Yet another week of IPL 2020 action came to a close and we are back with our team of the week. The period taken into consideration for the XI is from Monday, October 19 to Sunday, October 25.

Note: The XI follows the ‘maximum of four foreigners’ rule

The race for the playoffs has picked up steam – while Chennai Super Kings became the first team to officially fall off, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab are all still in with a shout.

Our team of week five features three RR stars, the most from any team, two MI players, and one each from DC, CSK, SRH, RCB, KKR and KXIP, meaning all eight franchises have a representative in the following XI.

Shikhar Dhawan (Delhi Capitals)

Dhawan maintained the momentum he had picked up the week before and slammed a second consecutive century to become the first player in IPL history to score two tons in consecutive matches. Against KKR, however, he was undone by a peach from Pat Cummins after adding just six runs. In what was a relatively low-scoring week, Dhawan makes this XI as an opener.

Ben Stokes (Rajasthan Royals)

The second centurion of the week – Ben Stokes roared back to form with a match-winning 60-ball 107* against Mumbai Indians to keep Rajasthan in the hunt for playoffs. RR would want him to continue in the same vein as they push to finish as one of the top four sides.

Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)

After a series of low scores, Samson was finally back among the runs. A 26-ball-36 in the defeat to SRH was followed by a 31-ball-54 against MI as he partnered Stokes for a 152-run stand to help RR chase down 196. As a result, he slots in at No. 3 in our XI.

Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians)

With Rohit Sharma missing out on both of MI’s matches the past week, Ishan Kishan was presented with the opportunity to open for them and he repaid the faith in style. A 37-ball-68 in the 10-wicket win over CSK and a 37-run knock against Rajasthan tilted the argument in his favour, edging out Nitish Rana for a spot in our team of the week.

Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians)

The younger of the Pandya brothers, Hardik hadn’t had the kind of impact he would have wanted to make at IPL 2020 before the fifth week began. But after the first nine deliveries against RR, he stepped up, slamming 52 runs in the next 12 deliveries to power MI to 195. Though MI lost the game, with the playoffs coming up, they’d be more than content to see one of their key players finding form.

Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings)

The England all-rounder has kept the CSK flag flying high in what has been a dreadful season for MS Dhoni & Co. With wickets falling like ninepins around him against MI, Curran held on to one end, hitting a half-century to take CSK to 114-9, a respectable total considering they were down to 30-6 at one point. Against RCB, he took three crucial wickets of Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli and Moeen Ali, as CSK managed their fourth win of the season.

Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals)

With five wickets this week, Archer jumped to the second spot on the top wicket-takers list and was an easy pick for our team of the week. Apart from picking wickets, he continues to make run-scoring harder for batsmen. With Hardik Pandya going all guns blazing to finish the Mumbai innings strongly in the RR vs MI clash, Archer conceded just three runs in the 19th over while taking a wicket, when the 18th and 20th overs went for 27 runs each. Some effort!

Jason Holder (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Why didn’t SRH play him earlier, one wonders. The West Indies Test captain has already raced to five wickets from his first two matches this season and his victims include Chris Gayle, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson. He takes the fourth and final overseas spot in our team, and deservedly so.

Yuzvendra Chahal (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Yuzvendra Chahal continues to deliver the goods, as he has done all these years for RCB. In two matches the past week, Chahal took three wickets while conceding a combined 36 runs in eight overs – an economy of 4.5 per over.

Varun Chakravarthy (Kolkata Knight Riders)

The KKR mystery spinner returned the best figures of the IPL 2020 so far – 5-20 – against Delhi Capitals. Before that, Chakravarthy had played in all but one of KKR’s matches so far, bowling economical spells and picking up seven wickets in nine games. It all changed in one game, and Chakravarthy has now moved into the top-15 wicket-takers of this tournament.

Mohammed Shami (Kings XI Punjab)

The joint second-highest wicket-taker of IPL 2020 with 17 scalps, Shami took three wickets in two matches the past week, helping KXIP to two more wins as they continued their march towards the play-offs, helping shrug off a rather disappointing start.

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