IPL 2018: Top 4 Unsung Heroes of this season

The 11th season of the IPL has been one of the best seasons of the league. It had many close finishes, and very little to choose between the teams. Even the bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils defeated the eventual champions Chennai Super Kings in their second last league game.

When the IPL is over everybody talks about the heroes who turned the games and won them for their franchise. But there are few players who did their job but still went unnoticed. Every year they have been unsung heroes for each franchise.

For example, Manoj Tiwary, in 2017, for RPS, was one of their unsung heroes. He kept scoring runs at crucial junctures and helped his team reach the final. So, let's have a look at 4 such unsung heroes of this IPL.

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#4 Suryakumar Yadav (MI)

Suryakumar Yadav scored over 500 runs for MI this season

Suryakumar Yadav scored the most runs by an uncapped player in IPL 2018. This season has been his best as far as run making is concerned. He can bat wherever the team wants; as a floater, open the batting, as a finisher or even play the anchor role in the middle of an innings.

For the first few games, he was slotted down the order where he had a few good games but later on he was asked to open the innings. He scored a 50 in his first match as an opener. He scored 512 runs in just 14 innings for Mumbai Indians. He has always been a good player but just didn’t get enough opportunities to bat with KKR, while at MI, he got opportunities which he capitalized on it.

He was one of the bright stars in their disappointing campaign. At times, he was the only one who looked comfortable at the crease and got Mumbai to some good scores. It was unfortunate that he did not make the India A side but still he is one of the unsung heroes of this IPL.

#3 Shardul Thakur (CSK)

Shardul Thakur quietly did his job for CSK

It’s difficult for any player to get attention when you are playing in the side which has MS Dhoni and that’s what exactly happened with Shardul Thakur. He had done a good job for RPS last year and that’s why Dhoni brought him back in his side for this year’s IPL.

He doesn’t really have those staggering numbers but he has definitely done his job for the team. Even though his economy rate was a bit high, he took some crucial wickets when needed. He has taken 16 wickets in 13 games for Chennai.

He took the wicket of Kane Williamson in the first qualifier and bowled a brilliant last over in the final to restrict SRH to a chasable score. He even scored the crucial runs for CSK in the first qualifier which helped them win the game. Thakur more or less went unnoticed in this IPL and hence he is slotted in at No. 3 in this list.

#2 Dinesh Karthik (KKR)

Dinesh Karthik was phenomenal in run-chases for KKR

Dinesh Karthik has been one of the most consistent batsmen of this IPL. Everytime KKR were in trouble he made sure that he brought his team home and was at his best when his team needed to chase totals.

More often than not he was not out at the end of the chase which is the most important thing for a batsman. He was just 2 runs short of 500 runs, with an average of 49.8 and a strike rate of 147.77.

Let’s not forget that he even captained his franchise this year, and showed that he can handle responsibility pretty confidently. He didn’t have a really big score and so his batting went unnoticed at times and so he is slotted in at No. 2 on this list.

#1 Lungi Ngidi (CSK)

Lungi Ngidi played only 7 games but had a huge impact on CSK

Lungi Ngidi has to be the unsung hero of this IPL. He was one of the main reasons why CSK won the IPL this year and made an impact from his first IPL game. He was brilliant in the powerplay and at the death as well.

He helped CSK solve their death bowling crisis and kept his nerve in final overs. He bowled some really fine spells this season, notable of them being the 4 wickets he took against KXIP for just 10 runs, including the big wickets of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul.

He took 11 wickets in just 7 games at an economy rate of 6 runs per over, while an identical average and strike rate of 14.18. He bowled a brilliant 19th over in the final in which he gave away only 8 runs. He has been a great asset for CSK and hence he is at the top of the list of unsung heroes of IPL 2018.