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IPL 2020: The Dream Teams

With the end of IPL 2020, fans and experts chipped in with their choices of the Dream Teams. Recently, social media went ablaze with Virender Sehwag’s highly debated IPL XI. Virat Kohli and David Warner at 4 and 5—it is easy to see why that was the case.

So I decided to join the party!

Here is my IPL XIs, with a couple of twists, of course.

Today’s Twist:

I will build two IPL Dreams today—the Obvious XI and the Non-Obvious XI. The goal is to see if my team could beat the Obvious Team of the Tournament. Here are the rules:

  • Have at least one uncapped player in each team
  • The IPL rules apply – 4 foreign players maximum
  • A wicketkeeper and 5 bowling options are necessary
  • The Obvious XI will contain the winners of the Orange Cap, Purple Cap, and MVP awards
  • The two teams should not have any overlap.

The Catch:

In IPL 2020, the foreign fast bowlers were on fire—Jofra Archer, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, but how many can you fit in? Additionally, the Indian squad have prolific wicketkeeper batsmen, but will all of them make it?

Tough choices to make…

IPL XI – The Dream Teams

The Non-Obvious XI

Here is my choice — the not-so-obvious Dream Team.

*Note: Bolded players represent the foreign players

  1. Mayank Agarwal
  2. Wriddhiman Saha (WK)
  3. David Warner (C)
  4. Suryakumar Yadav (U)
  5. Kane Williamson
  6. Sam Curran
  7. Rahul Tewatia (U)
  8. Anrich Nortje
  9. Thangarasu Natarajan (U)
  10. Varun Chakravarthy (U)
  11. Mohammad Shami

*WK – Wicketkeeper, C – Captain, U – Uncapped

In the batting front, this team has sparkling openers, the experience of Warner and Williamson, Suryakumar Yadav’s flamboyance, and Sam Curran/Tewatia as floaters.

With Sam Curran and Shami as the opening swing bowlers, Nortje as the pace spearhead, Natarajan as the designated death bowler, the mystery of Varun, and the leg-spin of Tewatia, the bowling line-up is balanced. If necessary, even cool Kane Williamson can role over his arm.

The Obvious XI

  1. Shikhar Dhawan
  2. KL Rahul (WK)
  3. Devdutt Padikkal (U)
  4. AB De Villiers (C)
  5. Ishan Kishan
  6. Hardik Pandya
  7. Rashid Khan
  8. Jofra Archer
  9. Kagiso Rabada
  10. Jasprit Bumrah
  11. Yuzvendra Chahal

*Orange Cap (Most Runs), Purple Caps (Most Wickets), Most Valuable Player (MVP)

With left-right hand combination (overrated but still) till No. 6 and bowling line-up of the decade, this is a pretty strong team. So, you decide, can my team defeat the Obvious XI?

Jofra Archer vs. David Warner, anybody? COMMENT BELOW AND LET US KNOW! Let us know of your IPL XI as well!

Honorable Mentions:
  • Quinton De Kock, Trent Boult, Jason Holder, Ben Stokes, Marcus Stoinis, Faf du Plessis, Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Abdul Samad, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi

I had a tough time leaving QDK and Boult out. Both were magnificent, but the 4-foreign player quota came into the equation.

Notice something? None of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, or Shreyas Iyer (captains of 3 of the top 4 teams) make it into either of my XIs or the honorable mentions.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this…COMMENT BELOW AND LET US KNOW! Also share ahead and subscribe to our email list below:

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Conclusion

This was a peculiar tournament in terms of player performance. While the foreign players and the Indian uncapped players impressed, the current and former Indian players disappointed.

Although Dhawan, Kohli, and Iyer were among the runs, none of them looked consistently convincing. Similarly, former IPL stars like Robin Uthappa and 2019 World Cup squad members — Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav, and Kuldeep Yadav — all had a sub-par season.

On the other hand, a 15-member squad could be created out of the impressive uncapped youngsters themselves:

  • Padikkal, Gaikwad, Kishan, Suryakumar, Garg, Samad, Sharma, Nagarkoti, Mavi, Bishnoi, Varun, Natarajan, Arshdeep, Tyagi, Prasidh Krishna

IPL 2020 was the beginning of the end of the 2007 T20 World Cup and IPL 2008 era. The early stars are slowly fading away in the background, while the newer generation are storming to the forefront.

Embed from Getty Images

Image Courtesy: Getty, Suryakumar Yadav – Sirshak9927, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

IPL All-Time XI: RR and KKR

Well, well, well, the IPL is here. It is that time of the year. Okay not quite, 2020 is weird. Anyway, six months delayed, but IPL-13 is finally here.

Cricket has restarted and England has done their part in hosting West Indies, Pakistan, and Australia. Now it is time to jump ship across to the U.A.E. for the Indian Premier League.

ESPNCricinfo recently did a series on all-time IPL XI teams. Although we agree on some players, I have a different take on most teams. So for the next few days, we will be doing IPL All-Time XI, 2 teams each day.

Why not start with the teams that inspired the IPL craze? Yes, I am talking about the winners of the 1st IPL, Rajasthan Royals, and Kolkata Knight Riders for whom Brendon McCullum blazed 158 in the first game of the IPL.

