Bhaskar’s Best XI of week 3:Shreyas Iyer headlines team, ton-up Quinton de Kock, fiery Sakib make the cut; 3 KKR stars included

Another week of thrilling IPL action has gone by, and fans will remember week 3 for Quinton de Kock’s century, David Miller’s last-ditch heroics, Priyansh Arya, as well as Cooper Connolly’s explosive knocks to post the highest total this season. Just like the past 2 weeks, Bhaskar English will pick the best XI from week 3, and pick the best batting performance, bowling display and fielding heroics from the past 7 days. Without further ado, let’s get into it. Best batter of week 3: Quinton de Kock Shubman Gill (86 in 50 balls) and Ishan Kishan (91 in 44 balls) both gave a tough fight to the eventual winner, but the crown must go to Quinton de Kock. Not only did the South African hit a well-deserved century in his first match of the season, but he also returned unbeaten at 112 and recorded his personal second-highest score in IPL history, after the 140 he scored in 2022. It was the second hundred this season, after Sanju Samson scored 115* earlier. If not for De Kock’s century, the Mumbai Indians would have struggled to put up a challenging total against the Punjab Kings, who eventually won by seven wickets with 21 balls to spare. Best bowler of week 3: Bhuvneshwar Kumar With six wickets in two games, such has been Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s impact that there is talk of him being given another run for Team India. Against Lucknow Super Giants, Bhuvneshwar picked up 3 wickets in his four overs, giving away 27 runs to help RCB restrict LSG to a total of 146. The defending champions won the match by five wickets, but it was his fiery spell in the powerplay against Delhi Capitals that deserved plaudits. DC eventually chased down the required 176-run target but were made to sweat hard after Bhuvneshwar dismissed Pathum Nissanka, Karun Nair and Sameer Rizvi in his first two overs. He finished with figures of 3/26, although Delhi won by six wickets. Best fielder of week 3: Phil Salt Phil Salt just can’t be kept away from the ball when he’s on the field. With six catches already, the Welsh cricketer has one of the highest catching efficiencies in the league this season. Salt ran 28 meters to his left to take Karun Nair’s catch. He also had a hand in Rishabh Pant’s dismissal earlier in the week and is easily the best fielder for the second time in three weeks. Dhruv Jurel pulled off a sensational stumping to dismiss Cameron Green off a wide delivery. Also read: ‘Black magic’? Fan prayed with a lemon, Shivam Dube bowled: Bizarre incident from CSK vs SRH match goes viral IPL 2026 Best XI of week 3 1) Quinton de Kock impressed big time this week, smashing a century in his first appearance this season. Replacing an injured Rohit Sharma at the top of the order, de Kock blasted his way to an unbeaten 112 off just 60 balls, although it eventually came in a losing cause. 2) Priyansh Arya is the other opener in this team and it was an obvious choice, given how the young opener dominated the Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) bowling attack. Arya, after managing 15 runs against the Mumbai Indians, smashed a 37-ball 93 against LSG, scripting a 54-run win for the Punjab Kings (PBKS). 3) Shreyas Iyer is the automatic choice for captaincy, given how he has performed both as a leader and as a batter. His captaincy has been one of the biggest reasons behind Punjab Kings’ unbeaten start. With the bat, Shreyas Iyer hit 71 runs in two appearances. 4) Cameron Green bounced back to form after a disastrous start to his IPL 2026 campaign. Well, this week did not start well for Green, who was out for a golden duck against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). But the big Australian, KKR’s (Kolkata Knight Riders) ₹25.2 crore buy, answered his critics in style with 106 runs in two matches, which included a 79 against the Gujarat Titans (GT). 5) Even as the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have had a wobbly campaign, Heinrich Klaasen has been a picture of consistency for the Orange Army. The right-hander hit 99 runs in two matches this week, which included a 59 that came in a win over CSK. 6) Axar Patel slots in at number six, having provided handy performances with both bat and ball. Axar took two wickets in Delhi Capitals’ (DC) win over the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and later, scored 26 crucial runs against the defending champions. 7) Anshul Kamboj has been one of the biggest performers of the week. The CSK pacer climbed to the top of the wicket-taking charts with five wickets in two matches this week one of which was a three-fer against SRH. 8) Bhuvneshwar Kumar has rolled back the clock, dishing out two dominant performances with the ball for RCB. He featured in two matches this week, against LSG and DC and took three-wicket hauls in both those contests. 9) Varun Chakaravarthy has returned to form after a wicketless start in IPL 2026. The mystery spinner, who has struggled for form this year, was back among the wickets with five wickets in three games this week. His best came against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) wherein he picked up three wickets while giving away just 14 runs in four overs. 10) Sakib Hussain had a debut to remember in the IPL this week. The Bihar pacer played a crucial role in SRH stunning a red-hot RR in Hyderabad with a four-wicket haul. In two matches this week, Hussain has picked up five wickets. 11) While KKR have struggled so far in IPL 2026, Sunil Narine has quietly gone about his job. The KKR great played three games this week, picking up four wickets and remaining economical every single time.