The best XI of the IPL for 2018

Middle Order

Suresh Raina is the most capped IPL player of all time.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain and India number three Virat Kohli has a non-negotiable place in this team. The India captain is a consistent and well-paced run scorer in all-formats, which makes him very able at adjusting to every T20 innings he plays, whether the team loses a wicket on the first ball or fifteen overs into the game. He holds no valid competition for the number three batting spot in the IPL.

Our first middle order choice, Suresh Raina, is the batsman who sums up the IPL the best. Raina's return to prominence, and the India national team has been well documented. Chennai's batting all-rounder has hit an IPL ton and has averaged 34.13 across a stunning 161 matches, with a strike rate of 139.04. Raina is not too old to risk having a very poor season at the age of 34, while his experience would prove very reliable at number four.

Glenn Maxwell is our pick for the number five batsman in our XI, although AB de Villiers was very close to being selected. Maxwell has the slight edge due to consistency and youth as well as having the ability to chip in with some overs of spin bowling, similar to Suresh Raina. The Australian all-rounder has a strike rate of 164.39 with a high score of 95 and 'Maxi', as he's known, has the ability to light up back to back T20 matches as he did in the 2014 IPL, where King XI Punjab were extremely close to a maiden IPL title. Maxwell is now at the Delhi Daredevils.

Our wicket-keeper could have just as easily been Dinesh Karthik of the Kolkata Knight Riders but due to experience and his lightning quick reflexes, we have chosen the India cricketing legend MS Dhoni. Dhoni is a death overs batting specialist with a stunning IPL average of 37.88 since the tournament's conception in 2008. Despite usually batting at number six or seven, the Chennai captain has amassed 3,561 at a strike rate of 136.75. Dhoni has never had an IPL season without a fifty, despite only getting one in each of the last four seasons, picking up seventeen fifties in total.