IPL 2019: Best team of must-be-retained players

Openers:

#1 KL Rahul

KL Rahul smashed the fastest IPL fifty ever in his very first game for KXIP

After a fierce bidding war between four franchises, KL Rahul was bought for a whooping INR 11 Crore by the Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2018 players auction. He justified his price tag in his very first game for the Punjab franchise by smashing the fastest IPL fifty ever. Rahul scored 659 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 158.4 in the previous season of the IPL. The Karnataka opening batsman smashed 6 fifties in IPL 2018, second only to Kane Williamson. Rahul discovered a rich vein of form and will hope he can carry on in a similar fashion in IPL 2019.

#2 Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu earned a spot in the Indian ODI squad through his performances in IPL 2018

Ambati Rayudu had his most prolific IPL season ever in the colours of the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2018. Rayudu took it upon himself to score runs at the top of the order for CSK and amassed 586 runs at a phenomenal strike rate of 153. This talismanic batsman earned a spot in the Indian ODI squad for the tour of England on the back of his fantastic performances in the IPL. Rayudu is a very handy top order batsman and will definitely be retained by CSK.