire. That mistake came back to haunt Mumbai Indians as Jadhav was the man who scored the winning runs in the last over to take his side home with a wicket to spare.

He came up with an even better performance in the second game. The leggie picked up a wicket in each of his four overs. He picked up the massive wickets of Wriddhiman Saha, Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey and Shakib al Hasan to run through the Sunrisers Hyderabad middle-order and give his side a chance to defend a below-par score. Once again though, his efforts went in vain as his side ended up on the losing side of a last-ball thriller.

He grabbed hold of the Purple Cap for his 7 wickets in two matches and teams will begin to take note of the performances of this young lad.

Our tournament homepage has IPL live score, Match Analysis, Detailed Stats, Fantasy Tips, Controversies, Match Predictions and much more. Bookmark it now!