IPL 2015: Best XI from Week 1 of Indian Premier League

The opening week of the 2015 Indian Premier League season concluded on Sunday, as the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab secured victories in the day's double-header against the Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians, respectively. 

Coming so soon after the conclusion of the Cricket World Cup, there was a concern that this year's edition of the IPL would suffer from a hangover of sorts, with the world's elite players arriving for the tournament in a hurried fashion after the global event in Australia and New Zealand. 

Pleasingly, however, the opening week of the world's most glamorous domestic Twenty20 competition has been as enthralling as ever, featuring the sort of games decided dramatically in final overs that have always defined the IPL's appeal. 

Across the following slides, we examine the best XI of the opening week. 

1. Chris Gayle

Saurabh Das/Associated Press

There were some critical glances flying around when it was announced that Chris Gayle would miss the West Indies' Test series with Australia in June but would still play in this season's IPL. 

The purists lamented it as an indication of the game's troubling shift; the rest saw it as a simple case of the left-hander prioritising the format that suits him best. 

In the opening week of this year's IPL season, the West Indian showed exactly why he'd made that choice, thumping a sensational 96 from 56 balls to help Royal Challengers Bangalore to an opening victory over the Kolkata Knights Riders. 

2. Brendon McCullum

Ross Setford/Associated Press

The Brendon McCullum onslaughts just won't subside. 

After producing some extraordinary performances in the recent World Cup, the New Zealander continued that form against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, blasting a sensational and unbeaten 100 from just 56 deliveries to power the Chennai Super Kings to an emphatic victory at MA Chidambaram Stadium. 

Launching nine colossal blows into the stands, McCullum took the game away from the Sunrisers in a hurry, dishing out some brutal treatment on Ishant Sharma in particular. 

And if the Kiwi skipper continues like this, Chennai will be favourites to capture their third IPL title. 

3. Rohit Sharma

Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press

In the opening match of this season's IPL, Rohit Sharma, along with Corey Anderson, hauled the Mumbai Indians away from a slow start and to a competitive total against the Kolkata Knights Riders. 

Having been an IPL star for much of his career, the stylish right-hander crunched an unbeaten 98 from just 65 deliveries to overcome the difficult start to the innings after the loss of Aaron Finch, Aditya Tare and Ambati Rayudu. 

In the face of a high-quality attack led by Lasith Malinga, it was an impressive innings from Sharma and an indication he's beginning to relish his leadership role in one of the competition's heavyweights. 

4. MS Dhoni

Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

In the international arena, it feels as though MS Dhoni's career is drawing to a close. 

But based on Saturday's evidence, his domestic Twenty20 career has still got quite a bit of life left in it yet. 

Joining Brendon McCullum at the crease against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Indian captain blasted four fours and four sixes to reach 53 in just 29 deliveries and propel the Chennai Super Kings to a massive total of 209 for four. 

Particularly savage on Karn Sharma, Dhoni provided a timely reminder of his destructive capacity and reinforced the sense that CSK are the team to beat in this year's competition. 

5. Deepak Hooda

After posting 184 for three at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the Delhi Daredevils would have felt comfortable that a long-awaited victory was within touching distance. 

And when Delhi had reduced the Rajasthan Royals to 78 for four in response, victory seemed like a formality. 

Enter Deepak Hooda. 

At just 19 years of age, the youngest player in the year's IPL clubbed four sixes and three fours in a 25-ball 54 to completely reverse the complexion of the match and propel the Royals to a second straight win. 

6. George Bailey

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press

After sitting on the sidelines for much of Australia's World Cup campaign, one wondered whether George Bailey might need some time to settle into this year's edition of the IPL. Though he was brilliant in last year's tournament, he arrived at the 2015 event with little-or-no form to speak of. 

But that didn't seem to matter for Bailey on Sunday against Mumbai Indians, as he clubbed a match-changing 61 from 32 deliveries to cover for Kings XI Punjab's top order and steer his team to an imposing total of 177 for five. 

After an opening loss to the Rajasthan Royals, it was a pivotal innings from the Australian, ensuring his team avoided a 0-2 start. 

7. James Faulkner

Rob Griffith/Associated Press

After starring in Australia's World Cup final win over New Zealand, James Faulkner once again entered this year's IPL season as one of the tournament's hottest all-rounders. 

In the Rajasthan Royal's opening game against Kings XI Punjab, he reaffirmed that reputation with a brilliant two-part performance. 

With the bat in hand, the Australian thumped a critical 46 to help his team reach 162 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Then, with the ball, Faulkner, using his intelligent variations, claimed figures of three for 26 to stifle the innings of the Kings XI. 

8. Ravichandran Ashwin

Saurabh Das/Associated Press

Whenever MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings enter a contest, it's always the power of the team's batting lineup that is discussed at length. 

However, what's so often overlooked is how stifling Chennai's bowling attack can be, particularly when Ravichandran Ashwin is in the sort of form he's in right now. 

Against the Dehli Daredevils on Thursday, he finished with tidy figures of one for 25 to help his team defend just 150, before producing an even better performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, claiming one for 22 from four overs and sucking all the life out of Hyderabad's chase. 

9. Harbhajan Singh

Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

The Mumbai Indians, chasing 178 against Kings XI Punjab, had collapsed to 59 for six in almost 14 overs. Fourteen. 

At the time, it had been one of the slowest innings in IPL history. 

But then Harbhajan Singh changed all of that, smashing a remarkable 24-ball 64 that included five fours and six towering sixes to breathe life into a game that had appeared dead. 

Unfortunately, it proved to be too little too late for Mumbai, but Harbhajan's effort saved the Indians from complete embarrassment and backed up his tight spell of two for 20 earlier in the match. 

10. Morne Morkel

David Rowland/Associated Press

It was fast bowling at its finest. An exhibition of pace, bounce and hostility that briefly made the IPL's opening game feel like a Test. 

Indeed, Morne Morkel showed that genuine fast bowling has a place in Twenty20 cricket, charging in with menace to unsettle the Mumbai Indians in the opening stages of the innings. 

Picking up the wickets of the dangerous Aaron Finch and Ambati Rayudu, the South African put the brakes on a powerful batting lineup, and, in finishing with figures of two for 18, was largely responsible for the Kolkata Knight Riders' opening win. 

11. Sandeep Sharma

Manish Swarup/Associated Press

In a tournament based around rapid scoring and extraordinary six-hitting, economy rates tend to take a hammering. 

But in the first week of this year's IPL, Sandeep Sharma bowled his maximum allocation of overs and conceded his runs at just 3.87 per over. 

Against the Rajasthan Royals, his impressive return of one for 19 should have been rewarded with a victory but wasn't, before an even better spell of one for 12 against the Mumbai Indians proved decisive.