IPL 2018: Three best overseas recruits of the season

The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) is fast approaching its business end as all the teams are busy in calculating the permutations and combinations in order to qualify for the playoffs. While Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are already through, five teams are fighting it out for the remaining two spots. Consistency is the key in such a long tournament which has been so far shown by Kane Williamson, Jos Buttler and Andrew Tye and no wonder their teams are looking good to qualify for the playoffs.

Kane Williamson has been single-handedly shouldering the responsibility of scoring the runs for SRH and the only overseas skipper has proved his worth by scoring 7 fifties this season so far. It goes without saying that he is one of the leading contenders in the list of highest run-getters and if he continues in the same vein, is most likely to get hold of the Orange Cap as his team is certain to play more games after being at the top of the points table almost for the major part of the season.

Who are the other two players?

According to the recently published ‘Impact Index’ computed by MONEYBALL, a venture of Inside Sport, Kane Williamson has grabbed the third spot in the list of best overseas players. While he has been giving his best while leading from the front, Jos Buttler has been doing even more for his team Rajasthan Royals (RR) has kept them single-handedly in the race for the playoffs. His services were bagged by the franchise for Rs 4.4 Crore. So far he has scored 509 in 12 outings at an amazing average of 56.56 and a strike-rate of 153.78.

He has also scored 5 consecutive half-centuries and the team is expecting for him to continue batting in the same way for few more matches. However, Andrew Tye of Kings XI Punjab has been performing even better who has earned the top slot in this list to become the best overseas recruit so far in the tournament. He has held the fort for his team and is currently the purple cap holder which is awarded to the leading wicket-taker of the IPL. In 12 matches, he has taken 20 wickets which also include a couple of 4-wicket hauls.

He has risen to the occasion for his team whenever needed and was also the only major wicket-taker when KKR plundered 245 runs against them last week in Indore. Many eyebrows were raised when the franchise had shelled Rs 7.2 Crores for him in the auction but his acquisition has proved to be the most impactful so far as far as the overseas players are concerned.

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