IPL 2023: Best playing 11 of Week 2 ft. Harry Brook, Rinku Singh

IPL 2023 is up and running in style after a slowish opening week, with nail-biting thrillers being the order of the week just gone by. As many as four games went down to the last ball, while another boiled down to the penultimate delivery of the contest as the tournament caught the eye of the world in style.

It was an interesting week in many ways, with visiting teams having the edge over the hosts and adding another layer of intrigue along the way.

Of course, a number of individual performers stood tall and played out of their skins to set a massive standard that could be hard to eclipse for the rest of IPL 2023.

With this in mind, we look back at Week 2 of IPL 2023 and chalk out the best playing XI.

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Openers - Jos Buttler and Harry Brook

The English duo of Jos Buttler and Harry Brook are the openers in this playing XI. Buttler's consistency in T20s spilled over into Week 2 of IPL 2023 as solid knocks of 79 and 52 against the Delhi Capitals (DC) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), respectively, showed.

Brook's tough start to the tournament continued with a poor outing against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), although shoring him up to open the innings proved to be a masterstroke for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).

He clubbed the first century of IPL 2023 against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to announce his arrival on the big stage. His unbeaten 55-ball 100 paved the way for SRH's second win on the trot.

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Middle order - Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana (c), Nicholas Pooran (wk), and Rinku Singh

Not many would have envisioned Ajinkya Rahane making this lineup a week ago. Pulled off the bench owing to a couple of unavailabilities, he stepped up in grand style for CSK, carting the Mumbai Indians (MI) bowlers around for a 27-ball 61. He then backed it up with a fluent 31 off 19 deliveries against RR, with his dismissal proving to be the turning point of the match.

Nitish Rana struck form in Week 2 of IPL 2023, with his 29-ball 45 against Gujarat Titans (GT) playing an instrumental role in putting a steep chase on track. He backed it up with a rollicking 41-ball 75 against SRH, but couldn't take his team over the finish line in a chase of 229. He will also captain this playing XI.

Nicholas Pooran blasted the fastest half-century of the season against RCB in what was a manic contest. Taking just 15 deliveries to get to the landmark, his 19-ball 62 saw the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pull off an incredible chase that seemed a far cry at one stage. He will also don the wicketkeeper's gloves in this playing XI.

Nobody set the tone for Week 2 of IPL 2023 better than Rinku Singh though. In a blitz for the ages, he tore into Yash Dayal and struck five consecutive maximums to script arguably the most stunning heist in the history of the league. If that wasn't enough, he backed it up with a half-century against SRH that gave fans of KKR hope of an encore.

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Bowlers - Ravindra Jadeja, Mayank Markande, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Mohammed Siraj

Ravindra Jadeja turned in a handy cameo with the bat against RR but made this playing XI on the back of two outstanding spells with the ball. After his three-for broke the back of MI's middle order, he followed it up with two wickets against the Royals in Chennai, all at an economy rate of a shade over five.

Mayank Markande has bounced back from oblivion with six wickets across two matches against PBKS and KKR. SunRisers' move to play him ahead of the more seasoned Adil Rashid paid off as the leg-spinner returned with crucial breakthroughs in the middle overs.

Markande isn't the only leg-spinner in this XI, however, with the experienced Yuzvendra Chahal also making it. He snared three wickets against DC while following it up with two against CSK in Chennai while maintaining an economy rate of 7.75.

Trent Boult and Mohammed Siraj headline the pace attack, having put up a stellar performance in the week gone by. Boult missed the game in Chennai with a niggle, but caused enough damage against the Capitals with returns of 3/29. Siraj was at his very best himself against LSG as he stood out with figures of 3/22 in a run-fest at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

There were other noteworthy performances in the second week of IPL 2023, with Shikhar Dhawan's lone vigil of 99* against SRH easily one of the all-time great innings of the league and Rohit Sharma striking form with a solid 65 on a tough track against DC.

Before Pooran's onslaught on RCB, Marcus Stoinis counter-attacked his way to a 30-ball 65 that vaulted the Super Giants back into the contest. Ravichandran Ashwin's all-round display against CSK was preceded by a top spell of 2/25 against the Capitals in Guwahati.

Oh, and there was Venkatesh Iyer's show against the Titans as he blazed away to a 40-ball 83.

It was hard to slot them all into the best playing XI from Week 2 of IPL 2023. But they certainly deserve a mention for their tremendous performances throughout the week. Of course, the option of the impact player substitution puts them in the mix in this squad as well.

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Best XI from Week 2 of IPL 2023: Jos Buttler, Harry Brook, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana (c), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rinku Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Mayank Markande, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj.

Impact player substitutes: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, Ravichandran Ashwin, Venkatesh Iyer.

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Who would you have in your best playing XI from the week gone by in IPL 2023? Have your say in the comments section below!

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