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The second week of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) witnessed up-and-coming players taking center stage and leading their teams to victory. While many of the experienced players took a back seat, youngsters and newcomers put up phenomenal performances.
The second week of the cash-rich event saw eight games being played. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) failed to bag their second victory of the season and suffered defeats in both their games this week.
The Delhi Capitals (DC), on the other hand, emphatically redeemed themselves by defeating the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to get their first two points and finally open their account after two consecutive losses.
On that note let us look at the best playing 11 from week two of the IPL 2024.
Openers: Sunil Narine and Shubman Gill
The second week of the tournament saw Sunil Narine rising to the occasion and putting up fine performances while batting in the top order. In the game against RCB, Narine notched up 47 runs in 22 deliveries to provide his side with the desired start.
He carried the same momentum into KKR's next encounter against DC, this time racking up his highest-ever score with the bat in the tournament's history. The spin-bowling all-rounder smashed 85 runs in 39 balls and played a pivotal role in his side posting 272/7. Narine also put up a decent show with the ball, picking up one wicket each in both games.
Shubman Gill, who had been struggling to get going, finally scored his first half-century this season in the Gujarat Titans' clash against the Punjab Kings. Opening the innings for his side, the GT skipper remained unbeaten at 89 runs of 48 deliveries.
He played a key role in his team posting a 200-run target but eventually ended up on the losing side as Punjab chased down the total in a nail-biting thriller.
Middle-order and all-rounders: Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran, Riyan Parag, Andre Russell, Shashank Singh
Sai Sudharsan put up consistent performances across both the games that Gujarat played this week. Walking in to bat at No. 3, Sudharsan scored a 36-ball-45 against SunRisers Hyderabad and played a key role in his team completing a successful chase.
In the most recent game against PBKS, the 22-year-old batted in the middle order and notched up a quick fire 33 off 19 deliveries, helping his side get to a total of 199/4.
Rishabh Pant's return after his horrific car accident in December 2022 has been nothing short of a miracle. The Delhi Capitals skipper returned to competitive cricket after more than a year-long hiatus and in the two games that DC played this week, he proved why comebacks are always stronger than setbacks.
The wicketkeeper better scored back-to-back half centuries of which the one against CSK came in a winning cause. Though his efforts against KKR went in vain, the 25-year-old showed glimpses of his old self.
Nicholas Pooran was commendable across both the games that the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) played this past week. With regular skipper KL Rahul playing as an impact substitute owing to injury concerns, Pooran was at the helm in the game against PBKS.
In a successful outing for him as a captain, Pooran also put on a show with the bat in the middle order to score 42 off 21 at 200. In LSG's next encounter against RCB, he played a similar knock, remaining unbeaten on a 21-ball 40, which included five sixes and a four.
In Rajasthan Royals' (RR) only game this week against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium, the Men in Pink restricted the hosts to a below-par total of 125 runs. Though it looked like an easy chase, MI bowlers gave a hard time to RR batters.
Riyan Parag continued his good form with the bat and anchored the innings brilliantly, scoring a composed 54* off 39 balls to take his side to a six-wicket win.
Andre Russell was phenomenal with the bat in KKR's recent outing against DC, where he scored 41 runs off just 19 balls, hitting four boundaries and three sixes, before being bamboozled by Ishant Sharma's pace. Apart from that, the Caribbean all-rounder has also been consistent with the ball this week, picking up three wickets in two outings.
PBKS batter Shashank Singh made a name for himself at the IPL against the Titans. He proved that he was not an imposter in the team and gave his side several reasons to retain him in the playing XI for the remainder of games.
When Punjab were chasing a humungous target of 200 runs against GT, he notched up a quickfire 61* off 29 deliveries. Shashank scored the winning runs for his side, helping Punjab bag a thrilling victory on the final delivery of the game.
Bowlers: Mayank Yadav, Trent Boult, Mohit Sharma
Mayank Yadav managed to put up back-to-back match-winning performances and bagged the Player of the Match award in both of LSG's games this week. When it looked like PBKS would complete the 200-run chase, Mayank Yadav ran through the opposition's top and middle order to halt their momentum and register figures of 3/27 in four overs.
Yadav bettered his figures in the next outing against RCB, this time registering 3/14 in his four-over spell and dismissing their No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 batters again to help his side get a memorable win in their kitty.
Even though Rajasthan Royals (RR) played just one game this week, the inaugural champions put up a formidable performance and grabbed everyone's attention. In their encounter against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI), Trent Boult wreaked havoc with the ball.
Bowling first, Boult initiated MI's collapse and dismissed three of the opposition batters for a duck in the powerplay. He proved again why he was the best in business with the new ball as he finished with figures of 3/22 in his four-over spell.
The amount of experience that Mohit Sharma brings to the team is second to none. The 35-year-old has been his captain's go-to bowler in the death overs and has managed to restrict the batters from scoring big. The GT pacer picked up three wickets against SRH while conceding 25 runs in his spell to be eventually adjudged the Player of the Match.
Yuzvendra Chahal can be made a part of this team as an impact substitute. The RR spinner joined hands with Boult and Nandre Burger in the game against MI by registering 3/11 in his spell to strengthen his team’s chances.
