Cricket Winner IPL 2026 Team of the Tournament — Sooryavanshi opens, but who are the other 10?

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who finished the league stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the top of the points table with nine victories in 14 clashes at a net run rate of +0.783. They blew away the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the first qualifier and the final. Their final victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad delivered their second successive trophy.  

It was one of the great seasons, especially for the batters who smashed at a run rate of 9.88, which is the highest in an edition of the event. A total of 2332 boundaries and 1426 sixes were nailed during the entire competition.

We, in Cricket Winner, have picked out the best XII of the IPL 2026, keeping in mind the impact of the batters and bowlers throughout the season-

Openers- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (776 runs) and Virat Kohli (675 runs)

There was hardly any hard work in picking Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as the opener of the IPL 2026. The 15-year-old kid ended up with 776 runs in 16 innings at a blistering strike rate of 237.30 with five half-centuries and one century.

His 72 sixes are 29 more than the next best in the list. In the Playoffs, under pressure, Sooryavanshi clubbed 97 (29) and 96 (47). The latter came when wickets kept falling from the other end.

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Virat Kohli would be his opening pair. For the fourth successive edition of the competition, he crossed the 600-run mark and completed the season with 675 runs at a strike rate of 165.84 with five fifties and one century. In the final, he remained unbeaten on 75 runs to shoulder the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) over the line.

Middle order- Ishan Kishan (602 runs), Rajat Patidar (501 runs), Heinrich Klaasen (624 runs)

Ishan Kishan’s prolific IPL 2027 campaign is measured by the big knocks. He smashed 80 off 38 during the opener against RCB and ended the campaign with 602 runs in 15 innings at a fine strike rate of 182.42, with the help of six half-centuries. With the gloves, he had 10 dismissals.

Rajat Patidar, the leader of the side, drilled 501 runs during the tournament at a strike rate of 192.69, thanks to five fifties. Among those who had 500+ runs, only Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma hit more sixes than Patidar’s 42 over boundaries. In the first qualifier, he smacked 93* off 33 balls. 

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Heinrich Klaasen comes at number five, having collected 624 runs in 15 innings of this recently-concluded IPL at a strike rate of 160, having celebrated six half-centuries. He took the responsibility on many occasions to bail the Sunrisers Hyderabad out of trouble.

Lower order- Nitish Reddy (302 runs & eight wickets), Krunal Pandya (226 runs & 14 wickets)

Nitish Reddy showed his gun power at the number six position of the IPL 2026. He played many impactful cameos to bring success for the SRH side. The bowling numbers were not that great with eight wickets, but the list of the batters he dismissed included Rinku Singh, Ayush Mhatre, Will Jacks, Sanju Samson, and others, making an impact for the side.

The five-time champion of the IPL, Krunal Pandya, showed his knack of bringing his side back in the contest from any position. At number five, he batted thrice and crossed the 40-run mark on all occasions, including a 46-ball 73 to turn things around against the Mumbai Indians in Raipur.

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The left-arm spinner also picked up 14 wickets with the ball, featuring Sooryavanshi, KL Rahul, Klaasen, Suryakumar Yadav, and even Jos Buttler in the final.

Bowlers- Sunil Narine (15 wickets), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (28 wickets), Kagiso Rabada (29 wickets), Jofra Archer (25 wickets)

Sunil Narine has played over 200 games in the IPL, and it’s still hard to pick him for the batters. He ended this campaign with 15 wickets in 13 innings at a stunning economy rate of 6.64, despite the batters showing their muscle.

All three pacers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer, and Kagiso Rabada, were lethal with the ball inside the power play. Bhuvi picked up 28 wickets at an economy rate of under eight at an average of 17.89. He was included in the power play to create pressure on almost all the batters of the opposition side. 

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Archer and Rabada bowled with pace. The latter won the Purple Cap with 29 wickets in 17 innings. He outshone every other new-ball bowler with a wicket every 13 balls. Meanwhile, Archer experienced his best IPL season with 25 wickets, 14 of which came in the powerplay. He made it a habit of picking wickets with the first ball of the innings.

Impact Player- Rasikh Salam/ Rinku Singh

Apart from these eleven players, the impact player will be Rasikh Salam or Rinku Singh, based on the need of the situation. The RCB pacer was the franchise’s second-highest wicket-taker with 19 scalps in 12 innings at an economy rate of 9.45.

On the other hand, India's Rinku smashed 295 runs at a strike rate of around 150, and it was his performance that turned the tables for the Kolkata Knight Riders. 

In the special mentions, both the GT openers, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, get their names with over 720 runs each in the season. The Delhi Capitals’ Ashutosh Sharma was incredible with fiery knocks at a tough phase of the game. Donovan Ferrira was also great in all the limited chances he got.

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In the bowling department, Prince Yadav and Sakib Hussain impressed the most. The former was excellent with the new ball, while the latter, arriving late in the campaign, showed his tremendous ability with pace-off balls and ended up with 15 wickets in his very first IPL edition at an economy rate of 9.45.

Cricket Winner's Team of the IPL 2026-

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk.), Rajat Patidar (c), Klassen, Nitish Reddy, Krunal Pandya, Sunil Narine, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kagiso Rabada, Jofra Archer.

Impact player- Rasikh Salam/ Rinku Singh.