Three likeliest batsmen to score a century this IPL 2018

The latest influx of posts and Instagram stories of IPL team camps are spreading like wildfire on social media, leaving all cricket fans salivating in anticipation of yet another electrifying IPL season, with runs and sixes galore.

Videos of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler donned in their new Rajasthan Royals (RR) jerseys and Chis Gayle decked out in Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) attire, instead of his usual darker red Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) kit, have captured everyone’s attention and imagination, as cricket fans all over the world are looking forward to the spectacle with newer and more exciting narratives. Will returning fan favourites CSK and RR perform well this season? Will players who have changed camps fire against their old teams?

While we wait for the season to start and all our questions to be answered, let's take a look at three of the likeliest batsmen to smash a century this season.

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#3 Suresh Raina

First up is the elegant left-hander from Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Suresh Raina. Back to playing for his old team CSK, and under his favourite captain, MS Dhoni, should invigorate the newly invigorated vice-captain to reach new heights this season.

He's coming into this IPL with good form, especially in the shorter formats. After finally passing the yo-yo test, he returned to the T20I side for the South African tour and the Nidahas Trophy, after spending a considerable period out of the side.

With Virat Kohli sacrificing his position to allow him to bat at his preferred no. 3 position, he looked to be in spiffing form in both series, setting up good platforms for India’s power hitters to launch from. If he continues in the same vein of form, he will surely have an excellent chance of bashing a hundred, especially given his attacking stroke play and that he faces a high percentage of balls.

Being the only batsman to have scored over 300 runs each season since the IPL's advent and having the most IPL runs also set him in good stead.

#2 Rohit Sharma

Next on the list is the Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma. Despite not living up to his lofty standards in South Africa, MI captain Rohit Sharma has had a brilliant time on the field recently, having ended 2017 as the second highest ODI run-getter after Virat Kohli and more importantly leading India for the first time.

As captain against the hapless touring Sri Lankans, he smashed a world record third ODI double century and the tied fastest T20i century. More recently, he scored a match-winning fifty in the finals of the Nidahas trophy against the Bangladeshis.

Bolstered by the fact that he’s back captaining his home team, Rohit Sharma will be hoping for a repeat of last year’s successful season.

Given that he’s one of a handful of players who has multiple international T20I hundreds, he has a high chance of smashing a hundred this season.

#1 Virat Kohli

And lastly, but definitely, the likeliest of the three, is RCB captain Virat Kohli. Refreshed after his rest from the Nidahas trophy, Virat Kohli is all set to hit the ground running. He’s desperately hungry to win the cup this year, having declared in a recent interview that he was more eager than even the fans to win the trophy.

For that to happen, however, RCB need Kohli to repeat his IPL’16 season performance, when he smoked a mindboggling 973 runs and 4 centuries.

And he’s certainly on road to repeat that, having smashed the South Africans to all parts of the ground in India’s most recent tour, top scoring in both the Test and ODI legs, with 287 and 558 runs respectively.

Looking at all this, a century this season for the best batsman in the world should be a walk in the park.