IPL 2022: Best benched XI from the sixth week

What a spectacular week of IPL this has been! It had all the flavours and ingredients to make it a great week of cricket and that too of the highest quality. The nail-biting close encounters, on-edge breathtaking finishes, and high-adrenaline striking, all in all, it was amazing. It’s just getting better day-by-day. As this week ended, we are getting a clear picture of the things to come but there is still a lot to uncover as we move to the business end of the league.

Two teams – Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants – seem to have booked their place in the playoffs, while the usual contenders of the playoffs – Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings – have missed the playoffs train this season. Many outstanding performances from the likes of David Warner, Tim David, Devon Conway and Nicholas Pooran were on display. This week we saw MS Dhoni back at the helm of CSK. Even though very late, Mumbai Indians finally found their mojo as they won two back-to-back games. Many players made their mark but some deserving players warmed the bench and were sidelined in the sixth week of IPL 2022.

Here we look at the best benched XI after the sixth week of IPL 2022:

1. Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane is someone who has propelled from the IPL to the international circuit. This league has played a huge role in his career. His long stint with Rajasthan Royals had set him up to play in the international circuit in all formats of the game. He was the highest run-getter for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2012 and the 2015 seasons with 560 and 540 runs respectively. He was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 1 crore ahead of the IPL 2022.

So far, he has only played five matches this season and scored a total of 80 runs. He scored 44 of 34 balls in the inaugural match of the season which was against Chennai Super Kings and since then he has not played up to his potential. But his overall IPL numbers say a different story. In his IPL career, he has played 156 matches and scored a total of 4021 runs with an excellent average of 30.93 and a decent strike rate of 120.82. He may not be in his prime these days but the number of matches he has played and the experience he has is a strong point for his inclusion in the side.

Kolkata has struggled to find a strong opening partnership this season. They have tried many options and combinations but none of the chopping and changing has worked in their favour. Kolkata is back to winning ways and if they want to fight for the playoffs, they need to re-analyze their batting order. The addition of Rahane might be the way to move ahead as he can be a cool customer upfront in the innings with Aaron Finch. Rahane with his experience can do wonders for KKR in the games to come.