IPL 2019: Best IPL XI after the first two weeks

The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League is into its third week now and has lived up to all its expectations. There have been last-ball thrillers and we've already seen a super over this season, something we didn't see in the whole of 2018.

There have been 3 outstanding centuries and one player was certainly unlucky to miss out on his by getting out on 99. Scores as low as 135 have been successfully defended and targets above 200 have been chased. It has truly been an entertaining fortnight and there have been quite some performances which have stood out.

While teams are still looking to figure out their best playing XI's, let us have a look at what the best playing XI could look like. Players have been chosen on consistency and match winning performances.

Openers: David Warner and Jonny Bairstow

The power of the IPL is such that it brings an Australian and an English cricketer together to develop a great rapport together, that too in the Ashes year. This duo have been unstoppable this season.

David Warner has had a fairytale comeback and Jonny Bairstow has shown the IPL what they have been missing out since the last 11 seasons. These duo have added more than 500 runs together and have scored a century each that too in one game.

Both of them have been extremely consistent and bowlers have looked clueless while bowling to them. They have been the backbone of Hyderabad's batting and have been excellent this season. Both of them average more than 50, and their strike-rate is more than 150 which is what any team would dream of them.

They are extremely destructive and can hit the ball from the word go. Hence, these two make it to the playing XI of the season.

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Middle Order: Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Sarfaraz Khan

The middle-order of any team hasn't performed very convincingly so far in the tournament. It has either been the openers or the all rounders who have done all the hitting, but these three players have played well for their teams and carried their team's hopes on their shoulders.

They have played the role of the anchor to perfection and Rishabh Pant has been good with his shots at the end. Sanju Samson, despite his century, does not make it to the list because of his extreme inconsistency.

Shreyas Iyer has led his team from the front

Shreyas Iyer has batted sensibly and led his team from the front. He scored a match winning 67 against RCB and single handedly led his team to a victory and even scored a gritty 43 against KKR to hand his team a win.

He has been getting the runs that his team needs and has been consistent. He hasn't registered even one single-digit score so far across the games, and that speaks volumes about his consistency. He is the third highest run-scorer of the IPL so far and makes to IPL XI as the No.3 batsman.

Nitish Rana has held KKR's batting order

to gether

Nitish Rana has been absolutely brilliant for KKR this season. He has played the role of the anchor whenever the team's top order had failed and went for the big shots too, when he came in the death overs.

He has a perfect blend of aggression and stability which makes him an excellent player in the format. He carried his team home in the first game and will be looking to do so again in the upcoming matches.

Sarfaraz Khan has performed extremely under KXIP this season

Sarfaraz Khan has been an extremely underrated player this season. He has been the backbone of Punjab's batting along with KL Rahul. He has had three 30-plus scores in the four innings that he has batted and has anchored his team beautifully till the end. He can also play the big shots and smash the ball and has been in terrific form this season.

These three players will form the middle order of the team. It is a good combination of aggressive as well as calm players and they can certainly set the stage for the all-rounders to come and play the big shots at the end.

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All Rounders: Andre Russell and Hardik Pandya

The duo have taken their team home on almost all occasions

"Dre Russ" is undoubtedly the biggest player for KKR this season. Biggest, not only in terms of size, but in terms of performance. He has had an absolutely exceptional season and his batting prowess has been second to none. He has bailed out his team on four out of four occasions and has been the saviour of his team.

He has picked up a wicket in almost every match that he has played in, and has already won three MOM awards. He is a player every team dreams of having and makes it into the best XI with very ease.

Hardik Pandya has found a new version of himself after the break. He has gained a lot of confidence and his bowling has been a lot better. His strike rate is the best amongst all players this season after Andre Russell.

He has struck the ball elegantly and his timing has been second to none. He has bailed out his team of trouble on a number of occasions and has picked up a wicket four wickets in the five matches that he has played in. He easily makes it to the team as the second all rounder.

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Bowlers Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Nabi, Kagiso Rabada, Deepak Chahar

Chahal has been the

saviour

for RCB.

Yuzvendra Chahal has single-handedly kept his team in the game in almost all the five occasions. Despite zero support from the other bowlers, Chahal has bowled extremely well and kept the opposition teams on their toes.

He has picked up at least one wicket every match and has been Virat Kohli's go to man. He has absolutely hard to pick and has been absolutely brilliant with the ball.

Mohammad Nabi ran through the batting line up of RCB.

Mohammad Nabi has been a major relevation this season. He has played just three matches this season but his performance in those three matches have been more than enough to get him into this team.

He has taken 7 wickets in three matches and absolutely ran through the RCB lineup which included the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. He also bowls very early into the game and the early wickets help the other bowlers get the other wickets quickly.

Rabada has bowled extreme tight lines this seasons

Kagiso Rabada has been absolutely brilliant this season. He is the Purple Cap holder in this season of the IPL. He has troubled batsmen with his accurate yorkers, and has been a match-winner for his team this season.

He has picked up at least one wicket every match, and the wickets have been important ones. He even defended 10 runs in the super over against Andre Russell and bowled 6 good yorkers to get his team a win.

He even ran through the RCB line up and won the man of the match award for picking 4 wickets in that match. He is a must-have pacer in the team.

Deepak Chahar has been used by CSK very well this season

Lastly, the 11th player of the team will be Deepak Chahar. He has had a stellar season so far. He bowls in the powerplay and bowls extremely well. Barring the first match, he has picked up a wicket in every match and has restricted the power play score of other teams to a very low one. He has been accurate and has been groomed well by his captain. He makes it to the team because of his consistency and will be the second pacer after Rabada.

Thus, this is the best playing XI after 21 games this season. With teams having excellent squads, the coming weeks look more promising and it should be a cracker of a contest to see who comes out on the top after half the tournament is done next week.

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