Shubman Gill, Tristan Stubbs and Harshit Rana are all included in the eighth team of the week for IPL 2024. Every XI can contain a maximum of four overseas players besides having no more than three players from a single franchise. Like last year, there is also an Impact Player to be chosen every week in addition to the starting XI
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Shubman Gill (GT): A slim hope of qualification is all Gill needed to unleash his best innings this IPL. Scoring a 55-ball 105, Gill seemed to have broken free from his shackles and roared to celebrate his ton. GT marched onto victory over CSK in Ahmedabad with Gill hitting six classy sixes and nine fours in what turned out to be GT’s last match, with rain washing out their next two games without a ball being bowled
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Sai Sudarshan (GT): Averaging almost 48 with the bat this season, Sudarshan has been the most consistent player for GT, aggregating well over 500 runs. Sudarshan brought up his first IPL ton alongside Gill when both openers went all guns blazing against CSK. Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Sudarshan always seems to save his best for CSK, smashing seven maximums and five fours on his way to a beautiful 103 off 51 balls, striking at over 200
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Rajat Patidar (RCB): Patidar notched up his fifth fifty of the season against DC in a high-pressure game. Walking into bat at the fall of Virat Kohli’s wicket, Patidar showed the kind of controlled aggression that he is best known for. His 52 off 32 balls featured three sixes and three fours, taking RCB to a competitive 187, which they eventually defended with ease
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Riyan Parag (RR): Despite RR losing back-to-back games, Parag has stood out as the one bright light right before the playoffs. While RR have managed only 141 and 144 in their last two innings against CSK and PBKS, respectively, Parag has played a major hand in both. The 22-year-old scored 47 not out in Chepauk, before adding to his tally as RR’s highest run-getter with 48 off 34 in his home town in Guwahati. With Jos Buttler back home in England, Parag will need to continue his hot streak if RR want to lift the trophy for the first time since 2008
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Tristan Stubbs (DC): Having missed out against RCB, Stubbs turned on the style against LSG in the Capital. Coming into bat at 111 for three, Stubbs took advantage of a fantastic foundation to launch DC into the next gear, hitting 57 not out at a strike rate of 228. This included three fours and four sixes, shots that would have been a joy to behold for South African fans ahead of the T20 World Cup
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Sam Curran (PBKS): PBKS may have failed to make the playoffs yet again but their stand-in skipper put on a display against RR that is likely to see him retained. Curran took the new ball in Guwahati and dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel while conceding 24 runs in his three overs. During a chase of 145, Curran was the star once again, hitting five fours and three sixes en route to 63 not out off 41, deservedly being named man of the match
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Andre Russell (KKR): With rain taking away four overs from each innings between KKR and MI on Saturday, Russell delivered the goods with both bat and ball. The West Indian let loose with the bat, hitting two fours and two sixes on his way to 24 off 14, before taking responsibility to dismiss former Knight Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David. Even though his last over proved expensive, Russell’s all-round contributions are a good omen before the playoffs get underway
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Varun Chakravarthy (KKR): Looking for a clutch performance from one for their bowlers in a 16-over game against MI, KKR found their man in Chakravarthy, who bowled four magnificent overs without giving an inch to MI’s batters in a topsy-turvy game at Eden. Varun dismissed the Indian captain Rohit Sharma as well as MI’s captain Hardik Pandya, all the while giving away just 17 runs in 24 deliveries
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Yash Dayal (RCB): Never will any bowler say that 188 is an easy target to defend at the Chinnaswamy, but Dayal put his hand up to do just that when RCB welcomed DC with both teams needing a win. Dayal got Jake Fraser-McGurk run out at the bowler’s end one ball after he had dismissed Abishek Porel. Finishing off with a spell off three for 20 in just over three overs, Dayal was crucial in handing RCB a net run rate boost
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Harshit Rana (KKR): Whenever KKR needs a last-over rescue act these days, they call on Harshit Rana. In the rain-affected game against MI at Eden Gardens, Rana had conceded 31 runs in his two overs, but repaid his captain’s confidence by defending 21 runs in the last over. Rana’s accuracy helped him bag the wickets of Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir, good enough to make KKR the first team to seal a playoff berth this season
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Ishant Sharma (DC): We all saw what went down on Sunday between old friends Ishant and Kohli when DC visited RCB. Ishant got the last laugh in that face-off with Kohli’s wicket. But his highlight of the week was what followed two days later, in the form of three vital wickets for 34 runs against LSG at the Kotla. Getting the wickets of K.L. Rahul and Quinton de Kock before sending Deepak Hooda packing for a duck, Sharma proved that he remains a force to be reckoned with at 35
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Impact Player: Cameron Green (RCB): It has been a mixed bag of a first season in Bengaluru for the highly rated Aussie. But on Sunday, Green proved his mettle by being all over DC. After a steady 32 not out with the bat, Green ran out Stubbs and dismissed Rasikh Salam at the expense of just 14 runs in his four overs, sealing victory for RCB with a man of the match display
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