IPL 2022: Combined Best Playing 11 from the list of Retained Players

Rohit Sharma to lead as we look at the combined best playing 11 from the list of retained players for IPL 2022.

The hottest T20 league in the world, the Indian Premier League is moving into its 15th edition, and the new edition is bringing some exciting changes that will change the dynamics of the game. Not only are we getting two new teams, but the overall financial value of IPL has also seen a steep rise after the addition of teams. 

Given that the new edition would see another Mega Auction, existing franchisees were allowed to retain a maximum of 4 players per team. Overall, a total of 27 players have been retained by 8 franchisees with MI, CSK, DC, and KKR retaining 4 players each. RCB, RR, and SRH retained 3 players, and PBKS retained 2 players. 

The players that were retained were predominantly because of the value they add to their team. Be it batting, bowling, all-rounder, or captaincy department, players were retained for the potential value they bring to the table. In such a scenario, how about we find a list of 11 players that have been adding the best value in the last two years?

So, in the article, we will find IPL 2022 combined best playing 11 from the list of retained players. Overall, the playing 11 is selected basis the performance of players in IPL in the last two years and in International / Domestic T20 matches. Moreover, playing 11 is selected considering the combination of 2 openers, 3-4 middle-order batsmen, a minimum of 2 all-rounders, a minimum of 3 pacers, and 1 spinner. 

Openers: Rohit Sharma (C) & Virat Kohli

Among the openers that have been retained, we have Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Mayank Agarwal as the potential opening options. This is the category that was most difficult to choose the players from. Every player had their strengths and weakness to choose from. 

For example, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been the best performer as an opener in the last two years amoung retained players, but unfortunately, Ruturaj has hardly played International cricket, so he lost the points there. Mayank has been really good as a batter, but he too has hardly played International cricket. Jos Buttler has been decent in IPL, but good only in International cricket. 

But the two that have been selected are preferred for two reasons. Rohit has been exceptional as a captain and good as a batter. Virat Kohli has been good as a batter in IPL, but exceptional in the International format. So, Rohit has been selected more for his captaincy. Whereas it was inevitable to ignore Virat Kohli’s performance. 

Middle-order: Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK)

The middle-order had a few good options to choose from. The ones that were in contentions include Kane Williamson, MS Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rishabh Pant. But the ones that stood out from their performance are Sanju, SKY, and Pant. The leaders, Kane and Dhoni have been below-par as batters. While Kane has around 400 runs, Dhoni has around 300 runs in 2 seasons.

Compare them with Sanju, SKY, or Pant, they look mediocre. These are the runs, this trio has scored in one single season. So, overall, it was definitely not a difficult task to choose the middle-order trio. In addition, Rishabh Pant is also the team’s wicket-keeper. The Pocket-rocket is now also the team’s all-format keeper after his rise in the last two years. 

All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell & Ravindra Jadeja

Coming to all-rounders, there were 6 options to choose from. While Ravindra Jadeja is undoubtedly the best all-rounder in IPL at the moment, the other options to choose from included Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Moeen Ali, Axar Patel, and Glenn Maxwell. Selecting the second all-rounder was purely down to performance in the batting department primarily. 

Looking at the performance of these players, Axar Patel and Andre Russell stand eliminated. While Axar hasn’t been a great batter, Russel has been woefully out of form in the last two years. He hardly has around 250 runs to his name from 2 seasons. Between Moeen, Kieron, and Maxwell, Maxwell has a slight upper edge given his IPL 2021 performance.

Definitely, Pollard has been a match-winner for Mumbai Indians. He has single-handedly won a lot of matches for MI, but falls short when it comes to consistency. Similarly, Moeen Ali has been really good for CSK, but his performance has been slightly lower than that of Maxwell. 

Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Anrich Nortje, Mohammed Siraj & Varun Chakravarthy

Probably, the easiest of the category to choose from as there were hardly any alternatives. From the 4 selected bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Anrich Nortje have been the best pacers from the list of retained players. The pace trio has been quite lethal in the last two years in the IPL and in International circuit. 

Coming to the primary spin option, the competition was between Delhi Capitals’ Axar Patel, and KKR duo, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Of the three, Chakravarthy stands out having been an exceptional performer for KKR in IPL 2020 and IPL 2021. He has taken close to 35 wickets in the last two years in IPL; third-most by any spinner. 

Other potential players, who if retained would have been in contention for the combined best playing 11 are KL Rahul, Faf du Plessis, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan, and David Warner.

IPL 2022 – Combined Best Playing 11 from the list of Retained Players: 

Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Glenn Maxwell, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy, Anrich Nortje, Jasprit Bumrah & Mohammed Siraj. 

Thanks for reading! What’s your combined best playing 11 from the list of retained players for IPL 2022? Please email your comments to business@cricalytics.com

ALSO READ: IPL 2022: Rating and Ranking the actual player retentions for all teams

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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.