Cricket.com.au's Team of the IPL

The 2018 Indian Premier League has reached the play-off stage so cricket.com.au has decided to compile its team of the tournament from the regular season.

To make the task even tougher, we've abided by the rules of the tournament and included just four overseas players in our XI.

1) Jos Buttler* (Rajasthan Royals)
P: 13 | Runs: 548 | SR: 155.24 | Ave: 54.80 | 50s: 5 | 100s: 0 | HS: 95*

The Englishman proved to be one of the best buys at this year's auction, regularly delivery for Rajasthan and equalling an IPL record with five consecutive fifties partway through the tournament. Buttler looked to be near his best form throughout and will now look to translate that to the Test arena after earning a surprise recall last week.

2) KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab)
P: 14 | Runs: 659 | SR: 158.41 | Ave: 54.91 | 50s: 6 | 100s: 0 | HS: 95*

The Indian opener was impressively consistent for Kings XI Punjab and managed to maintain one of the best strike rates in the tournament without completely abandoning the solid technique that has made him a force in Test cricket. The right-hander passed 20 in all but two of his 14 innings and also broke the IPL record for the fastest fifty, a 14-ball knock against Delhi. He gets the nod ahead of Ambati Rayudu in our team of the tournament.

3) Kane Williamson* (c) (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
P: 14 | Runs: 661 | SR: 143.07 | Ave: 60.09 | 50s: 8 | 100s: 0 | HS: 84

A breakout campaign for the Kiwi, who was handed the captaincy after the late withdrawal of David Warner and was forced to pick up much of the batting slack as well. He'll never be near the top of the tournament strike rates, but eight half-centuries from 14 innings is a remarkable return for the right-hander as his side finished top.

4) Risabh Pant (Delhi Daredevils)
P: 14 | Runs: 684 | SR: 173.60 | Ave: 52.61 | 50s: 5 | 100s: 1 | HS: 128*

Pant re-affirmed his status as one of the best young cricketers in the world, finishing the regular season as the tournament's leading run-scorer with an impressive strike rate of 173. His unbeaten 128 against the Sunrisers was one of the performances of the tournament in an otherwise disappointing campaign for Delhi.

5) Sunil Narine* (Kolkata Knight Riders)
P: 14 | Runs: 327 | SR: 189.01 | Ave: 23.25 | 50s: 2 | 100s: 0 | HS: 75 | Wkts: 16 | Econ: 7.62 | SR: 19.8 | Ave: 25.25 | BBM: 3-18

The West Indian mystery spinner has quickly developed into a genuine allrounder and his tournament strike rate (189.01) is second only to fellow Caribbean big-hitter Andre Russell. He was at his most destructive at the top of the order but also batted lower down, and his bowling remains as difficult to get away as ever.

6) MS Dhoni (wk) (Chennai Super Kings)
P: 14 | Runs: 446 | SR: 157.04 | Ave: 89.20 | 50s: 3 | 100s: 0 | HS: 79*

The Indian veteran shows no signs of a late-career dip and boosted his reputation as 'The Finisher' with a superb tournament in his return to the yellow of Chennai. The veteran was dismissed just five times from 14 innings and his 34-ball knock of 70 against RCB, including seven sixes, was one of the performances of the tournament.

7) Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians)
P: 13 | Wkts: 18 | Econ: 8.92 | SR: 14.2 | Ave: 21.16 | BBM: 3-24 | Runs: 260 | SR: 133.33 | Ave: 28.88 | 50s: 1 | 100s: 0 | HS: 50

The younger Pandya gets the nod just ahead of his brother Krunal as the allrounder in the side, mostly due to his potency with the ball. His 18 wickets is the third-most in the tournament and while his economy rate (8.92) is way too high for a bowler of his quality, his ability to regularly take wickets is hard to ignore.

8) Andrew Tye* (Kings XI Punjab)
P: 14 | Wkts: 24 | Econ: 8.00 | SR: 14.0 | Ave: 18.66 | BBM: 4-16

Andrew Tye was as "shocked" as anyone when he earned a $1.4 million price tag at the player auction, but the Australian more than repaid Kings XI with a tournament-leading haul of 24 wickets in 14 matches. The right-armer picked up a four-wicket haul three times and kept his economy rate at a respectible number despite regularly bowling at the death.

9) Umesh Yadav (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
P: 14 | Wkts: 20 | Econ: 7.86 | SR: 15.9 | Ave: 20.90 | BBM: 3-23

In terms of wicket-taking firepower with the new ball, Umesh Yadav was one of the best at this year's tournament in his first season under Virat Kohli and RCB. One of the fastest bowlers in the world, Yadav unsettled batsmen with his pace and bounce to regularly give his side an early wicket or two.

10) Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)
P: 14 | Wkts: 17 | Econ: 6.88 | SR: 19.0 | Ave: 21.88 | BBM: 3-15

The death-bowling master, Bumrah continues to grow as a bowler and was a key player for Mumbai, despite them failing to reach the play-offs. His numbers tell the story; he had the second best economy rate in the tournament (6.88) of bowlers to have bowled more than 20 overs and finished as the fifth-highest wicket-taker.

11) Amit Mishra (Delhi Daredevils)
P: 10 | Wkts: 12 | Econ: 7.13 | SR: 18.5 | Ave: 22.00 | BBM: 3-19

He was outdone by Afghan leggies Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, but Indian veteran Mishra impressed after a horror start to the tournament that led to his axing from the side. Delhi's horror campaign would have been even worse without the return to form of the 35-year-old, who now has 146 IPL wickets in his career, the most of any current player.

*denotes overseas player