Best playing 11 of IPL 2023 ft. Shubman Gill & Ravindra Jadeja

After a dramatic final that went into the reserve day and saw rain have its say again, IPL 2023 came to a conclusion with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) staving off Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets in an epic contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

With GT racking up 214/4 in their 20 overs thanks to a stunning 47-ball 96 from B Sai Sudharsan, CSK had a real task on hand against the defending champions. The heavens opened up three deliveries into the run chase and brought the target down to 171 off 15 overs.

Collective efforts from all corners saw the Super Kings get close before Ravindra Jadeja held his nerve admirably and secured a brilliant win despite needing to score 10 runs off the last two deliveries. This now means that MS Dhoni and Co. have gone level with the Mumbai Indians (MI) with a record five IPL titles to their name.

With a long 74-game tournament spanning a shade under two months coming to an end, it's time to look back at the standout performers and chalk out the best possible playing XI of IPL 2023.

Here's our attempt at picking the same along with the impact substitutes:

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Openers - Faf du Plessis (c) and Yashasvi Jaiswal

Leading the way in this XI is a pair of batters who batted like an absolute dream throughout IPL 2023.

Faf du Plessis was a different zen altogether as he returned a campaign that redefined the meaning of the word consistency. With 730 runs at 56.15 apiece and a strike rate of 153.68, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper will also lead this XI.

Yashasvi Jaiswal took a giant leap in the tournament and smashed records for fun, including that of the fastest half-century in the league's history off just 13 deliveries. He compiled 625 runs at an average of 48.08 and a strike rate of 163.61 for a Rajasthan Royals (RR) side that seemed a tad overreliant on him as the season progressed.

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Middle order - Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), and Rinku Singh

Winner of the Orange Cap as well as the MVP award, IPL 2023 will be remembered for Shubman Gill's pyrotechnics that saw him complete his evolution into a T20 beast. 890 runs at an average of just under 60 and a strike rate of 157.80 with three superlative hundreds - he walks in at No. 3 despite having opened the batting for GT.

Suryakumar Yadav might have begun the tournament on an ordinary note by his standards but as the season progressed, he unleashed the beast within him to restate his credentials as the best T20 batter on the planet. He ended with 605 runs at 43.21 apiece and a gargantuan strike rate of 181.13 for the Mumbai Indians.

Heinrich Klaasen was comfortably the best wicketkeeper-batter in IPL 2023 and easily the one shining spot in an otherwise forgettable campaign for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). Having compiled 448 runs at an average of just under 50 and a blistering strike rate of 177.07, he will don the wicketkeeping gloves and with Suryakumar, form a destructive spin-hitting combination.

Of all the feel-good stories of IPL 2023, Rinku Singh is bound to sit on top. From tearing into Yash Dayal for five consecutive sixes to seal an improbable jailbreak to making fans of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) believe at every corner, the southpaw makes it as the lead finisher in this side on the back of 474 runs at 59.25 apiece and a strike rate of 149.52.

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All-rounders - Ravindra Jadeja and Rashid Khan

Two cricketers who played instrumental roles for their respective sides are the two all-rounders in this team.

Ravindra Jadeja's IPL 2023 campaign saw him hit his absolute peak as a white-ball bowler as he nailed his lengths to perfection even on the flattest of surfaces. With 20 wickets at an economy rate of 7.56, he is the lead finger spinner in this XI and while his batting returns weren't of the same caliber, he made his presence felt with vital cameos before adding the final stamp of imprint in the final for CSK.

It was just another tournament for Rashid Khan. After all, he has become so used to leaving his mark wherever he goes that IPL 2023 was no different. Apart from snaring 27 wickets at an economy rate of 8.23, he also struck at a rate of 216.66 with the bat, with his unbeaten 32-ball 79 against MI saving GT the blushes at the Wankhede Stadium.

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Bowlers - Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, and Mohammed Siraj

The Titans duo of Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma were irrepressible in setting the game up in the powerplay and closing it out at the death respectively as they so nearly saw their side through to glory. They headline the pace attack alongside Mohammed Siraj.

Shami ended with the Purple Cap on his head with 28 scalps at an economy rate of 8.03 while Mohit picked up one less wicket despite playing one game fewer. His economy rate of 8.17 is nothing short of astounding when you factor in how many of his overs came at the death as he nailed his yorkers and so nearly pulled it off in the final as well.

Siraj, on the other hand, was at his unplayable best and was a menace in the powerplay in particular, finishing his campaign with 19 scalps at an economy rate of 7.52. He showed the requisite control across all phases of the innings and rounds off this playing XI.

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Impact substitute options

With so many standout performers throughout IPL 2023, there were a few who were most unfortunate to miss out on this playing XI. Five of them make it as impact substitute options, starting with Virat Kohli, who racked up 639 runs at an average of 53.25 and a strike rate of 139.82 including two magnificent hundreds against SRH and GT.

CSK's Matheesha Pathirana has laid down a marker as one who is here to stay. 'Baby Malinga' was the solution to the Super Kings' death bowling conundrum and he responded with 19 wickets at an economy rate of around 8.00 as he was entrusted with the difficult overs by Dhoni.

Varun Chakravarthy enjoyed a stellar redemption arc with 20 wickets for the season at an economy rate of 8.14. He was KKR skipper Nitish Rana's go-to trump card on multiple occasions and he did not disappoint.

It was quite a season for Devon Conway as well and he capped it off with a Player of the Match-winning 47 in the final that set the tone for CSK's glory in a truncated chase. If not for the overseas limitation and the presence of so many openers, he should have walked into the playing XI on the back of 672 runs at an average of 51.69 and a strike rate of 139.70.

Rounding off the set of impact substitute options is MI's Akash Madhwal, who stepped up admirably in the absence of Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah as the side's lead death bowler. With 14 wickets in eight games including a personal best of 5/5 in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), he emerged as one of the finds of IPL 2023.

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Best playing XI of IPL 2023: Faf du Plessis (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Rinku Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj

Impact substitute options: Virat Kohli, Matheesha Pathirana, Varun Chakravarthy, Devon Conway, Akash Madhwal.

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Who makes it to your playing XI from IPL 2023? Have your say in the comments section below!

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