Ajinkya Rahane, Glenn Maxwell and Arshdeep Singh are all included in the fourth team of the week for IPL 2023. Every XI can contain a maximum of four overseas players besides having no more than three players from a single franchise. For this year, there is also an impact player to be chosen every week in addition to the starting XI
Photos: TT archives
Jason Roy (KKR): His smashing 61 off just 26 balls against CSK may not have won KKR the match, but it was enough to make the KKR management propel Roy to the opening slot against RCB. On the batting paradise in Bengaluru, Roy made good of that promotion by cutting loose during a 29-ball impact innings of 56
Devon Conway (CSK): The Kiwi opener retains his place in the XI after another productive week, which saw him pile on back-to-back half centuries against SRH and KKR. While his strike rate did not exceed 140 on either occasion, he provided enough stability and shotmaking for other CSK batters to play around him and win both games
Ajinkya Rahane (CSK): Not many would have thought that Rahane would return to India’s Test team through his IPL form, but that is precisely what has happened. The latest chapter in the Rahane comeback story came at the Eden Gardens, where the former Knight unleashed his full arsenal of shots, racing to a man-of-the-match performance of 71 off only 29 deliveries
Hardik Pandya (GT): Playing more as a batting allrounder for GT nowadays, junior Pandya was in fantastic touch against senior Pandya’s team, LSG. Hardik’s 65 was almost half his team’s total score on the day. Even though the GT skipper could not get going with the bat against MI, he provided an invaluable early breakthrough with a caught-and-bowled effort to send Rohit Sharma packing
Glenn Maxwell (RCB): The G in RCB’s KGF trio, Maxwell failed to impress versus KKR, but produced one of his best IPL knocks for RCB in a match-winning 77 against RR. Coming into bat at 12 for 2, Maxwell not only steadied the RCB ship with captain Faf du Plessis, but also kept the boundaries flowing, finishing his stunning innings with six fours and four sixes
Abhinav Manohar (GT): In a team packed with power hitters at the death, such as David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, it is rare that someone else steals the limelight. But that is exactly what Manohar did against MI, with a fiery 42 off just 21. Combined with a similarly explosive display from Miller, GT reached an imposing total of 207, which proved 55 runs too many for the five-time champions
Ravindra Jadeja (CSK): An 8-ball blitz yielded 18 runs for Jadeja against KKR, but it was against SRH that he was worth his weight in gold. Even though he did not get a chance to bat against Hyderabad, Jadeja rattled SRH’s batters, getting rid of their Indian batting core of Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi and Mayank Agarwal, at a stellar economy rate of 5.5 runs per over
Rashid Khan (GT): While not a spectacular week by his world-class standards, Rashid was nonetheless instrumental to two GT wins against SRH and MI, during which he picked up four wickets to go joint-top of the Purple Cap standings. Against MI, Rashid gave away just 27 runs in his four overs, while seeing the backs of Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, both vital wickets in the context of the game
Varun Chakravarthy (KKR): While CSK found a way to dispatch Chakravarthy to all parts of Eden, RCB ended up falling prey to his guile and variations. KKR’s one-time mystery spinner cleaned up RCB’s middle order with the dismissals of Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthik, while giving away just 27 runs to deservedly take home the man-of-the-match trophy
Arshdeep Singh (PBKS): Having come into his own as the undisputed spearhead for Punjab, Arshdeep was at his devastating best against MI. His four wickets for just 29 were an outlier in a match where both teams scored in excess of 200. After dismissing Ishan Kishan early on, death specialist Arshdeep pocketed three MI batters in the last four overs of the innings to seal a 13-run victory for PBKS
Impact Player: Axar Patel (DC): In a closely fought contest between DC and SRH, Patel proved to be the difference by keeping things simple. His run-a-ball 34 helped DC crawl their way to 144, before Patel bowled four overs for just 21 runs, including the wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Aiden Markram, to give DC a much-needed two points
