The first week of IPL 2022 has been a roller coaster ride for the teams. Two of the most successful teams of IPL CSK and MI have not opened their winning account so far in the tournament.
In just a week, cricket lovers have witnessed great contests between the bat and ball. There are a lot of youngsters and veterans who are performing really well and getting fans’ attention. Some of the players who were not supposed to be key members of the team are doing great and playing a crucial role for the team. Here are the top 5 unexpected performers after first 10 days of the season.
Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav, who benched the whole season for Delhi capitals last year was picked in the second round of the 2022 auction by his former franchise KKR on a base price of 2cr.
But now he is the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 8 wickets in his pocket and having an economy rate of 7.38 in his first 3 games of IPL so far. In the very first game of the season against CSK, he got rid of Ruturaj Gaikwad, the orange cap winner of last season in the first over. After that, he got New Zealand’s talented batsman Devon Conway. He got the man of the match for his spell of 4 overs 20 runs with 2 top wickets.
While playing against RCB, KKR just needed to defend 128 runs against the fire pack batting lineup of RCB. All hopes were down until Umesh comes into the party; again he notched the wicket in his first over by dismissing Anuj Rawat on duck. Then in his second over, he got the big fish, Virat Kohli. The fiery spell of a 34-year old pacer put KKR back on track however, they fell 15-20 runs sort to defend the target.
While in the match against PBKS, he bagged his best bowling figures in IPL history which is of 4 overs 23 runs and claimed four wickets. He made his impact from the start of the game by dismissing Punjab captain Mayank Agarwal, and then in his second spell, he got three wickets. He struck Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Brar and Kagiso Rabada and breaks the backbone of
PBKS batting lineup.
Shivam Dube
So far, CSK are not having the season they had hoped for. But Shivam Dube taking responsibility with a handy strike rate is one of the positives for them. Shivam Dubey has scored 109 runs with a destructive strike rate of 165.15 in 3 games of IPL so far. The all-rounder however scored only 3 runs in the opening match, but management backed him to bat up in the order which really turned out to be a good decision.
Against Lucknow Super Giants, he smashed destructive 49 runs in just 30 balls with a strike rate of 163.33. And with his efforts, CSK managed to cross the 200 mark. In the next game CSK vs PBKS, while chasing 180 runs Chennai were in big trouble as they lost their five wickets on just 36 runs and then again Shivam Dubey took responsibility, and before getting out on 57 he gave a scare to the Punjab side. Although, no CSK batter other than him could even pass the 30+mark.
Ayush Badoni
Lots of emerging players come with great hype in this IPL every season. Although, Ayush Badoni was not the much-talked-about youngster ahead of the season. But by smashing a fifty on his debut the 22-year old batter has cleared his intentions that he is here for the long run. So far he scored 92 runs in 3 games of IPL with an outstanding strike rate of 148.39 and is averaging 46.
Against Chennai, while chasing 210, he came to bat at no.6 when Lucknow needed 40 runs in 16 balls. The young lad yet again impressed the Lucknow fans as he scored game-changing 19 runs in just 9 balls with two well-timed sixes. In his most recent outing against SRH, he again helped his side by finishing the innings with a cameo of 19 runs off 12 deliveries.
