Wriddhiman Saha (GT): Ever since he stepped in to replace Matthew Wade behind the stumps and at the top of the order for the Gujarat Titans (GT), Saha has been on a roll, playing some of his best cricket in the IPL since his time with Punjab almost a decade ago. Chasing 134 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday, Gujarat needed one of their top three to anchor the innings with composure and maturity, which is what Saha did. His unbeaten 67 may not have come at an express speed, but it was perfectly tailored for the match situation and ensured that GT never looked in danger of losing out on another couple of points
Jonny Bairstow (PBKS): Returning to his familiar opening slot has paid dividends for Bairstow and Punjab, with the Englishman tonking the ball around with his usual gusto over the past week. Against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday, Bairstow set the tone for a massive total by bludgeoning RCB in the opening exchanges. His 66 runs came in double quick time and adorned with no less than seven maximums. Three days later, he began in blistering fashion once again, against the Delhi Capitals (DC), though he was only limited to a cameo of 28 this time around
Mitchell Marsh (DC): It has been the best week of Mitchell Marsh’s IPL career, turning around an otherwise dismal season into one that can still take DC to glory. Against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Marsh entered proceedings in the first over and made a stiff chase of 161 seem like a walk in the park. His silky smooth strokes produced 89 off 62, adding to the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin that he grabbed in the first innings. Five days later against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), Marsh was the lynchpin behind Delhi’s challenging total of 159, scoring 63 off 48 balls to keep his team in the hunt for the playoff spots
Deepak Hooda (LSG): Even though the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fell short of their target against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday, one man in turquoise emerged with his reputation enhanced. Having arrived at the crease at 15 for two in the third over, Hooda took his time to get to grips with the pace of the wicket, before unlocking his wide repertoire of shots. After a free-flowing 59 off 39 balls that must have kept the Indian selectors interested, Hooda got stumped in a bizarre fashion, having made no effort to get back into the crease because he assumed that Sanju Samson had dislodged the bails behind the stumps. Samson, however, had fumbled at the first attempt, but had enough time to make amends
Rahul Tripathi (SRH): In a virtual knockout game for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Tripathi came good once more, scoring a blistering 76 off 44 to take SRH within touching distance of 200 against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday. Making the most of a flat deck at the Wankhede Stadium, Tripathi displayed his full range of shots, from cultured off-drives to flourishing pulls to the old-fashioned slogs over mid-wicket. At one point, it seemed that a century might be on the cards, but Tripathi perished 24 runs short, caught in the deep off Ramandeep Singh, but not before stamping his authority on the game
Andre Russell (KKR): No matter his form, Russell usually produces a couple of onslaughts in any IPL season. On Saturday, SRH were on the receiving end of the latest one, as the Caribbean powerhouse slaughtered the SRH bowling en route to an unbeaten 49 off 28. During his display of muscular might, Russell took a special liking to Washington Sundar, dismissing his deliveries in the manner of a seasoned international batter taking on a club bowler. Russell was also pivotal for KKR with the ball, bagging three wickets for just 22 runs, including the crucial breakthrough of opposition skipper Kane Williamson
Daniel Sams (MI): A whirlwind of a spell from Sams against CSK last Thursday effectively settled the game in its first quarter. Three wickets by Sams inside the first four overs of the match put CSK into a disarray from which they did not recover for the rest of the evening. The Sams show began when the Australian trapped Devon Conway plumb in front off the second ball of the innings. Two balls later, he picked up Moeen Ali. Shortly after, he had Ruturaj Gaikwad caught behind, rattling the CSK top order and ending the game with figures of three for 16 in four overs
Axar Patel (DC): There was no shortage of discipline and dedication from Axar on Monday, as he kept a lid on the Punjab batters, giving away just 14 runs in his four overs to help DC defend 159. With the game in the balance right after the second innings powerplay, Axar clinched the vital wicket of PBKS skipper Mayank Agarwal, sneaking the ball in through the gap between bat and pad to disturb the woodwork. Later on, Axar also dismissed Rishi Dhawan to take DC one step closer to victory
Shardul Thakur (DC): Consistency has not been Thakur’s forte this season, but the ‘Lord’, as the internet calls him fondly, rose to the occasion against PBKS with a match-winning performance. Thakur’s four for 36 saw him deal a double blow to Punjab by eliminating Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Shikhar Dhawan in the game-turning sixth over. Just when Jitesh Sharma seemed poised to get PBKS back into the game, Thakur struck again, before putting the result beyond doubt with the wicket of Kagiso Rabada at the death
Harshal Patel (RCB): Last season’s Purple Cap winner has not been at his best in 2022, but such is Patel’s skill set that he is still among the wickets for RCB. With PBKS going hell for leather against RCB on Friday, Patel’s variations brought him four wickets at the expense of 34 runs, not a bad trade-off given PBKS went on to score 209 and bat RCB out of the game. Among Patel’s scalps on the night were Mayank Agarwal and Liam Livingstone, whose wicket should ideally have been split between Patel and Dinesh Karthik, with the latter running back to pocket one of the toughest chances of the game
Mukesh Choudhary (CSK): When you are defending 98 runs against a team like the Mumbai Indians (MI), you have to make early inroads to have even a whiff of a chance. That is just what Choudhary did for CSK, removing Ishan Kishan, Daniel Sams and Tristan Stubbs inside the powerplay to keep the faint hopes of a CSK comeback alive. Going at less than a run a ball in his four overs, Choudhary did his part for the men in yellow, but the others failed to be in lockstep, as MI weathered the initial storm to cruise to the target with more than five overs to spare
