Big hits of IPL-10

By Abhishek Purohit

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) The following is the list of top performers of the 10th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) which concluded in Hyderabad on Sunday.

David Warner: The Australian batsman led from the front for Sunrisers Hyderabad as he topped the run-scorers list with 641 runs from 14 games. Though, Hyderabad lost in the eliminator, failing to defend their title, Warner excelled again, showing great sense of responsibility. His highest score was 126 off 80 deliveries against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Gautam Gambhir: Like Warner, Gambhir captained Kolkata Knight Riders to the verge of the final before they lost the second qualifier to eventual winners Mumbai Indians. He once again showed his undying hunger for runs as he milked 498 runs. One stand-out decision of his captaincy was asking West Indian spinner Sunil Narine to open the innings as the latter came out with flying colours.

Shikhar Dhawan: With 479 runs, Dhawan finished as the third highest run-scorer turning out for Hyderabad, who relied upon him and Warner at the top of the batting order as the southern team boasting a thin middle and lower-middle order line-up. Equally adept at scoring big or playing risk-free cricket, he proved his critics wrong.

Hashim Amla: The Kings XI Punjab managed to score 420 runs from only 10 games with an average of 60. He was the sole consistent batsman for the northern side and enabled them to fight till the end for the play-offs. Displaying delightful classical cricket shots, the 34-year-old also registered two hundreds, one each against Mumbai and Gujarat Lions.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: The pacer proved once again that he is one of India's most improved bowlers in shorter formats. Turning out for Sunrisers Hyderabad, the right-armer bagged 26 wickets to top the bowlers' chart. He was Warner's go-to-man and scalped wickets whenever handed the white ball. His yorkers, slow yorkers and low full-toss deliveries helped him get an economy rate of 7.05 despite operating mainly at the Powerplay and death overs.

Jaydev Unadkat: One of the key players who helped unfancied Pune in reaching the final, Unadkat picked 24 wickets from 12 matches. His left-arm bowling ensured that the batsmen find it tough to negotiate. He delivered both with the new and the old ball. His stand-out performance was 5/30 against as they defended a total of 148/8 against Hyderabad.

Jasprit Bumrah: The right-arm paceman proved that he is India's best death-over specialist as he scalped 20 wickets from 16 games with an economy of 7.35. Like Bhuvneshwar and Unadkat, he was asked to choke runs at the start and end of the innings.

Rashid Khan: The 17-year-old Afghan leg-spinner turned out to be a success story of the tournament. He justified his auction fee of Rs 4 crore as he impressed one and all with his guile and control of a very difficult art in cricket. His googly was very deceptive and overall he took 17 wickets from 14 games. His economy rate of 6.62 is the best among the bowlers who have bowled more than 40 overs.

Ben Stokes: The Englishman came with an auction fee of Rs 14.5 crore and did his best to live up to the hype. Arguably the tournament's best all-rounder, Stokes was the driving force behind Pune's run till the final. He made it a memorable IPL with 316 runs from 12 games and 12 wickets with an impressive economy rate of 7.18. He left for the national duty towards the end and Pune did really miss him, especially in the final.

Robin Uthappa: The Karnataka batsman reminded the selectors that he still has it as he scored 388 runs from 13 innings. His strike-rate of 165.10 is the highest among the top-10 leading run-scorers as he showed. As a wicket-keeper, he was involved in 15 dismissals.

(Abhishek Purohit can be contacted at abhishek.p@ians.in)