Commanding Presence

CARIBBEAN COURAGE: Nicholas Pooran (LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS)

The Trinidadian is in the kind of form that earmarked him for greatness from an early age and also places him among the earlier picks for T20 leagues around the world. With 189 runs from the first three games, there is a gap of a country mile between Orange Cap-wearer Pooran and the rest. Back-to-back 70s in the first two fixtures, the second in a chase against Hyderabad, set the tone for Lucknow’s talented No 3, before the lefty struck yet another top score for his side in the following match. The onus is now upon the in-form player to steer LSG towards the upper-half of the 2025 table.

THE MATCHMAKER: Shreyas Iyer (PUNJAB KINGS)

Iyer can seemingly do no wrong in IPL. As leader of his new franchise Punjab, Iyer is two for two: two matches, two wins, two unbeaten fifties (the first one being a selfless 97), all placing undefeated PBKS second on the table. Perhaps Kolkata’s loss is truly Punjab’s gain, given Iyer was in a similar vein of form with bat and mind for the defending champions, stringing together a near-perfect 2024 season for the purple side before the title-winning captain was surprisingly let go. He has seamlessly transferred that know-how to a team desperate to win their first trophy.

SPIN DOCTOR: Noor Ahmad (CHENNAI SUPER KINGS)

Rashid Khan may not be dominating batsmen this season the way he usually does in IPL, but his compatriot—and mirror-image—Noor sure has kept Afghanistan’s flag flying in 2025. With nine wickets already in just three games, the Chinaman bowler has not only been CSK’s best bowler thus far, but also the league’s. The Purple Cap is already his and threatens to remain so for a long time, given that the leader of Chennai’s bowling attack will play half their group games in Chepauk, where the pitches are tailored to assist his specialisation.

SUBLIME SCORER: Sai Sudharsan (GUJARAT TITANS)

The lefty opener enjoys batting in Ahmedabad, with scores of 74 and 63 in two innings thus far, so perhaps it is a good thing that Sai Sudharsan finds himself as an integral member of the Gujarat franchise. On a tough Motera wicket against Mumbai, Sudharsan anchored the GT innings with the only fifty of the match, staying at the crease until the 18th over. But he can play the aggressor too if he likes, as seen during his innings against Punjab, where he spanked six sixes into the terraces. Sudharsan’s top-order stands with captain Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler remain key to Gujarat’s success.

SPEED KING: Mitchell Starc (DELHI CAPITALS)

In 2024, Starc was the then-most expensive signing in IPL’s history. Bought at a price of `24.75 crore by eventual winners KKR last season, Starc lived up to his billing with a Man of the Match performance in the final, and 17 wickets overall. Signed for a considerably lesser tag of `11.75 crore by Delhi this season, the left-arm seamer has already lived up to his signing amount with eight wickets from just two matches so far, including a first-ever IPL five-wicket haul registered against Hyderabad. The Aussie is a big reason why Delhi is among the early favourites this season.

THE HITMAN: Aniket Verma (SUNRISERS HYDERABAD)

It’s an incredible thing that the most talked-about player from a team synonymous with mammoth scores is an IPL debutant, one who comes into this league without much domestic hype either. But 23-year-old Verma is not only among the top run-getters this season so far, he has taken the tournament by storm with his six-hitting abilities. It began against LSG when he walked in at No 6 and bashed five sixes in a 13-ball innings worth 36 runs. Then came an even more destructive knock of 74 runs against Delhi Capitals, peppered with six sixes, in just 41 balls.

SKIPPER POWER: Rajat Patidar (ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU)

Could RCB’s new captain be the lucky charm to turn around nearly two decades worth of pain? Possibly, given the start Patidar has had to his reign. In his very first match as captain, Patidar led Bengaluru to a win against defending champions KKR at the Eden Gardens, then ended up starring with a half-century as RCB beat Chennai in Chennai for the first time since the inaugural season in 2008. So, despite the two toughest away assignments as his first couple of games in charge, Patidar has placed RCB at the peak of the heap in early April.

THE INSPIRER: Quinton de Kock (KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS)

There may not be much going right for the three-time champions as they begin the defence of their title, what with KKR finding themselves dead-last on the table some 10 days into the season. But the presence of their new wicketkeeper-opener should instil hope for a better future. de Kock’s unbeaten 97 against Rajasthan gave Kolkata their only win thus far. The fact that Quinny’s effort alone rang in points bodes well for the team, given last season’s middle-order heroes in Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell and Rinku Singh are yet to hit their straps.

ACE OF PACE: Ashwani Kumar (MUMBAI INDIANS)

The last team to register a win in this IPL did so largely due to a pace bowling unknown in Ashwani Kumar, a 24-year-old from Punjab. His 4/24 on debut at the Wankhede ripped through KKR’s batting order, bowling out the defending champions for 116 (which MI chased easily). What more, Ashwani showed his promise with a wicket from his very first ball in the IPL, that of Ajinkya Rahane’s. MI’s famous scouting system has done it again, after having discovered Jasprit Bumrah and the Pandya brothers before anyone else. They can add two names from this season to their list of successes—Vignesh Puthur, and now Ashwani.

THE REDEEMER: Dhruv Jurel (RAJASTHAN ROYALS)

What seems rather ironic is the fact that Jurel’s only failure with the bat arrived in Rajasthan’s only win of the season until now—against Chennai in Guwahati. In their opening two losses before registering their first set of points, Jurel wasn’t just their top scorer in both innings, the wicketkeeper also kept RR very much in those matches, including when Hyderabad had set them a near-impossible target of 287 runs on the opening weekend. Being the only player to score over a hundred runs for the pink side thus far, the 24-year-old is the fulcrum on which his team balances.

Aniket VermacricketIPL 2025Mitchell StarcNicholas PooranNoor Ahmadoutstanding performersQuinton de KockRajat PatidarShreyas Iyer