IPL  2018: One player from each team who has performed beyond expectations so far

Almost two weeks into the IPL most sides are shaping up nicely and the competition is becoming stiff. All the teams have at least one victory in their kitty and will forward to making it to playoffs. Batsmen had a good time in this IPL till now, they breached the 50 run mark 20 times. A total of 5007 runs were scored in the 15 matches and 217 sixes were hit. This shows how dominant and attacking the batsmen have been. In spite of the splendid show by batsmen in most matches, bowlers had their fair share of success. A total of 187 wickets fell and 1166 dot balls were bowled in 15 matches.

What is more interesting is that there were a number of good performances from players who weren't expected to create such impact. Here is a list of such players from each team who have performed beyond expectations.

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#8 Rahul Tewatia - Delhi Daredevils

Before this season, Rahul Tewatia played 7 matches across 3 seasons(2014 - 3, 2015 - 1, 2017 - 3) in four years. In those 7 matches, he just picked up just 6 wickets. With the experienced Amit Mishra, Shabaz Nadeen and Jayanth Yadav in the side, Tewatia was not expected to feature in the starting XI. But here he is scalping wicket after wicket.

With 6 wickets from 4 matches, Tewatia is the leading wicket-taker for Delhi Daredevils. The double Ds led by Double G would hope that Tewatia will continue his good form.

#7 Chris Woakes - Royal Challengers Bangalore

The fast bowling all-rounder from England was with KKR last year This year he is with the Bangalore-based franchise and is now the highest wicket getter in the tournament with 8 scalps. He also had the purple cap before he lost it to Mayank Markande, who also accounted for 8 wickets.

Woakes' strike rate of 10.75 is the best in the tournament as he picked up 8 wickets in 14.2 overs. Woakes was expected to contribute well with the ball, but him being the leading wicket-taker has come as surprise to many. One drawback about Woakes' bowling is that his economy rate is above 10. If he can control the flow of runs in future matches, he will be a force to reckon.

#6 Shreyas Gopal - Rajasthan Royals

Shreyas Gopal who part of the Mumbai Indians squad for four years played only 6 matches. In those six matches, he has an economy rate close to 8. In this year, he had a major turnaround in terms of economy rate as he is troubling the batsmen with his leg-breaks. In the ten overs that he bowled this season, he conceded just 63 runs and took two crucial wickets.

He was crucial in Rajasthan Royals' victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore. He picked the crucial wickets of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Virat Kohli scored a half-century and was looking to take the match away from RR but Gopal came to their rescue. Chasing a target of 218, RCB scored 198 runs in 20 overs and fell short by 19 runs due to an economical performance by Gopal who only conceded 22 runs in his four overs.

#5 Sam Billings - Chennai Super Kings

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Sam Billings was part of the Delhi Daredevils squad in 2016 and 2017. In the last two seasons, he played 11 matches and scored 226 runs with a strike rate close to 135. Even though he has the reputation of being a hard-hitter his T20 numbers are not so good. In the 17 T20I matches that he played for England, he just scored 205 runs and has a low average of 13.67.

Billings wasn't expected to feature in the starting XI but after Kedar Jadhav's injury in the first match, Billings came into the eleven as a middle-order batsman replacing his fellow countryman Mark Wood as the fourth overseas player. His impact was immediate as Billings scored a breath-taking 23-ball 56 to help CSK reach a daunting target set by KKR.

#4 Nitish Rana - Kolkata Knight Riders

In the two seasons that he played for Mumbai Indians, Nitish Rana bowled just a solitary over. He performed well with the bat and was crucial to MI lifting the trophy in 2017, but his caliber with the ball was unknown until recent times.

Come 2018, Nitish Rana the bowler has four wickets from 3 overs in the two matches that he bowled. In KKR's match against RCB, he took the wickets of the dangerous Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and helped his side restrict a batting heavy RCB to a sub-par total of 176.

In the 5 matches that he played for KKR, he scored 162 runs and is in the reckoning to win orange cap this season. His clinical performances with the bat are no surprise, but it is his bowling that has surprised everyone.

#3 Mujeeb Ur Rahman - Kings XI Punjab

The 17-year old Afghan off-spinner has been a revelation for Kings XI Punjab. He is one of the most economical bowlers this season. He has pushed experienced players like Miller, Stoinins, and Gayle to the bench in various matches. Ashwin has used the youngster very intelligently to curtail run flow and to take wickets.

In KXIP's match against CSK when a target of close to 200 was chased down Mujeeb's bowling figures read 3-0-18-0. In KXIP's first match against DD, he took the wicket of the dangerous Colin Munro in his first IPL over. In the same match, he also sent back the hard-hitting batsman, Rishabh Pant who scored a 13-ball 28. From being an unknown entity who was unlikely to feature in the playing, Mujeeb became the youngest cricketer to play in IPL and has impressed one and all with his performances.

#2 Billy Stanlake - Sunrisers Hyderabad

Billy Stanlake's IPL career has taken a turn around for the good. Last year he played two matches for RCB and conceded 70 runs off 8 overs taking only two wickets. The tall and lanky Australian fast bowler had a point to prove before the start of the season and he has done justice to the talent that he possesses.

In the three matches that he played, he claimed 5 wickets with a decent economy rate of 7.66. He has troubled batsmen with his pace and bounce. He bowled the fastest delivery in this year's IPL clocking 151.38 kmph and has 20 of the 25 fastest deliveries to his name. He has the highest number of dot balls, 35, in the first three matches. He was adjudged the man of the match for his performance against KKR as got the wicket of the dangerous Andre Russell and turned the match in SRH's favour. In spite of having such a strong bowling lineup, Stanlake is SRH's X-factor this season.

#1 Mayank Markande - Mumbai Indians

Mayank Markande is definitely the find of the season. Thanks to Mumbai Indians scouting team, another gem of a player has now come into limelight. Markande is presently the purple cap holder and tops most of the bowling lists. He has taken 8 wickets in the 15 overs that he bowled in the first four matches and his average and strike rate are 14.12 and 11.25 respectively.

In his first match against CSK, he took the wicket of MS Dhoni. His bowling figures of 4-0-23-3 held back CSK for quite some time before Bravo rescued the Chennai team with his heroics. Even in his second match, he bowled exceptionally well and ended up with the figures of 4-0-23-4. His bowling caused a middle-order collapse as SRH were down by 5 wickets and due to another mini-collapse, the match ended up as a thrilling finish which SRH won by one wicket off the last ball.