Best overseas players in IPL 2022: Australia

Given Australia's fruitful orchard of cricketing talent, it could be expected that the cricket-loving nation would have several high impact players in IPL 2022.

We take a look at the top Australian performers in the tournament.

#3 Tim David (Mumbai Indians)

Tim David ended up being the highest-paid Australian at the IPL in 2022, having been picked up for ₹8.25 crore by the Mumbai Indians.

His quirky repayment plan seemingly came by way of his strike rate, as he became the competition's most prolific ball striker - 216.28 (at the conclusion of the group stage).

He proved to be a valuable player when pinch-hitting was the order of the day, highlighted by his knock of 46* off 18 balls against SunRisers Hyderabad.

David also averaged two sixes per game, which for reference was greater than five of the six highest run scorers in IPL 2022 (KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya and David Miller).

But the Mumbai Indians only unleashed him mid-way through the tournament, leaving onlookers wondering what may have been.

#2 Josh Hazlewood (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Josh Hazlewood has taken 20 wickets from 12 matches in IPL 2022 and sits 7th on the leading wicket-takers list, with most players above him playing between 13 and 17 games.

With a basic, metronomic, consistent attack at the top of the off-stump, he has dominated both in the opening overs and at the death. His tournament followed a tale of two halves, with that style yielding a large degree of success in his first few outings of the tournament.

In his first and second matches, he picked up 1/33 and 3/28, respectively. His figures of 4/25 in his third match against LSG were the fifth-best this season, and the fifth-best by an overseas player in the history of the IPL. By that stage, he had an incredible strike rate of 9.0 and a bowling average of 10.75, both listed as the third-best in the competition.

But his influence as arguably the league's best pacer began to wane as the tournament went on. He still managed to pick up a further seven wickets from as many games and was a steady performer throughout.

A forgettable outing against the Punjab Kings saw him battered for 64/0, ballooning his competition average to 25.16 and his strike rate to 19.08.

He still weaved his magic in the playoff Eliminator, taking two critical wickets (including that of KL Rahul), against Lucknow to all but end their hopes of clincing the match in the second innings.

#1 David Warner (Delhi Capitals)

David Warner, whose team Delhi Capitals failed to make the playoffs, is the 12th-highest run scorer in IPL 2022, with a run tally of 432 and a batting average of 48.00. Importantly, he holds this status after just 12 innings.

Warner has returned scores of 4 (12 balls), 61 (45), 66 (38), 60* (30), 28 (14), 42 (26) 3 (4), 92* (58), 19 (12), 52* (41), 0 (1) and 5 (6). Warner is the only batter to score five or more half-centuries in IPL 2022.

A consistent factor has been his enthralling ability to score quickly, having registered a strike rate of 150.52 so far this tournament, alongside 52 fours and 15 sixes.

That value is compounded and seemingly enhanced given he was 'stolen' by his franchise at the IPL 2022 mega auction for just ₹6.25 crore after his old side SunRisers Hyderabad elected not to retain him after a poor 2021 campaign.