Top performers in PSL who might shine in IPL 2022

The Pakistan Super League has established itself as probably the second-best T20 league in the world. Even after having limited teams and resources, the tournament organizers have done a spectacular job by hosting the tournament on home soil. This will pave the way for more cricket in the country.

Even though most of the players who take part in the PSL often do not make it to the Indian Premier League, they do put up spectacular performances in the chances they get elsewhere. But, in this case, we are looking at those players who are scheduled to be a part of the toughest T20 league in the world, the IPL. After the mega auction, things have turned around for some teams.

With the arrival of two new teams, there is now more scope for players to shine. This will allow them to increase their worth as well. As IPL is way tougher than PSL and the pressure is significantly higher, only a few international players can step up. Let us look at the –

Top performers in PSL who might shine in this year’s IPL

5. David Willey: Royal Challengers Bangalore

The English cricketers have hugely benefitted from their experience of playing in tough conditions. Being a regular member of the 15 man squad, David Willey has done the right thing by playing for Multan Sultans to take part in the PSL. This time, he was a part of a strong Multan Side that went on to put up some commendable performances to reach the finals

Willey played eight matches and picked 13 wickets for the Sultans. He was effective right up front as his economy of 8.15 shows that. Adding on, he is a useful batter as well.

This time around, he will play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. With so many big names like Kohli, Maxwell, and Faf around, he can improve his game significantly. It will be interesting to see how RCB’s new captain will use Willey.

4. Alex Hales: Kolkata Knight Riders

It is surprising how time changes quickly. Finally, Alex Hales makes it to the Indian Premier League and now, his national captain, Eoin Morgan goes unsold. Well, it is somehow justified as Morgan has been out of form recently.

Hales, even after putting up solid performances, was overlooked by the franchises. He has been an excellent performer in the BBL, T20 Blast, and PSL. But when it came to the IPL, he was underused. This meant that the stats were never in his favor.

But, this time, we might see him open the batting alongside Iyer. The dynamic right-hand-left-hand combination can create havoc at the top. With 355 runs at a strike rate of 147.30, Hales was phenomenal with the bat for Islamabad.

3. Tim David: Mumbai Indians

This time, Mumbai Indians have tried to invest in the future. After a quiet first day, they went berserk by going for Ishan Kishan, Jofra Archer, and Tim David. Since last year, Tim has been one of the most prolific players in the format.

Tim can destroy any bowling attack on his day. Even though he failed to capitalize on his chances during the second half of the tournament, he was phenomenal in BBL and PSL. For Multan, he scored 278 runs from 143 balls in the tournament.

As he is in a team that looks to dominate, Tim can play with more freedom. He is a part-time bowler as well. This time around, Mumbai has a thin middle order, hence, a lot will depend on how Tim performs this time around.

2. Chris Jordan: Chennai Super Kings

Chris Jordan has been a part of Eoin Morgan’s side since the 2015 World Cup. He is a terrific contributor who can provide crucial breakthroughs with the ball. This time around, he has made it to the CSK squad.

With Karachi Kings having their worst season in their history, Jordan’s performance was impressive. The English bowler picked nine wickets in five games for Babar Azam’s side. This shows that he can be a part of the CSK side by playing the role Josh Hazlewood used to play.

With the bat, he has a decent T20I strike rate of 132.1. Hence, if given proper chances, he can score some valuable runs down the order. Adding on, the highest score of 36 shows his ability to play those brisk and quick innings as well.

1. Rashid Khan: Gujarat Titans 

This was a no-brainer as the best player in the format will boss the league with the ball. The only reason he had a relatively poor IPL season was probably because of poor management from SRH. Rashid Khan is the biggest asset for any T20 team and this makes him a legend of the format at a young age.

 He can torture the batters with his variations and can win games in any situation. During the recently concluded PSL, he bowled at an economy of 6.24 runs per over. There was no clue from the batters how to dominate Rashid.

With the bat, he can score some useful runs down the order as well. Gujarat’s team also has Hardik Pandya as a skipper, who can destroy any bowling lineup on his day. It will be interesting to see how Hardik uses Rashid this IPL.