As the latest season of the Indian Premier League gets underway, there has been a string of impressive performances that have kept the teams afloat in their own ways. Regardless of the teams’ current position in the points table, this tournament is a platform for players’ to put forward a strong case for their national team selection. Here’s a look at the standout performers of the 2022 edition: 

Dinesh
Karthik

Dinesh
Karthik has 197 runs in IPL 2022, batting at number 6 or 7 in the innings, at
an incredible average of 197 and a strike rate of 209.57. Even if the numbers are
ignored, he has had a herculean impact on the RCB batting. In the truest sense
of the word, he has been a leader for the Challengers.

Umesh
Yadav

Despite being restrained in the last
couple of losses for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Umesh Yadav has been in top
form so far in this season’s edition of the tournament. He’s swung the ball a
fair way and mixed it up with speeds of 140 or more clicks. So far, he has 10
wickets at an excellent economy rate of 6.79.

Liam Livingstone

With some crazy cherry-picked shots,
the English all-rounder has been in intimidating form. Liam Livingstone has
almost single-handedly managed Punjab’s batting brilliance in IPL 2022, despite
the fact that the team started the season brightly and is now flirting
dangerously with mediocrity. So far, he has 224 runs at a 37.33 average and a
mind-boggling strike rate of 185.12.

Kuldeep Yadav

The Chinaman spinner has taken on the
most aggressive avatar we’ve seen in the IPL in the last three years. In IPL
2022, he has already taken 11 wickets at an excellent economy rate of 8.23. So
far, his best haul in the tournament has been 4 for 35.

KL Rahul

KL Rahul of the Lucknow Super Giants
is in second place with 38 fours in 10 games. It is not an exaggeration to
refer to Rahul as the IPL’s Mr Consistent. His performance in the last three
seasons of the IPL has been nothing short of outstanding. It makes no
difference which side he plays for but runs continue to flow from his bat on a
regular basis. He now holds the joint record for the most centuries scored
alongside Rohit Sharma.

David Warner

Warner added another achievement to
his already illustrious career when he passed 5500 runs in the IPL. He is the
fifth batsman in history to accomplish the feat, joining Virat Kohli, Shikhar
Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and ex-Chennai Super Kings player Suresh Raina. Warner is
the only international player to accomplish this feat, with South African
legend AB de Villiers trailing in second place with 5162 runs. The left-hander
was also the quickest to accomplish this feat.

Jos Buttler

Buttler has been on a run-scoring tear
in this tournament, scoring 566 runs in nine matches at an average of 70.75 and
a strike rate of 155.06. Buttler leads the Orange Cap race by 115 runs over
Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul, who has three centuries and as many
fifties to his name.

Tilak Varma

He was signed by the Mumbai Indians in
the 2022 mega auction, which has undoubtedly been a career-defining moment for
him. The southpaw is the team’s leading run-scorer in the current season, with
328 runs in 10 innings at an average of 41.00. Tilak made his Ranji Trophy
debut for Hyderabad three years ago against Andhra. He also played for India in
the U-19 World Cup in 2020, finishing runner-up after losing to Bangladesh in
the final, and scoring 38 and 48 points in two matches.

Kagiso Rabada

He has seven wickets in the first six
overs of the season, the same as he has in the final four, at an economy rate
of 8.05. His death overs results have also improved, with an economy rate of
less than 8.5 runs per over and wickets continuing to fall. Rabada is back to
his best after a lull, vying to join the ranks of elite T20 quicks who are
feared with the new ball and in the death. At the rate he’s progressing in this
tournament, he could be there by the end of the season.

Umran Malik

Malik’s bowling was known for its
speed, with batters being beaten by pure, raw, unplayable pace. Earlier in the
tournament, Umran was regularly bowling the fastest delivery of the day,
ranging between 145-150 kmph, sometimes a little faster. He has played ten
matches with a return of 15 wickets.

T Natarajan

Natarajan has taken on a role that was
not expected of him. He’s bowled in the powerplay, middle overs, and death
overs. He has been bowling tight line and lengths in the middle overs and
nailing the yorkers in death as usual, using the left-arm angle very
effectively with the seam movement in the powerplay. He has 17 wickets from nine
matches so far and is currently second on the list of highest wicket-takers.