IPL 2018: Veteran Indian players and their performance review

The Indian Premier League is one of the most popular T20 competitions in the world cricket. The 2018 edition of the IPL lived up to all the expectations this season. One of the key highlights of the season was how the veteran players came to the fore to lead their sides to big victories. Over the years, a general notion had developed that the shortest format of the game is only for the youth.

Not many believed that the senior players could actually play exceptionally well in the T20 format of the game. While the overseas veterans like Shane Watson and Kane Williamson were expected to come good this season, a lot of eyes was on the Indian veteran stars in the tournament.

Here we try to analyse how the big names of the Indian cricket fared up in the IPL 2018. Certainly, some veteran cricketers like Ambati Rayudu showed that age is just a number. But here, in this list, we pick the names of the cricketers who have played a plethora of games for the national side across the three formats of the sport.

Here is how the veteran Indian players performed this season:

Gautam Gambhir (Delhi Daredevils)

Gautam Gambhir is one of the most successful captains in the history of the IPL. Under his leadership, the Kolkata Knight Riders had lifted the title twice. This season, he was with the Delhi Daredevils. In the very first game that he played for the double Ds, he hit a brilliant fifty against the Kings XI Punjab, albeit in a losing cause.

What followed next was an absolute horror show. Gambhir played five more matches and could not breach the 20-run mark in any of those games. He averaged only 17 with the bat as he mustered 85 runs in 6 matches. He subsequently quit his captaincy and did not play any more games in the season.

Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab)

Yuvraj Singh is a big name in the Indian cricket circuit. He has been one of the mainstays of the Indian side over the years. In the recent times, he has been in and out of the national side. With this backdrop he entered the IPL 2018 hoping to strike some form.

The veteran batsman was back in the Kings XI Punjab lineup for the season. The team management showed a lot of faith in him and let him play as many as 8 matches in the season. But the veteran cricketer could only muster 65 runs at a poor average of 10.83. His highest score in the season was just 20.

Harbhajan Singh (Chennai Super Kings)

Harbhajan Singh has had a very unusual season in the IPL this year. The veteran Indian off spinner parted ways with the Mumbai Indians this year. He has been a key member of the MI lineup for a decade. This season, he played for the Chennai Super Kings.

He got his opportunities with the ball but failed to make a contribution about which the fans could boast about. He rarely got his complete quota of four overs to bowl this season. His economy rate was on the higher side as well, in excess of 8 per over.

Suresh Raina  (Chennai Super Kings)

While the likes of Yuvraj Singh failed in the tournament, another Indian veteran who is eyeing a comeback in the national side – Suresh Raina – had a very good season with the bat. Raina was one of the leading run scorers for the Chennai Super Kings this season.

He batted with flair and class to accumulate 413 runs in the 15 matches played prior to the big finals against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Raina hit four fifties in the lead up to the finals and had a top score of unbeaten 75 in the season.

MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)

Veteran Indian cricketer MS Dhoni showed that age is just a number. Also, he proved it yet again that he is still the best finisher in the business. The way Dhoni finished off the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore with an unbeaten fifty was sheer class.

Also, Dhoni hit his second fastest fifty in the IPL this season – in just 22 balls against the Delhi Daredevils. In the game against the Kings XI Punjab, he scored an unbeaten 79 and almost had his side over the line in the game. Before the finals, Dhoni had 455 runs to his name at an average of 75.83.

Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)

Rohit Sharma had a dismal run in the IPL this year. The Mumbai Indians skipper failed to find a proper place for himself in the batting order till the very end. This season he failed to aggregate 300 runs – the first ever instance of this thing happening.

Rohit accumulated 286 runs in the 14 matches that he played and averaged under 24 with the bat. He bagged three ducks in the season. His poor run of form in the tournament deeply affected the fortunes of the Mumbai Indians. He should have maintained a proper slot for himself this year.

Ajinkya Rahane (Rajasthan Royals)

Ajinkya Rahane was one of the very few batsmen from the Rajasthan Royals side who found some sort of consistency with the bat. Rahane managed to score 370 runs in the season in the 15 matches that he played. He averaged 28.46 in the season – a number lower than his usual escapades.

Rahane started off very well in the season. But the lack of support from the other batsmen saw him shuffle his batting positions. This affected his personal form big time. With the captaincy hat, Rahane was very impressive as he backed his players all the time.

Ravichandran Ashwin (Kings XI Punjab)

The Kings XI Punjab side had a new captain appointed this season. It was a surprising pick to see Ravichandran Ashwin lead the side. Under his leadership, Ashwin indeed proved to be unpredictable as he had promised. The Kings won five out of the six matches that they played.

However, they ended up losing 7 out of 8 matches that followed. On the personal front, Ashwin’s form saw a serious dip. He could only bag 10 wickets in the 14 matches that he played this season. He had an economy rate of 8.09 this season and averaged as high as 41 with the ball.

Shikhar Dhawan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan had a good time with the bat in the season. Dhawan has been a batting mainstay for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the tournament over the years. This year, sans David Warner, he had an added responsibility with the bat. He started off with an unbeaten fifty against the Royals.

However, he lost his form as the season progressed. He came back to form yet again against the Delhi Daredevils when he smashed an unbeaten 92 in the run chase of 187. Dhawan accumulated 471 runs in the lead up to the finals at an average of almost 40.

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