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We've come close to witnessing a month's action in IPL 2023 and with things starting to heat up in the points table, the tournament is getting enthralling with every passing encounter.
Week 4 of the competition witnessed records tumbling for fun, even as the norm of tight finishes continued to add new epilogs. As always, a few select players stood out with their individual brilliance, making it a week to remember.
Here, we chalk out the best playing XI from Week 4 of IPL 2023, along with the impact substitute options:
Openers - Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jason Roy
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jason Roy enjoyed fruitful outings with the bat in the week gone by. While Jaiswal slowed down against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), it was his 37-ball 47 that set the tone upfront in their chase of 190. His 43-ball 77 completely took the game away from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) thereafter, paving the way for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) to top the table.
Roy battled an injury to belt a 19-ball half-century against CSK despite walking out to bat at No. 5. That wasn't enough to prevent defeat, but opening the innings against RCB, his belligerent half-century paved the foundation for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to snap a four-match losing streak in IPL 2023.
Middle order- Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Glenn Maxwell (c), and Dhruv Jurel (wk)
Ajinkya Rahane has taken IPL 2023 by storm with his cavalier batting approach. His unbeaten 29-ball 71 against KKR has been one of the knocks of the tournament thus far and walks into the playing XI on that count alone, despite not scoring much against RR.
His teammate Shivam Dube has also been in a rich vein of form for CSK, having carted consecutive half-centuries against KKR and RR. He has looked destructive in the middle order, not sparing any bad balls against the spinners in particular.
Glenn Maxwell has enjoyed an outstanding IPL 2023 campaign of his own. Despite an early wobble against the Royals, he wasted no time in launching a counter-attack en route to a 44-ball 77. He bagged the Player of the Match honors and while he didn't score much against KKR, he walks into this playing XI as captain.
Dhruv Jurel has easily been one of the finds of the tournament. The 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has taken on the finisher's role as a duck to the water, backing an unbeaten 16-ball 34 against RCB with a 15-ball 34 against the Super Kings. He hasn't kept wickets in IPL 2023 but will don the wicketkeeping gloves.
All-rounder - Marcus Stoinis
Marcus Stoinis continues to showcase his worth to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), with yet another fruitful week for the Australian. He bagged the wickets of Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya and David Miller, before blasting his way to a 40-ball 72 that saw LSG record the second-highest total in IPL history. He makes this playing XI as the lead all-rounder.
Bowlers - Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, and Varun Chakravarthy
Noor Ahmad has formed a formidable spin partnership at GT with fellow Afghan Rashid Khan. The left-arm wrist-spinner was instrumental in the defending champions registering back-to-back victories in the preceding week, bagging five wickets across the two games.
Mohit Sharma's stellar comeback IPL 2023 season hit a crescendo against LSG as he walked away with the Player of the Match award having defended 12 runs off the final over, snaring the wickets of KL Rahul and Stoinis. He followed it up with two more wickets against Mumbai Indians (MI), capping off another successful week for him.
Arshdeep Singh may have taken a hammering at the hands of LSG in Mohali, but he turned in a death bowling masterclass against MI prior to that. Smashing the middle stump into two, he defended 16 runs off the final over and executed his yorkers at will to walk away with four wickets. This came after he sent the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav back in the 18th over to throw a spanner into the works of MI's chase.
Varun Chakravarthy rounds off this playing XI on the back of a stellar display against RCB that saw him return with a three-wicket haul that broke the back of their 201-run chase. He went for runs against CSK but didn't let it come in the way of a superb bowling display at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, leading KKR to a crucial victory.
Atharva Taide was a close miss, having scored a 17-ball 29 against MI before stroking his way to his maiden IPL half-century against LSG. He makes the squad as an impact substitute, as do Suyash Sharma, Axar Patel, and Kyle Mayers, who all made their presence felt throughout the week with impactful contributions.
Best playing XI from Week 4 of IPL 2023: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jason Roy, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Glenn Maxwell (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.
Impact substitutes: Atharva Taide, Suyash Sharma, Axar Patel and Kyle Mayers.
Who, according to you, was the best player in the week gone by in IPL 2023? Have your say in the comments section below!
Also read: Top 3 emerging players after the first half of IPL 2023
