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Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has surprised fans by revealing his choice for the best opener of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026). Ashwin surprised many by ignoring some of the biggest batting stars of the season, including Virat Kohli and teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi, before ultimately naming his best opener this season.
In the current IPL 2026, most of the teams have been able to perform well because of their openers and this is their biggest strength. Teams like Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad have been heavily dependent on their openers this season.
Ravichandran Ashwin surprises fans with his best opener pick for IPL 2026
During a fun comparison segment on ESPN Cricinfo, Ravichandran Ashwin was asked to pick openers one after the other to pick the best opener of the ongoing IPL 2026.
He first favored KL Rahul in place of Prabhsimran Singh, who has so far scored 364 runs in 10 matches for Punjab Kings (PBKS) at an impressive average of 45.50 and strike rate of 172.51.
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He continued to pick Rahul against many top batsmen this season and the reason for this is his consistent and aggressive batting for Delhi Capitals this season. Rahul has scored 468 runs in 11 matches with a highest score of 152* at an impressive strike rate of 180.00.
KL Rahul chose many big names in place of Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin picked Rahul ahead of Sai Sudarshan, who has scored 440 runs at a strike rate of 157.70 for Gujarat Titans this season, and Mitchell Marsh, who has scored 377 runs at a strike rate of over 150 for Lucknow Super Giants this season.
Rahul also defeated Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has scored 312 runs for Chennai Super Kings, as well as Ryan Rickelton, who has produced a sensational performance for Mumbai Indians, scoring 382 runs at a strike rate above 188. Apart from this, Ashwin also supported Rahul over Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Gill has scored 462 runs this season at a strike rate above 160, while Jaiswal has once again been one of the consistent performers for Rajasthan Royals with over 300 runs in 11 matches.
Ravichandran Ashwin rates Sanju Samson better than KL Rahul and Vaibhav Suryavanshi in IPL 2026
But when Sanju Samson entered the comparison, Ashwin suddenly changed his choice and chose the Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper-batsman instead of Rahul. Samson has been brilliant for CSK this season, scoring 430 runs at a strike rate close to 170, including an unbeaten 115.
After this, Ravichandran Ashwin again surprised the fans by choosing Samson instead of Rajasthan Royals teenage batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The 15-year-old RR batsman has become one of the biggest stars of IPL 2026 after scoring 440 runs at an incredible strike rate of 236.55.
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Vaibhav also leads the list of sixes hit this season with 40 sixes. However, he failed to perform well in some important matches, but Samson performed when CSK needed it most, and perhaps that is why Ashwin was selected. Well, the biggest twist came when the cricket pundit chose Abhishek Sharma as the best opener of IPL 2026.
Ravichandran Ashwin ignores Virat Kohli and Travis Head to choose Abhishek Sharma as best opener of IPL 2026
Ashwin also picked Abhishek over Virat Kohli, who has scored 379 runs at a strike rate above 163 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) so far this season. The experienced spinner also rated Abhishek ahead of dangerous openers like Priyansh Arya and Travis Head.
Priyansh has scored 286 runs at a strike rate above 242 for Punjab Kings this season, while Travis Head has scored 361 runs at a strike rate above 174 for SRH so far. But Ashwin clearly felt that Abhishek’s fearless batting has made the biggest impact in the ongoing IPL 2026.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad opening batsman has been in incredible form in the ongoing IPL 2026. Abhishek has already scored 475 runs at an impressive strike rate of 210.17 and even scored two 130-plus scores, becoming the first batsman in IPL history to achieve this record in a season.
Who is the best opener in IPL 2026 according to R Ashwin? pic.twitter.com/N3v1g67Bac
– ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) 11 May 2026
