Rinku Singh, Rashid Khan and Yashasvi Jaiswal are all included in the team of the season for IPL 2023. Just like our weekly XIs, this team 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 in addition to the starting XI
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Shubman Gill (GT): He came into the IPL in the best white-ball form of his life and then took his game to another level, especially in the second half of the tournament. Twice selected in our weekly best XI, Gill’s three centuries and season-topping tally of 851 runs, with the final still left to play, have had an air of elegant inevitability about them. None more so than his century in the second qualifier against MI, perhaps the finest IPL knockout hundred of all time
Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR): Undoubtedly the batting revelation of the season, Jaiswal has seemed unstoppable at various stages of this IPL, with the most prolific example of that coming during his unbeaten knock of 98 at the Eden Gardens. More than the 625 runs he has scored or his three appearances in our team of the week, it is his strike rate of 164 that has stood out this season, making him the most consistently destructive powerplay batter in the IPL since Adam Gilchrist in 2009
Cameron Green (MI): There were question marks over Green’s ability to play big knocks under pressure, all of which have evaporated this term thanks to one power-packed performance after another, two of which got him into our team of the week. Were it not for his scintillating hundred against SRH in MI’s last home game, the five-time champions would not have made it to the playoffs, which goes to show what a difference-maker this Aussie has been
Suryakumar Yadav (MI): He may have started off slowly, but SKY got into his groove with consecutive appearances in our best XI lineups between weeks five and seven. Of all the players who have scored more than 400 runs in this year’s IPL, nobody has a better strike rate than SKY, which partly stems from the 65 fours and 28 sixes he has hit this season
Rinku Singh (KKR): He would have got into the team of the season by virtue of two displays alone — five sixes off five balls to help KKR beat GT in Gujarat and a valiant 67 not out that almost repeated the trick against LSG in Kolkata. With an average near 60 and a strike rate near 150, Rinku has taken over the mantle from Andre Russell as KKR’s finisher-in-chief, something he should hold on to for a while to come
Marcus Stoinis (LSG): There are few sights in the IPL that arrest the attention more than Stoinis in full flow, as he has been more frequently than ever before for LSG. Over 400 runs and five wickets may not scream a dream season on paper, but the big Aussie has been there in crunch situations to bail LSG out of trouble and into match-winning positions. His two appearances in our team of the week also strengthens his case for being in our team of the season
Ravindra Jadeja (CSK): For yet another year there has been no better all-rounder in the IPL than CSK’s Jadeja, the man who has had to remind a fair few fans of his worth this season, despite collecting 246 fantasy points and two team-of-the-week selections. Back in Chennai for CSK’s home games, Jadeja’s spin has turned multiple games on their heads, with his livewire fielding and pinch-hitting at the death as vital as ever
Rashid Khan (GT): Perhaps the most predictable inductee into our team of the season is a man who has already been in our team of the week on three separate occasions, all of which came within the first month of this year’s IPL. Only Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill have accumulated more fantasy points than him and only Mohammed Shami can better him on the wickets’ column. Be it with the ball or as a hitter with the bat, there is no more dependable star in the competition than Afghanistan’s most decorated cricketer
Tushar Deshpande (CSK): His economy rate may be touching 10 for the season, but his 21 wickets for CSK, many of which have come at the top, have proved invaluable for the men in yellow. While he may not have made it into any of our best XIs during the season, Deshpande walks into our ultimate team of the campaign due to his knack for breakthroughs just when the opposition least expect it
Mohammed Shami (GT): Every year his critics think he is past his best and every year he delivers the goods by following the basics of fast bowling with utmost dedication. Three team-of-the-week appearances and the Purple Cup are only the tip of the iceberg of another splendid campaign for Shami, who has taken apart the notion that he is not a T20 bowler by running in and hitting the seam match in and match out, something he does so well in the longest format of the game
Mohammed Siraj (RCB): A playoff berth may have been denied to RCB, but their most potent bowler earns his place in our XI on the back of two team-of-the-week appearances and 19 wickets at a reasonable economy rate of 7.52 runs per over. The fact that Siraj has managed these numbers while bowling the most challenging overs in the most challenging ground in the competition adds to his growth as a spearhead, something RCB will be proud of given the faith they have shown in him over time
Impact Player: Devon Conway (CSK): Were it not for Yashasvi’s brilliance, Conway was a shoe-in for the starting lineup on the back of three team-of-the-week nominations and an almost routine sense of brilliance for CSK. Effective without being effusive, the Kiwi, much like his CSK coach, has been the quiet backbone of another fantastic Chennai campaign, delivering several solid starts alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and helping himself to 625 runs along the way