All-Time XI – Rules

First, we will first give you a chance to vote on who you think should be in the All-Time XI and then display our All-Time XI.

  • Limit to 11 players per team (you can play around with the balance of the team)
  • Maximum of 4 foreign players in the XI
  • Needs to be able to field a team (a wicket-keeper and 5 bowling options at least)

Note, with major auctions every three years, several players may be in multiple All-Time XI teams.

Rajasthan Royals

Highlights: 2008 (Champions), 2013 (3rd), 2015, 2018 – (4th)

My Rajasthan Royals – XI

Here is my Rajasthan Royals XI. I picked several players from their 2008 winning campaign.

Note: The foreign players are in bold.

  1. Jos Butler (2018-2019) – WK
  2. Rahul Dravid (2011-2013) – (C)
  3. Shane Watson (2008-2015)
  4. Ajinkya Rahane (2011-2015; 2018-2019)
  5. Sanju Samson (2013-2015; 2018-2019)
  6. Brad Hodge (2012-2014)
  7. Yusuf Pathan (2008-2010)
  8. Ravindra Jadeja (2008-2009)
  9. Shreyas Gopal (2018-2019)
  10. Sohail Tanvir (2008)
  11. Siddharth Trivedi (2008-2013)

Honorable Mentions: Steven Smith (2014-2019), Shane Warne (2008-2011), Swapnil Asnodkar (2008-2011), Stuart Binny (2011-2019)

Audience Poll – RR XI

The results are in! We received about 29 votes. Here is what the audience voted for:

  1. Rahul Dravid – Captain
  2. Shane Watson
  3. Ajinkya Rahane/Steven Smith (tie) [*Smith will not make it in because of the foreign quota of 4]
  4. Sanju Samson – WK
  5. Jos Butler
  6. Ben Stokes
  7. Ravindra Jadeja
  8. James Faulkner/Shane Warne (tie)
  9. Dhawal Kulkarni
  10. Munaf Patel
  11. Pravin Tambe/Shreyas Gopal (Tie)

*Note: Jofra Archer had more votes than Munaf Patel but because of the 4 foreign players quote, he lost to Faulkner/Shane Warne by one vote.

Missed out by Barest of Margins: Jofra Archer (the irony), Yusuf Pathan, Sohail Tanvir

Some Votes: Siddharth Trivedi, Shaun Tait, Stuart Binny, Krishnappa Gowtham

Less than 2 Votes: Johan Botha, Swapnil Asnodkar, Naman Ojha, Dishant Yagnik, Brad Hodge

Was there another player you would have liked to see? Comment Below!

Kolkata Knight Riders

Highlights: 2012, 2014 – (Champions), 2017, 2018 – (3rd), 2011, 2016 – (4th)

My KKR XI

Here is my KKR XI. Most of the players are from the 2012-2014 generation in which KKR won twice.

  1. Sunil Narine (2012-2019)
  2. Gautam Gambhir (2011-2017)
  3. Jacques Kallis (2011-2014)
  4. Robin Uthappa (2014-2019)
  5. Manish Pandey (2014-2017)
  6. Dinesh Karthik (2018-2019)
  7. Andre Russell (2014-2019)
  8. Piyush Chawla (2014-2019)
  9. Morne Morkel (2014-2016)
  10. Umesh Yadav (2014-2017)
  11. Kuldeep Yadav (2016-2019)

Honorable Mentions: Chris Lynn (2014-2019), Yusuf Pathan (2011-2017), Shakib Al Hasan (2011-2017), Manvinder Bisla (2011-2014)

Audience Poll – KKR XI

  1. Gautam Gambhir – Captain
  2. Manish Pandey
  3. Robin Uthappa
  4. Shakib Al Hasan/Morne Morkel (Tie)
  5. Jacques Kallis (Tie with 5.)
  6. Dinesh Karthik – WK
  7. Andre Russell
  8. Sunil Narine
  9. Umesh Yadav
  10. Kuldeep Yadav
  11. Piyush Chawla

*Note: Shakib, Morkel, and Kallis are tied so 2/3 can fill in the spots. (If it is a turning pitch, we will play Shakib; otherwise, Morne it is).

Missed out by the Barest of Margins: Brendon McCullum (irony #2 – had to be from New Zealand), Brett Lee, Chris Lynn, Ishant Sharma, Sourav Ganguly

Some Votes: Lakshmipathy Balaji, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, Eoin Morgan, Shoaib Akhtar, Nitesh Rana, Yusuf Pathan

Less than 2 Votes: Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Rajat Bhatia, Iqbal Abdulla

Please vote and share with your friends to see what their best XI is? PLEASE SHARE, SUBSCRIBE, AND COMMENT BELOW ON WHAT YOU THINK!

Next time we will analyze the Best XIs of DC and KXIP. Let the games begin!

For other IPL All-Time XIs, check this page out. For other World XIs, check this page out.

Sources: Cricinfo Stats, Cricinfo IPL All-Time XI

Image Courtesy: Shane Watson – NAPARAZZI / CC BY-SA 2.0; Shane Warne – Chris Brown / via CC 2.0; Jacques Kallis – Kolkata Knight Riders – Official / via CC 3.0; Dinesh Karthik – Dee03 / CC BY-SA 3.0; Sunil Narine – Kolkata Knight Riders – Official / via CC 3.0