Chennai Super Kings beat Gujarat Titans to lift the IPL trophy for the fifth time. Here is our IPL 2023 XI, based on performances across the 74-league season. The IPL 2023 XI follows the tournament’s rule of four overseas players:

Faf du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

730 runs @ 56.14, SR: 154, 8 50s, HS: 84

Du Plessis scored at a rapid 154, and held the Orange Cap until the Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated. At 38 and out of national contention for some time, he seems to have embarked upon a second outstanding phase of his illustrious career.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals)

625 runs @ 48.08, SR: 164, 1 100, 5 50s, HS: 124

No one in IPL history has scored a quicker IPL fifty than Jaiswal; neither has anyone scored at a rate as rapid in the first over of the IPL. He has scored at a rate even quicker than du Plessis, and will form a destructive left-right combination at the top.

Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans)

890 runs @ 59.33, SR: 158, 3 100s, 4 50s, HS: 129

Gill made three hundreds in the last five matches, each of them arguably superior to the previous one. He should probably have opened in this XI, but Jaiswal and du Plessis have superior powerplay strike rates to his 151. In the middle overs, however, Gill trumps the other two.

Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians)

605 runs @ 43.21, SR: 181, 1 100, 5 50s, HS: 103*

Many rang the alarm bell when Surya started the season with 66 in five innings. In the next 11, he scored at breakneck pace without getting out, amassing 539 runs at over 200, helping Mumbai Indians chase one big total after another. He struck at 181 in the middle overs, typically the slowest phase of an innings.

Heinrich Klaasen (wk) (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

448 runs @ 49.78, SR: 177, 1 100, 2 50s, HS: 104

Klaasen and Nicholas Pooran scored their runs at comparable paces, but Klaasen got many more of them, often coming in situations where he had to retain his wicket and go for runs at the same time. He did both magnificently.

Rinku Singh (Kolkata Knight Riders)

474 runs @ 59.25, SR: 150, 4 50s, HS: 67*

There was more to Rinku than the five sixes that helped Kolkata Knight Riders pull off the heist against Gujarat. Rinku faced 123 balls in death overs – the most for the season – and scored at 194. He is set to be the answer to India’s quest for the ‘finisher’.

Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings)

20 wickets @ 21.55, ER: 7.56, BBI: 3-20
190 runs @ 23.75, SR: 143, HS: 25*

Jadeja took the joint-most wickets in the middle overs (20), while keeping the opposition scoring under check. He had a quiet season with the bat, but reserved his best for the last, smashing 10 off the last two balls to seal the final.

Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans)

27 wickets @ 20.44, ER: 8.23, BBI: 4-30
130 runs @ 32.50, SR 217

To put things simply, Rashid missed the Purple Cap by a wicket, and with a 50-ball cut-off, had the highest strike rate of the season. He was also second in the points-based IPL 2023 Most Valuable Players list.

Mohammed Shami (Gujarat Titans)

28 wickets @ 18.64, ER: 8.03, BBI: 4-11

Fast, probing, and often devastating, Shami pipped Rashid to the Purple Cap, largely by virtue of his 17 wickets in the powerplay – seven more than anyone else’s tally.

Mohit Sharma (Gujarat Titans)

27 wickets @ 13.37, ER: 7.52, 1 5WI, BBI: 5-10

Mohit shot up the list of leading wicket-takers to finish one behind Shami despite missing three matches for the Gujarat Titans. The boost came in the Playoffs, where he returned figures of 9.2-0-77-10. His 13 wickets were the second-best at the death, as was his economy rate of 8.10 with a 15-over cut-off.

Matheesha Pathirana (Chennai Super Kings)

19 wickets @ 19.52, ER: 8.00, BBI: 3-15

With 18 wickets and an economy of 8.01, Pathirana, Chennai Super Kings’ find of the season, was the only one to trump Mohit on the two death-overs lists mentioned above. His yorkers and variations will make him an asset, both for the franchise and Sri Lanka.

IPL 2023 XI reserves:

Glenn Maxwell (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Mohammed Siraj (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Axar Patel (Delhi Capitals), Nicholas Pooran (Sunrisers Hyderabad).