IPL 2018: Key Indian batsmen from each team

There's hardly a month left for the world's most popular domestic T20 league to begin. This year's IPL is going to be a blockbuster as it marks the return of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals after both of them served a ban for two years.

Indian batsmen have always showcased their class in the IPL. Their blistering performances have always been a treat for the spectators. IPL has also been a platform for the youngsters to emerge and showcase their skills.

Let's look into the Indian batsmen from each franchise who will be up to mesmerize the spectators by their astounding performances.

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#1 Virat Kohli - Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Indian Captain is currently dominating all three formats

Kohli is undoubtedly the best batsman currently in all three formats. His batting skills are definitely a treat to everyone's eyes and his captaincy has taken India to a different level altogether. Although we all know about his pure class, let's get a glimpse of his international career.

Kohli has played 57 T20Is and scored 1983 runs at an exceptional average of 50.85. His T20I career consists of 18 half centuries. The No.1 ODI batsman has played 208 ODIs and scored 9588 runs at a phenomenal average of 58.11. He has scored 35 hundreds in his ODI career, which is the second highest by any individual after Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli won the Orange Cap in the IPL 2016. In that season, he scored 973 runs in 16 matches at a sensational average of 81.08. He scored 4 hundreds and 7 half centuries in the season which shows he is a pure masterclass. Virat will be up to take his team for the maiden IPL title by giving more phenomenal performances.

#2 Suresh Raina - Chennai Super Kings

Raina has made a remarkable comeback in international cricket

Raina has made a phenomenal comeback to the Indian team by showing some promising performances on the South African Tour and the recently conluded Nidahas Trophy. Raina has shown his masterclass and we would soon have him in the ODI squad too.

Raina has played 73 T20Is in his career and scored 1499 runs at an astounding strike rate of 133.95. He is one of those batsmen who has scored a T20I hundred for India. Raina also has an experience of 223 ODIs and scored 5568 runs at an extraordinary average of 35.46.

He captained the Gujarat Lions in the past two editions. He has proved to be an effective batsman in the IPL. He has played 161 matches and scored 4540 runs at an incredible strike rate of 139.05. Raina will be up to continue his thunderous batting in the IPL too and possibly go on to secure the orange cap.

#3 Rohit Sharma - Mumbai Indians

Rohit was the winning captain in the Nidahas Trophy

We all are aware of the thunderous batting of Rohit Sharma whenever he's in a good touch. The winning captain of the Nidahas Trophy has achieved various accolades in international cricket.

Rohit was the batsman to score three double hundreds in ODIs. He has played 79 T20Is and scored 1852 runs at an extraordinary strike rate of 135.77. Rohit is ranked 6th in the ODI rankings, where he has scored 6594 runs in his 180 matches at an exceptional average of 44.55.

Rohit has been the biggest contributor for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He has led the team to the coveted title thrice. He has played 159 IPL matches and scored 4207. He has 32 IPL half centuries under his bag. Rohit would be looking forward to taking his team to win the coveted title for the 4th time.

#4 Gautam Gambhir - Delhi Daredevils

Gambhir has shown tremendous results as the captain of KKR

Gambhir is back to where he started his IPL Career. With an experience of 148 IPL matches, he has scored 4132 runs at an exceptional average of 31.78.

Gambhir has also captained the team of Kolkata Knight Riders and led them to the coveted title twice in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

His effective on-field tactics uplift the entire team. Gambhir is also known to give steady starts to his team and make big scores.

Having Gambhir as an opener and a captain in the team will definitely boost up the entire team and will make the top order stronger.

#5 Shikhar Dhawan - Sunrisers Hyderabad

Dhawan has shown exemplary performances in the recent games

Dhawan has given a rock and roll performance in the Nidahas Trophy and South African Tour. He is undoubtedly in an exemplary form and showing up good results in his recent performances. Dhawan's impressive performance in South Africa gave him the opportunity to become the vice-captain in the Nidahas Trophy.

Dhawan has played 36 T20Is in his career and scored 884 runs at a good strike rate of 128.48. Dhawan has immensely contributed to the SRH in the past seasons. He has scored 3561 runs in his 127 IPL matches at a decent average of 32.67.

Both Dhawan and Warner have an experience of more than 100 IPL matches. Thus, the team is already having an upper hand in the tournament by having two phenomenal openers in their team.

#6 KL Rahul - Kings XI Punjab

Rahul was bought for a whopping price of Rs.11 Cr

Rahul was bought for a whopping price of Rs.11 Cr by the Kings XI Punjab. The reason why he has so much value is due to his ability to give a strong start to the team.

Rahul has played 14 T20Is in his career and scored 500 runs at an emphatic average of 45.45 and a strike rate of 146.62.

He is one of those Indian batsmen who have a T20I century. Rahul also has decent IPL statistics. He has played 39 matches and scored 725 runs which comprise of four half-centuries.

Rahul would be looking forward to living up to the expectations of the team and convert his good starts into big scores.

#7 Rahul Tripathi - Rajasthan Royals

Rahul Tripathi scored with a strike rate of 146.44 in IPL 2017

Tripathi is the lone uncapped player who makes the list, and why shouldn't he, looking into his contribution for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the last edition. Rahul Tripathi was bought for Rs. 3.4 crores by Rajasthan Royals.

He came into the limelight when he played a match-winning knock of 93 off 52 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders.

He scored 391 runs in the 14 matches he played at an impressive strike rate of 146.44. He proved himself as an effective top-order batsman for the team.

Tripathi would be looking forward to playing for a new team and provide strong starts to the Royals. He would also be looking forward to convert his good starts into big scores.

#8 Dinesh Karthik - Kolkata Knight Riders

Karthik will lead the KKR side in this season

Karthik recently stole the headlines after played a thunderous knock of 28 in 9 balls in the final of Nidahas Trophy against Bangladesh.

The captain of the Knight Riders will be taking over the entire team's responsibility as well as the wicket-keeping roles. However, the most important job for him will be to score big runs for the team and, if we looking into his recent form, he has all the capability to do the same.

Karthik has some promising statistics in his career that makes him a worthy player. He has played 19 T20Is and scored 269 runs at an impressive strike rate of 149.44. In his first-class career, he has played 157 matches and scored 9214 runs at an astounding average of 42.07.

Dinesh Karthik gave a few promising performances for the Gujarat Lions in the last season. He scored 361 runs in 14 matches at a phenomenal strike rate of 139.38. Karthik, with the added responsibility of captaincy, will be looking forward to scoring big runs and take his team to the coveted title for the third time.