The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 was an amalgamation of high-voltage action, plenty of drama and unabridged fun. 10 teams battled it out for close to 2 months for the prized silverware.
In the end, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) held their nerves and defeated the IPL 2022 champions, Gujarat Titans (GT) to lift the title. It was MS Dhoni’s fairy-tale journey that was on the spotlight and he successfully marshalled his troops to the coveted trophy.
Several youngsters played exceedingly well in IPL 2023 and several veterans found their names on the sheets of glory once again.
In this article, we take a look at the best XI of the IPL 2023 tournaments, purely based on performances and stats:
Openers: Shubman Gill and Faf Du Plessis
Opening our batting will be two batters who simply oozed class and flamboyance. While Shubman Gill won the Orange Cap award for his stupendous performances in IPL 2023, Faf Du Plessis was the standout batter for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The 23-year-old Shubman Gill scored 890 runs in IPL 2023 at a phenomenal average of 59.33 and also smashed 3 centuries. Faf Du Plessis mustered 730 runs in 14 innings and finished as the 2nd highest run-scorer of IPL 2023.
Top-order: Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav and Rinku Singh
With three top-notch Indian batters at number 3, 4 and 5, the batting looks extremely potent in our best XI of IPL 2023. Virat Kohli had another phenomenal IPL season and he once again scored runs with ease; something which he does so often.
Surya Kumar Yadav had a quiet start but took giant leaps towards the end of the tournament. He finished as the highest run-getter of IPL 2023 and mustered 605 runs at a breath-taking average of 43.21.
Rinku Singh was an epitome of the never-say-die attitude and scored the bulk of the runs for his team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Middle-order: Heinrich Klaasen and Marcus Stoinis
In the middle-order, we have two extremely good finishers in the form of Heinrich Klaasen and Marcus Stoinis. Both of them had excellent performances in this edition of the IPL. Heinrich Klaasen was the highest run-scorer of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with 448 runs and will be the wicket-keeper of our team.
Marcus Stoinis was a force to reckon with in the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) team and improved the dynamics of the side. His knock of 72 runs in just 40 balls in Match 38 of IPL 2023, still sends chills to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) bowlers.
Bowlers: Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj and Piyush Chawla
Topping the bowling charts in IPL 2023, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Shami were two standout bowlers for Gujarat Titans (GT) in this year’s IPL. While pacer Shami finished as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 28 wickets, spinner Rashid Khan bagged 27 wickets and was the joint second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2023.
Mohammad Siraj finished as the leading wicket-taker of RCB and bowled with a lot of maturity. IPL 2023 was a redemption year for leg-spinner Piyush Chawla as he was simply unplayable.
The 34-year-old veteran spinner of India bagged 22 wickets in 16 games for Mumbai Indians and finished as their highest wicket-taker.
Also read: IPL 2023: Decoding 5 Reasons Why RCB Couldn’t Qualify For The Playoffs
