IPL 2018: 5 players who were rewarded for their performances

#2 Ambati Rayudu

Rayudu celebrates after making a century against SRH.

As Dhoni himself put it about Ambati Rayudu, he is an excellent batter who is equally good at scoring against both spinners and pacers. Combine that ability with his temperament and you will be at a loss for thoughts as to why he was never a regular feature of the Indian squad. Rayudu's has good numbers to show for the ODIs except for his strike-rate, which is below 80 and sub-par. For a player who has never looked out of touch in almost all of the IPL editions, and boasts of a wide range of shots, the inability to leave a mark in international cricket seems baffling. International cricket has so far got the better of him. But, the selectors have given him another chance to turn tables in ODIs and prove to all that he is here to stay. Now that he is in the ODI squad for the UK tour he has an excellent opportunity to make a case for himself for the 2019 World Cup.

Given his IPL performances, his selection into the national squad seemed imminent. Rayudu ended the league as the fourth leading run-scorer. He accumulated 602 runs in 16 matches at an impressive strike-rate of 150. He was also one of the few players who scored a century this season. The feat came against the best bowling side of the season- the Sunrisers- in Pune, where he scored 100* off only 62 deliveries, and saw his team through yet another win.