The best XI of the IPL for 2018

Fast bowlers

'The Fizz' had a wonderful IPL in 2016 before disappointing in 2017.

Our pace bowling attack consists of two opening bowlers and first-change pacer, following the usual T20 team rhetoric. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is our first option. The India swing bowler has upped his pace, consistency, and effectiveness since his transfer to SunRisers Hyderabad in 2014 and has managed to collect a nelson's worth of scalps, 111 wickets from 90 games to be exact, at an average strike rate of 21.07. With an economy of 7.08, when bowling at the very start and the very end, which usually yields the most runs for the batting, 'Bhuvi' has made himself an easy choice for this IPL XI.

The next player we have chosen is the new star of Indian cricket, Jasprit Bumrah. Despite having an economy of 8.07, the 24-year-old Bumrah has kept it at under eight an over for the last two seasons and has picked 46 wickets at a strike rate of 22.69, with his averages in 2016 and 2017 being 27.06 and 22.20 respectively. Bumrah is widely considered one of the future stars for the national team, and we are expecting him to have his best IPL yet by far in terms of statistics in 2018.

Our third choice was the most difficult choice. We had originally slated Mitchell Starc to fill this role, but due to his injury, Kagiso Rabada, Mustafizur Rahman and Chris Morris were all put into contention. Morris has been more expensive and his batting seems irrelevant due to the all-rounder roles already being covered, while Rabada has also been injured, leaving Mumbai's Mustafizur Rahman as the best possible option to finish the team. In the 2016 IPL, which has been his only full IPL season, 'The Fizz', as he is affectionately known, picked up seventeen wickets at an average of 24.76 with a respectable economy rate of 6.90 for the SunRisers. After his blip in the 2017 IPL and a poor PSL in 2018, he rebuilt with some good performances for Bangladesh against India and Sri Lanka, giving him a contract with the Mumbai Indians and a place in our XI.

Final XI: Rohit Sharma, Chris Lynn, Virat Kohli (C), Suresh Raina, Glenn Maxwell, MS Dhoni (WK), Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman.