The Indian Premier League 2026 season bore witness to some incredible talents displaying world-class performances against elite players. There is always a consistent set of players that perform well in the IPL such as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Sunil Narine. The consistency of these players across seasons is what makes them different from other experienced players in the league. But other than the experienced players continuing their greatness, there have been some other players who have improved their game in the tournament.

Players like Rasikh Salam was picked with great expectations in the IPL 2025 Auction but he didn’t perform well in the previous season and he was replaced early on. However, it hasn’t been the same in this season as he has been phenomenal with the ball. Other players such as Jason Holder have come into the IPL for the first time since IPL 2023 and he was brilliant for the Gujarat Titans. Here are some of the players who have improved their game in the IPL 2026 season:

5) Prince Yadav

The Lucknow Super Giants pacer was in terrific form in the IPL 2026 alongside Mohammed Shami. His most iconic wicket came against Virat Kohli, as he produced the perfect seam position to get rid of the King at Lucknow. In the previous season, he got just 3 wickets from 6 innings and his economy was almost 10. But this time out, Prince Yadav picked 16 wickets from 14 innings at an economy rate of 8. He was consistent throughout the season but his name would have just slipped under the radar due to the poor form of the Lucknow Super Giants.

4)Angkrish Raghuvanshi

The Kolkata Knight Riders middle-order batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi has been one of the standout performers for the side in their rather dull IPL 2026 season. He scored just 300 runs from 12 games in the previous season and his consistency wasn’t complementary to the talent he had. In the IPL 2026 season, he scored 422 runs from 13 innings and he was a solid player for KKR in their batting unit. He has made adjustments to his technique and temperament as he seems to be a lot more in control of his game.  

3)Devdutt Padikkal

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru star batter Devdutt Padikkal was in a completely different mode in this edition of the IPL. While he did show signs of improvement in the previous season, he was probably at his best form in the 2026 season of the IPL. Devdutt Padikkal accumulated 464 runs from 16 matches and he was in splendid form throughout. The kind of batting flair that was on display from the Kannadiga batter even forced fans to draw comparison to Chris Gayle. He was instrumental in so many matches for RCB and he had a huge role to play in their title-defence this season.

2) Jason Holder

The Gujarat Titans all-rounder Jason Holder has been arguably one of those players that you simply can’t overlook in this tournament. His contributions with the ball and the breakthroughs that he creates were crucial to the Gujarat Titans’ success. He played his last season in the IPL in 2023 and now, he is back in the mix with a bang. One of his best matches in the season came against RCB at Ahmedabad in the league stage, where he picked up 3 big wickets and a couple of important catches as well. Jason Holder picked 17 wickets from 11 innings at an economy rate of 7 and the experts were all praises for him.

1) Rasikh Dar Salam

The Jammu & Kashmir speedster has filled in probably the only spot of weakness for RCB early in the season and that was of a third seamer. Abhinandan Singh was quite expensive in the first couple of games and Rasikh was brought back into the attack after a below par IPL 20255 season. Rasikh Salam picked up a brilliant 4-fer against the Lucknow Super Giants and that’s when RCB would have realised that they have filled the gap in their bowling attack. He scalped 19 wickets from 12 matches at an economy rate of 9 and he was the uncapped pacer in the IPL 2026 season.