Top 10 Players of IPL Cricket T20

It is a widely acknowledged fact that In India, cricket lovers consider cricket more as a religion (Sachin is the God of Cricket) and not just as a sport. This passion for the game has given T20 a new meaning and impetus and a frenzied following. It may not be untrue to say that T20 has completely revolutionized and sensationalized the game of cricket.

The Indian Premier League ( IPL), is a Twenty20 cricket competition conceived and overseen by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The competition is among 10 different teams owned by ten different franchises from all over the country and all the teams bid for and includes players from various cricketing countries.

T20 is the shortest form of cricket but has created the biggest impact to the game. It is a fact that cricket lovers throng the stadium to watch the IPL T20 matches more to see the ball flying in different directions rather then the bails flying and wickets falling. Auctions of the star players for fabulous sums of money have lured many big business houses, film stars and multi-millionaires from all over India and even overseas.

In this edition of T20, there are 10 teams - Bangalore Royal Challengers, Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajastan Royals, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors - representing various regions of India and these teams comprise of both international cricket stars and leading domestic players.

The agreed format is every team will be playing two matches against every other team and the four teams that top the ranking list will be playing the two semifinals. The semifinal winners will obviously play the final. This means a plethora of matches played at different venues all over India and there is a lot of cricketing action to excite the cricket lovers both within and outside India.

Just like the previous two IPL seasons, in this edition IPL 2011 also there is an award for the outstanding batsman scoring the most number of runs and another award for the bowler claiming the most number of wickets in the tournament. The batsman, scoring the most number of runs, will be awarded the prestigious Orange Cap while bowler taking most number of wickets will be bestowed the prestigious Purple Cap. For the 2010 edition of the tournament, Sachin Tendulkar, the captain of Mumbai Indians, has successfully claimed the Orange Cap. The Purple Cap for the best bowler went to the spinner Pragyan Ojha of Deccan Chargers.

Now its the time to look at the top performers of IPL 2011. As its still the league stage of the tournament, it is too early to say who will come out as the best. Keep coming back to this page for daily stat updates.

The top five probable best batsmen of IPL T20 are:

1. Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians), my favorite cricketer, the living cricketing legend is at the first place with 269 runs in 6 matches with an average of 89.66. He has hit 29 boundaries and 4 sixers and the highest score is a century (100*) not out. The strike rate is 115.45. He is the leading contender for orange cap this time too.
2. Paul Valthaty (Kings XI Punja) is the surprise find of IPL 2011, is at number two position with a total score of 261 runs in 5 matches averaging 65.25 runs. He has hit 32 boundaries and 12 sixes already, and the highest score is an unbeaten 120 runs. His strike rate is 166.24
3. Jacques Kallis (Kolkata Knight Riders), has scored 233 runs in 6 matches averaging 46.60 runs per match. The man from South Africa has hit 25 boundaries and 3 sixes and the highest score is 87 runs. The strike rate is 113.65.
4. David Warner (Delhi Daredevils), scored a total of 229 from 5 matches. His highest score so far is 77. Warner has a match average of 45.80 with 24 boundaries and 8 sixes with a strike rate of 133.91.
5. Ambati Rayudu (Mumbai Indians), in 6 matches has scored 201 with a highest score of 63. Rayudu has a match average of 40.20 with 22 boundaries and 4 sixes with a strike rate of 114.85.

The top five best bowlers of IPL T20 are:

1. SL Malinga (Mumbai Indians) has taken 16 wickets in 6 matches with an enviable average of 9 runs per wicket and is number one bowler of IPL at the moment and the top contender for the purple cap. His economy rate is 6.08 and best bowling performance is 5 wickets for 13 paltry runs.
2. Amit Mishra (Deccan Chargers) has taken 8 wickets in 6 matches with an average of 19.75 runs per wicket. The economy rate is 6.58 and his best bowling performance is 2 for 14.
3. Yusuf Pathan (Kolkata Knight Riders) is at number 3 with 7 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 14.25. His best is 3 for 20 with an economy rate of 6.25.
4. Shakib Al Hasan (Kolkata Knight Riders) with 7 wickets in 4 matches is at number 4, averaging 15.57 with an economy rate of 7.69. His best is 3 for 28.
5. Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians) the turbanator, also had a 5 wicket haul along with Malinga, is at number 5 with 7 wickets in 5 matches. His best is 5 for 18 with an economy rate of 6.26 and averages 17 runs per wicket.

It is true that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and nothing is final till the last match is played and the last ball is bowled. So we will have to wait for some more time to find out who is the best of them all. In the meantime keep coming back for daily updates of IPL 2011.