IPL 2025 Best Playing 11 with at least One Player from Each Team

Virat Kohli, Pooran, and Klaasen in focus in our unique best playing 11 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with min one player per team. 

The Indian Premier League has been a surprise package in terms of how a few teams and players have performed so far in the tournament. Strong teams like Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad are struggling to win matches as they find themselves at the bottom of the points table. Similarly, quality players like Abhishek Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, etc., are yet to make an impact in the tournament. 

There is no doubt that the dynamic nature of the tournament can sometimes get on a player’s nerves, but sooner or later, quality players make a comeback, and that too with a bang. Every team has at least 4-5 quality match-winners in their side. Such is the format in the Indian Premier League that with the same purse for all teams, each team is able to build a solid squad on paper, and each team has those 4-5 players who stand out with their supreme quality. 

But how about we build a team where we select a minimum of one player from each IPL franchise, and build the most unique playing 11 for this season? Naturally, since there are 10 teams, and we need 11 players, we will select the most suitable player based on that gap we would like to fill. So, let’s analyze the squad list of all 10 teams, and find out the most unique playing 11 for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with a minimum of one player per team.  

Methodology:

To select at least one player from each team, we will look at the current form of the player along with how his performance has been in the last two years. We will start with the benchmark players that fit in each category, and then try to fill the gaps based on the pending players from different teams. It is also important to note that we would need at least 1 wicket-keeper, 5 to 6 bowling options, and a minimum of 7 batting options to be able to select the final playing 11. 

Benchmark Players

Starting with the benchmark players, we have Virat Kohli as the benchmark opener, Nicholas Pooran as the benchmark middle-order batter, Heinrich Klaasen as the benchmark finisher, Varun Chakravarthy as the benchmark spinner, and Jasprit Bumrah as the benchmark pacer. These five players have been terrific in their respective roles, and be it International cricket or IPL, they have performed exceptionally well in the tournament.

With these five already selected, we have got the players from RCB, LSG, SRH, KKR, and MI. We have also got a solid opener, a player batting at 4, a player batting at 5, a spinner, and a pacer. Now, we will have to look to fill the gaps, and for that, we would need 2 more batters, 2 all-rounders, and 2 more bowling options. This will make our playing 11 complete, and from the options, we still need players from CSK, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. 

If we start with the All-rounders, we have the best options in the form of Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Ravindra Jadeja. These are the best five all-rounders currently, but if we were to pick the best two from these, it ideally should be Hardik Pandya and Andre Russell. But since we already have Varun Chakravathy from KKR, and Hardik Pandya is the best all-rounder in IPL currently, Axar Patel from Delhi Capitals fills that gap perfectly.

Rest Four Players

So, we have 7 players already finalized. Now, what we need is 2 batting and 2 bowling options, and for that, we have to look for the best players from CSK, GT, PBKS, and RR. Now, if we talk about options from these teams, we have Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh from PBKS, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jofra Archer from RR, Shubman Gill and Rashid Khan from GT, and Ruturaj Gaikwad and Matheesha Pathirana from CSK.

But which combinations will make our team stronger? Well, having a combination where we pick Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Jofra Archer, and Matheesha Pathirana or Noor Ahmad isn’t a bad option. All these players are in solid form currently, and also have good quality. But if we look at the base of the last two years, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rashid Khan, and Arshdeep Singh look more dangerous in terms of what they have to offer overall. So, we pick the latter, and that completes our unique playing 11 for IPL 2025. 

IPL 2025 Most Unique Playing 11 with One Player Per Team

1. Virat Kohli – RCB
2. Yashasvi Jaiswal – RR
3. Ruturaj Gaikwad – CSK
4. Nicholas Pooran – LSG
5. Heinrich Klaasen – SRH
6. Hardik Pandya – MI
7. Axar Patel – DC
8. Rashid Khan – GT
9. Arshdeep Singh – PBKS
10. Jasprit Bumrah – MI
11. Varun Chakravarthy  KKR

So, that’s about the most unique playing 11 for IPL 2025 if we were to select at least one player from each team. It goes without saying that there are many more quality players who are missed out, and that’s only because we have to select at least one player from each team. But if we were to look at an alternate 11, we would have many more superstar players like Travis Head, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, etc. 

Thanks for reading! Who are your best unique playing 11 for IPL 2025? Please email your thoughts to business@cricalytics.com

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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.