Indian Premier League Player Tips: Three stand out picks at prices from 23/10 to 12/1

• Openers dominate top bat market ahead of IPL start

• Gill, Kohli and Gaikwad lead the way

• Mohit outstanding value at 12/113.00 to be top Delhi bowler

• Pathirana has little to beat in CSK top bowler market

• Read the IPL team guide HERE

Listen to Cricket...Only Bettor IPL Preview Part 1: the bottom 5

IPL 2025: Top tournament runscorer

Only twice in IPL history has an opener not won the top tournament runscorer market. That's 15 out of 17. Betting on anyone outside the top two in the order is ill-advised.

The Orange Cap holder does not fit on a flakey, flukey batter, either. Quality is paramount and, on average a batter is going to require a shade more than 50 runs per innings (rpi) to be honoured.

What isn't worth worrying about too much is strike rate. Fast and flashy doesn't win the race and, in relative terms at least, 'steady' accumulation is the way to go.  See Abhishek Sharma for Sunrisers last season finishing in 10th with a strike rate of 202.

The three strongest contenders on two-year records are holder Virat Kohli (47.5 rpi), the joint favourite at 10/111.00 alongside Shubman Gill (45.3) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (41.8) at 12/113.00.

Yas Jaiswal will be popular but an rpi of 36.5 compares poorly with the best. Likewise KL Rahul at 36. He could go better on the flatter surface at Delhi but the 12/113.00 is too short particularly as there are rumours he will miss some games for the birth of his child.

The bolter could be Devon Conway. Conway has a mark of 44.8 in two years although an injury meant he has played only 15 innings. The 16/117.00 would be an each-way option.

Other left-field options are Sai Sudharsan and Abhishek Porel. They have opened in the past but there is no guarantee that they are given the role at Gujarat and Delhi respectively.

Sai is superbly consistent and is 22/123.00 with Porel 25/126.00 . Porel opened the batting towards the end of last season. In those three innings he made two fifties. The 15/28.50 that he tops merely for Delhi may be the bet. He may not bat lower than No 4 having opened for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Trophy ina strong campaign.

Top IPL runscorers by year (rpi):

2024 Kohli 49.4
2023: Gill 52.3
2022 Buttler 50.7
2021 Gaikwad 39.6
2020 Rahul 47.8
2019: Warner 57.6
2018: Williamson 43.2

IPL 2025: Top tournament wicket-taker

Delhi's Mohit Sharma, at 36, is not a thrusting speedster who will catch the eye of those who subscribe to the modern obsession with all-out pace. Instead he's smart, varying pace and valuiong accuracy. He topped Gujarat's list last season with 13 wickets, producing some superb death bowling.

It gets better. Only one bowler has taken more wickets than Mohit in the last two seasons - Varun Chakravarthy of KKR. Mohit's strike rate of 12.4 is second best of bowlers who have taken more than 20 wickets, pipped only by part-timer Andre Russell. 

So why is he so big at 12/113.00 for top Delhi bowler? Well, Sportsbook have taken a view that four into three won't go. Delhi are blessed with pace bowlers and with Mitchell Starc certain to play, one from Mohit, Mukesh Kumar and T Natarajan is likely to miss out.

One would hope that his expertise at the end of an innings and wicket-taking ability get him the nod. At they very least he surely has to bowl his four overs at the death as an impact player. A strong start will make all the difference but he should not be twice the price of Natarajan. Mohit, who has won once overall before, is 40/141.00 for top tournament bowler. It's a wrong price. 

Another death bowler extraordinaire who warrants support for top team bowler is the Chennai Super Kings slinger Matheesha Pathirana at 23/103.30. Pathirana has a win rate of 38% on individual innings in the last two years (18 matches) and he appears to have little beat on their outright.

Pathirana takes a wicket every 12.8 balls on two-year form.  That is superior to team-mates Khaleel Ahmed (19.1), Mukesh Choudhary (27 but only one match), Sam Curran (20.5), Ravi Jadeja (22), Ravi Ashwin (27.1) and Nathan Ellis (18). Choudhary did have an excellent syed mushtaq ali trophy but perhaps only injury and availability can stop pathirana. Sri Lanka have no scheduled fixtures during IPL as yet.

It is a major boost that Tushar Deshpande, wild but potent, has left for Rajasthan. Pathirana is so dangerous that supporting for overall top tournament wicket-taker isn't the worst idea at [14/1. Pacers dominate with only two spinners ever winning. 

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