IPL 2016: Follow the performances of Jos Buttler, Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and Glenn Maxwell

The eighth edition of the Indian Premier League has got off to an exciting start, with some impressive performances. We at IBTimes UK will follow all the performances and statistics of a select few players who are considered to be the best in the world.

Jos Buttler (Mumbai Indians)

Matches: 7, Runs: 122, High score: 41, Strike Rate: 137.04, Average: 17.42

The great hope of English cricket and at present one of their most exciting and destructive batsmen, Jos Buttler has still not asserted himself in his first four games for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

The keeper-batsman did not have the best of starts to his IPL career getting out for a second ball duck in their first game of the season against the Rising Pune Supergiants. It was in the second match that he showed how valuable he can be by smashing a 22-ball-41 to take Mumbai to their first win of the tournament.

He struggled to get going in the third game against Gujarat scoring just 16 runs off 21 balls while failing to rise to the occasion yet again against Sunrisers Hyderabad scoring just 11 runs. The fifth game saw the Englishman show glimpses of his talent, his 14-ball 28 helping Mumbai beat Royal Challengers Bangalore win their second game of the competition while the sixth game against Delhi Daredevils saw him fail again scoring just 2 runs.

Kevin Pietersen (Rising Pune Supergiants)

Matches: 3, Runs: 73, High score: 37, Strike Rate: 121.66, Average: 36.50

England's most controversial cricketer Kevin Pietersen has looked good in all three games played without getting a big score. Scores of 21*, 37 and 15 do not show how good Pietersen has looked with the bat in hand. Expect him to score a big one sooner or later.

Brendon McCullum (Gujarat Lions)

Matches: 5, Runs: 115, High score: 49, Strike Rate: 147.43, Average: 23

It says a lot that 49 runs of his total of 55 runs have come in one game, but that was an important innings that got the Kiwi back into form and more importantly helped in Gujarat maintaining their hold on the top spot in the table. McCullum looks a bit rusty with the bat but his breezy knock in the last game has given us hope that he is back to his best.

Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Matches: 5, Runs: 367, High score: 100, Strike Rate: 143.92, Average: 91.75

India's Virat Kohli has continued his good form from the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2016 scoring 75 off 51 against Sunrisers Hyderabad and 79 runs off 48 balls against Delhi Daredevils. The Delhi dasher currently lies in the fifth spot on the list of most runs scored in IPL 2016 so far and if he continues this form, Royal Challengers Bangalore certainly have a shot at the title. What would be of concern is the dependence of the team on him to give good starts, though he scored 33 runs against Mumbai, it was not enough as Bangalore lost their second successive game. The Bangalore captain came to life in the fourth game, scoring 80 runs of 63 balls to put on him on top of the run-scorers list in the IPL 2016 while the fifth game saw him notch up his first T20 hundred and second of the competition when he scored an unbeaten 100 off just 63 balls against Gujarat Lions.

Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Matches: 2, Runs: 1, High score: 1, Strike Rate: 14.28, Average: 0.50

The Universal Boss, Chris Gayle has had a disastrous IPL 2016 so far scoring just one run over two games. The Bangalore outfit will be hoping that he fires as they look for that elusive title.

Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab)

Matches: 6, Runs: 95, High score: 56, Strike Rate: 137.68, Average: 19

The Big Show is a key player for his team and when he fails the Kings XI tend to lose. The first two games were not that great according to his standards, but then his unbeaten 14-ball-32 run knock helped propel the Punjab outfit to their first win of the competition. He did score his first fifty of the competition against Mumbai with the team management hoping that he can carry this form into the later stages of the league.