IPL 2020 UAE: The Best Performing 11 from the first two weeks

KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal to open as we look at the best performing 11 from the first two weeks of IPL 2020 in UAE.

It’s been two successful weeks in Dream 11 IPL 2020, and we should first congratulate BCCI and the related organizers for it. In this pandemic situation, we finally saw IPL 2020 kicking-off, and going smooth till now with players adapting to zero crowd atmosphere perfectly. 

The two weeks have been quite a unique affair so far. No team look the strongest or the weakest. Every team has been beaten by one or the other team so far; thus creating a nice defeat circle. The part of the reason for such competitiveness should be given to lack of home advantage among teams. 

Overall, It’s been 14 matches so far, and a quarter of the Tournament is almost over. So, who have been the top performers so far in all the departments? Let’s have a look at the best performing 11 from the first two weeks of IPL 2020. 

Methodology:

As usual, we have removed any biases or perception while selecting the best performing 11. Our robust methodology gives precedence to ‘Performance Rating’ to select players in the playing 11. Moreover, players have been selected basis their performance for the first 14 matches only. Also, as the sample size is less the rule of 4 overseas players isn’t taken into consideration. 

Openers:

Mayank Agarwal (KXIP) || KL Rahul (KXIP)

The top 2 leading run-scorer of the tournament, and KXIP dynamic duo, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul make it to the best performing team of the first two weeks. Despite KXIP finishing seventh after first two weeks, these two performed exceptionally well with bat, and gave KXIP excellent platform. 

From 4 innings so far, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul have scored 246 and 239 runs respectively. Both have one century and one fifty to their name, but the difference lies in the consistency. Mayank has got runs in all the four matches so far, whereas KL Rahul has failed once. Nevertheless, they have been better than any other opener in the Tournament with Mayank getting a rating of 10 and KL Rahul getting a rating of 9.1. 

Middle-order:

Faf du Plessis (CSK) || Sanju Samson (RR) || AB de Villiers (RCB) 

Even with CSK finishing eight after the first two weeks, the team has some brilliant individual performances, and one among them is undoubtedly Faf du Plessis. The fort-bearer of CSK’s batting, Faf has 195 runs from 4 innings at an average of 65. His lowest score so far is 22, and has two fifties to his name. Faf gets into the team with a performance rating of 7.8. 

Sanju Samson started this IPL with two back to back aggressive fifties on the batting-friendly wickets of Sharjah. Some of the shots that he played were simply breathtaking, and made us admire the class in him. Overall with a consistency of 66.7%, Samson has 167 runs at an average of 55.7, and a performance rating of a perfect 10. 

With Virat Kohli struggling to find form, AB de Villiers took all the responsibility to stabilize RCB’s batting. In the three matches so far, de Villiers has 134 runs at an average of 67, and a performance rating of 8.4 He has scored 2 fifties so far, thus helping RCB win both the matches.

All-rounders:

Kieron Pollard (MI) || Sam Curran (CSK)

In the heavy batting line-up of Mumbai Indians, Kieron Pollard’s quick cameos might often go unnoticed. In the four matches so far, Polly has scored 138 runs with his scores reading 18(14), 13(7), 60(24), and 47(20). The last two knocks were simply outstanding; purely because of the monstrous hitting that we witnessed. Moreover, he also bowled 4 overs in the Tournament having accounted for a wicket.

The bowling all-rounder of the team, Sam Curran has bowled with a lot of smartness so far in the Tournament. He has taken 5 wickets from 4 innings including a superb spell of  3/33 in Sharjah. Additionally, he has been a pinch hitter down the order having scored 51 runs at a strike rate of 268.

Bowlers:

Rashid Khan (SRH) || Kagiso Rabada (DC) || Mohammed Shami (KXIP) || Yuzvendra Chahal (RCB)

The wickets column may be less for Rashid Khan with 4 wickets from 4 matches, but that takes away nothing from the way he has bowled so far. He has an economy rate of 5.12; the lowest among top 20 wickets-takers, and the spell of 3/14 against Delhi is his best spell of IPL career. Rashid is the leading spinner of this Team with a rating of 7.9.

It feels as if Kagiso Rabada didn’t have any gap between IPL 2019 and 2020. He simply continued from where he left in 2019. Needless to say, he is the best bowler of the Tournament with a perfect rating of 10, and has taken wickets in all three matches. More importantly, he has also been able to reduce the run flow with an economy rate of 6.25.

The leading wicket-taker of the Tournament so far, Mohammed Shami has been to KXIP what Kagiso Rabada has been to Delhi Capitals but with a slightly higher economy rate. Barring his death bowling, Shami has been dead accurate, and that has resulted in him taking 8 wickets from 4 matches. It is a shame that he is the third member of the team, but KXIP are still standing at number 7. Shami gets a rating of 8.2 for his performance so far. 

The second spinner of the team, and the leading bowler for RCB, Yuzvendra Chahal has bowled with a lot of control, and in right channels. He has taken 5 wickets from 3 matches including his match-winning spell of 3/18 against SRH. Chahal’s economy rate of 7.58 may be on the slightly higher side, but he has been a wicket-taker with a performance rating of 6.8.

So, that completes the best-performing 11 from the first two weeks of IPL 2020.

The Best Performing 11 from the first two weeks of IPL 2020 UAE:

Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (WK), Faf du Plessis, Sanju Samson, AB de Villiers, Kieron Pollard, Sam Curran, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Shami, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Thanks for reading! Do you think we got the playing 11 right, or do you foresee any replacements? Please, share your thoughts on business@cricalytics.com

ALSO READ: IPL 2020 UAE: The Strongest Playing 11 consisting of only Indian Players

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Adesh Kothari

Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics with over 20 years of experience following Cricket.

Cricket to him is like what Football is to Lionel Messi, Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar, Dancing is to Michael Jackson, and Acting is to Clint Eastwood.

Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.