The 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) drew to a close on Sunday with Mumbai Indians defeating Chennai Super Kings to clinch a record fourth title.
With the IPL now coming to an end, all attention shifts to the 2019 World Cup in England which is slated to begin at the end of May.
Apart from hosts England, Virat Kohli and his team India are among the favourites to land the World Cup title. Here, we look at how India’s 15-man squad for the World Cup fared over the course of the IPL campaign.
Shikhar Dhawan – 8
An excellent campaign for the India opener on his return to the Delhi Capitals franchise. Grew into the tournament after an indifferent start and ended it with a total of 521 runs scored with the help of five fifties.
Shikhar Dhawan. Image – @IPL/Twitter.
Rohit Sharma – 7
While he led Mumbai well to their fourth title, Rohit also had a decent campaign with the bat after his horror show in 2018. Averaging nearly 30, the India deputy skipper scorer 405 runs from 15 matches after returning to his favoured opening slot.
KL Rahul – 9
It was arguably Rahul’s IPL 2019 displays which earned him a spot in India’s World Cup squad. The KXIP opener was the top run-scorer among Indians and the second highest overall with a tournament tally of 593 runs.
Virat Kohli – 7
Despite yet another forgettable IPL campaign for RCB, skipper Virat Kohli did well individually with a tournament tally of 464 runs. He is the only Bangalore batsmen to feature among the top 10 run-scorers in the tournament.
Kedar Jadhav – 3
One of the biggest worries for India will be the form of Kedar Jadhav who tallied a mere 162 runs from 12 innings at an average of just 18 and a strike-rate below 100. Injured himself too in the process.
CSK’s Kedar Jadhav. Image – BCCI/SPORTZPICS.
Vijay Shankar – 4
India’s surprise pick for the World Cup didn’t cover himself in glory either despite starting strongly. Just 244 runs in the end for Shankar at an average of 20 while he picked the solitary wicket with the ball in hand.
MS Dhoni – 8
Despite his failure to fire in the final, Dhoni was the lynchpin for CSK throughout the tournament with several match-winning displays. His wicketkeeping brilliance continues to astound while his batting was excellent with a total of 416 runs at an average of nearly 84.
Dinesh Karthik – 5
The KKR skipper’s own form wasn’t the best as his side fell away drastically in the latter half of the competition. Bar one unbeaten knock of 97 against Rajasthan, Karthik was abysmal with the bat with just 156 runs to show for in his other 11 innings.
Hardik Pandya – 9
While Andre Russell was mesmerising one and all with his sensational hitting for KKR, Hardik Pandya more than matched the Windies all-rounder with a power-packed tournament. Pandya was brilliant with the bat where he scored 401 runs at a strike-rate of over 191 while he was a handy bowling option for champions Mumbai with 14 wickets in total.
Ravindra Jadeja – 7
The CSK all-rounder’s form with the ball will be highly encouraging for India with the southpaw bagging 15 wickets at an economy-rate of just 6.35. His batting wasn’t the best but his fielding alone saved several runs for Chennai over the course of the tournament.
Yuzvendra Chahal – 7
One rare shining light for RCB after what was a shambolic campaign was the displays of Yuzvendra Chahal with the leg-spinner chipping in with 18 wickets.
Kuldeep Yadav – 2
Perhaps the biggest worry for India heading into the World Cup. The wrist-spinner looked out of sorts for most of the campaign with only four wickets to show. He was taken to the cleaners by Moeen Ali in an expensive display against RCB and was left inconsolable after that thrashing. Even more worryingly, he did not feature at all after the Moeen assault.
Confidence low for Kuldeep Yadav. Image – BCCI/SPORTZPICS.
Mohammed Shami – 7
Shami was a breath of fresh air for KXIP with the India pacer contributing with 19 wickets in 14 appearances. Although he was slightly expensive, Shami looked fit and hungry throughout the campaign which bodes well for India.
Jasprit Bumrah – 9
He tally of 19 scalps does not do justice to the exceptional campaign Bumrah had for Mumbai with the India pacer going on to show why is the best bowler at death in limited-overs cricket. Maintained an economy-rate of 6.63 which is magnificent for a pacer in T20s.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 6.5
Not the most prolific of campaigns for Bhuvneshwar despite maintaining a healthy economy-rate of less than eight. His 15 appearances yielded 13 wickets with the seamer looking a touch below his best.
