7) Manish Pandey (Kolkata Knight Riders)
16 matches, 401 runs, strike rate 117.94, highest score 94
After arriving in the IPL with a century five years ago, Manish Pandey's contributions largely went unnoticed in between. This season, however, Pandey benefited from being a consistent member of the side and the clarity of being KKR's No 3 batsman. He made handy contributions throughout the tournament but brought out his best in the final. His game-changing 94 in a chase of 200 took KKR to their second IPL title and earned him a Man-of-the-Match award.