Best playing 11 with impact sub from Week 2 of IPL 2025 ft. Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav

The second week of the 2025 IPL season continued dishing out surprises in terms of team results and individual performances. The Delhi Capitals (DC) remain the only undefeated side after the second weekend of IPL 2025 with three wins in as many games.

Meanwhile, last year's runners-up, SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), and the two five-time IPL champions, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), have struggled to get going. The three former champions occupy the bottom three spots in the standings.

Teams like the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have won their latest matches after slow starts to find themselves in the middle of the table. Unsurprisingly, some of the best performances from the second week of IPL 2025 came from these teams and the top two sides - DC and Gujarat Titans (GT).

Yet, some of the bottom-placed teams have also had individuals producing stellar efforts with bat and ball.

On that note, let us come up with the best playing XI with the Impact Sub from week two of the 2025 IPL season.

Note: Matches considered are from March 30 to April 6

Openers: KL Rahul (wk) and Mitchell Marsh

Although wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul was to bat in the middle-order for the Delhi Capitals (DC), he was forced to move up the order for the side's latest encounter against CSK. And India's most versatile batter had no trouble adapting to a position he has made his own in IPL seasons gone by.

Rahul scored a brilliant 51-ball 77 to help DC post an above-par 183 for 6 on a sluggish Chennai surface. His knock proved to be the difference as DC made it a hat-trick of wins to start IPL 2025 by 25 runs. Rahul's other batting stint in the second week of the season came at No.4, scoring a blistering 5-ball 15 in DC's crushing win over SRH.

Often ridiculed as a part-time player when it comes to the IPL, Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been on a mission to prove doubters wrong in IPL 2025. After back-to-back half-centuries in week one, Marsh was dismissed for a duck against PBKS to start the second week.

However, he butchered the MI new-ball attack on his way to a match-winning 60 off 31 deliveries, helping LSG post a massive 203 for 8 on a tricky Lucknow wicket.

Middle Order: Nitish Rana, Suryakumar Yadav, Riyan Parag & Nehal Wadhera

Several middle-order batters made merry with game-changing knocks in the second week of IPL 2025. However, it would be hard to go past RR's Nitish Rana smashing the CSK bowlers at No.3 in the side's first win of the season.

After two low scores in week one, the southpaw scored a scintillating 81 off just 36 deliveries to help RR post a massive 182 for 9 in 20 overs. Rana also scored a quick seven-ball 12 to continue the momentum set by the top three in RR's latest win over PBKS.

At No.4 comes MI star Suryakumar Yadav on the back of two contrasting knocks in the second week of the season. The right-hander helped MI finish the KKR outing for their first and only win of IPL 2025 with a breathtaking nine-ball 27*.

Surya followed that with a well-paced 67 off 43 deliveries against LSG in a thrilling run-chase of 204 that MI just fell short of by 12 runs.

Another RR batter, Riyan Parag, comes in at No.5 for his unsung contributions in the side's back-to-back wins in Week Two. The 23-year-old scored a crucial 37 off 28 against CSK, weathering the storm against the spinners, to help RR post a match-winning total of 182.

Parag also pulled off the game-changing diving catch of Shivam Dube in CSK's run-chase and led the side admirably in Sanju Samson's absence on the field. He also scored a 25-ball 43* in RR's second win of the week against PBKS.

Finally, PBKS' Nehal Wadhera completes the middle order for the second week on the back of two solid batting displays. Coming in as the Impact Sub in PBKS' win over LSG, the southpaw scored a quickfire 43* off 25 deliveries to help them complete the run-chase in the 17th over.

Wadhera backed that up with another magical 62 off 41 balls in PBKS' defeat to RR, making him the only batter to score over 100 runs in the second week.

All-rounder: Hardik Pandya (c)

MI skipper Hardik Pandya was undoubtedly the best all-rounder of week two, with his bowling taking precedence over his batting. The 31-year-old dismissed a well-set Angkrish Raghuvanshi to help MI seal their first win of the season over KKR to begin Week Two.

Pandya then produced a stellar all-round show with an incredible five-wicket haul and a 16-ball 28* against LSG that unfortunately went in vain. Nevertheless, Pandya was the second leading wicket-taker in two games in the second week of IPL 2025.

Bowlers: Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, Kuldeep Yadav & Mohammed Siraj

DC pacer Mitchell Starc began week two of IPL 2025 in style, picking up a five-wicket haul against SRH. Much like the first qualifier and the final last year, Starc tormented the SRH top order, removing dangermen - Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, and Nitish Kumar Reddy in his first spell.

Starc then dismissed CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad cheaply for his sixth wicket of the week, helping DC win their third consecutive game to start IPL 2025.

RR seamer Jofra Archer endured a torrid start to the 2025 IPL season, going wicketless while conceding 109 runs in 6.3 overs in the first two matches. However, Week Two presented a completely different story with a rejuvenated Archer returning to his best.

The England pacer produced a fiery opening spell of 1 for 13 in three overs against CSK, followed by another match-winning spell of 3 for 25 against PBKS.

DC left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav continued his impressive bowling form in the second week, picking up four wickets in two matches at an average of 13 and an economy of 6.50. Kuldeep wrecked SRH in the middle and end overs with figures of 3 for 22 in four overs before stifling the CSK batters with a miserly 1 for 30 in four overs.

At No.11 comes undeniably the Player of Week Two - Mohammed Siraj, picking up seven wickets in two matches. The GT pacer produced spells of three for 19 and four for 17 to help GT pull off convincing wins over RCB and SRH.

Siraj was the leading wicket-taker of the second week at an average of 5.14 and an economy of 4.50.

Impact Sub: Sai Kishore

GT's ascent to second on the points table with three wins in four games has a lot to do with left-arm spinner Sai Kishore's consistent spells in the middle overs. Back-to-back two-wicket spells against RCB and SRH at an economy of 5.75 in the second week make Sai Kishore the easy option as the Impact Sub of this all-star playing XI.

Best Playing XI for Week Two of IPL 2025:

KL Rahul (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Nitish Rana, Suryakumar Yadav, Riyan Parag, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

Impact Sub: Sai Kishore