The 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen some sensational performances after 56 matches in the league stage.
Opening the innings, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul have scored hundreds in the IPL 2020. In fact, the KXIP skipper is leading the runs tally with 670 runs to his name from 14 games.
But while Dhawan made it to former Australian spinner Brad Hogg’s best XI of the league phase, Rahul missed out.
Other notable names missing in the list were MI captain Rohit Sharma, who missed four league fixtures due to injury and RCB skipper Virat Kohli, who has amassed 460 runs in 14 games this season.
“First up off the bat is Shikhar Dhawan. What a wonderful series he is having this year. He has got a strike-rate of over 146 and a great average of 47 and he has got a couple of centuries as well,” Hogg said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
“Opening the batting with him is Mayank Agarwal. I just love the way that he has played for Kings XI Punjab. If it wasn’t for him, they would have not been even close to getting to the playoffs. He was dynamite opening the batting for them.
More than the number of runs, Hogg preferred to go with the impact and hence he picked Suryakumar Yadav and AB de Villiers to bat at No. 3 and 4 respectively.
“At No. 3, it is Suryakumar Yadav from the Mumbai Indians. I have just loved the way he has gone about his business. Got a brilliant strike-rate, very versatile, bowlers find it hard to set fields to him. So he is my No. 3. The first overseas player that I have got for you in this team is coming in at No. 4. It is AB de Villiers from RCB. His contributions for his team in the middle order have been absolutely sensational. If it wasn’t for him, RCB wouldn’t have been in the top four,” he added.
Featuring in his list at No. 5 is KKR captain Eoin Morgan followed by MI all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
“Coming in at No.5, now he is from the Kolkata Knight Riders. He took over the captaincy of KKR and he is captaining this team. It’s Eoin Morgan. He has played some cameo innings for KKR and kept them alive. At No. 6, this is a big one. I hope he could bowl, he is a great fielder. He is very athletic. He is an entertainer. It is Hardik Pandya from the Mumbai Indians. Strike rate of over 200 and that is what you want from your No. 6,” Hogg further said.
Jofra Archer, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal were part of the bowling attack in Hogg’s best XI of the league phase.
“At No.7, its Jofra Archer. 20 wickets and he has got a strike rate of 184 with the bat. He has played a couple of cameos and held the Rajasthan Royals together. Coming in at No.8 is Rashid Khan. You can’t keep him out. Yes he can come in and play a couple of cameo innings with the bat. But really he has kept Sunrisers Hyderabad in the competition with the wickets that he has taken and the pressure that he has created with the ball,” Hogg remarked.
“Now the final three. The next one I have got for you is Mohammad Shami. Great wicket-taking ability, not really happy with his economy rate but you can’t have the cake and eat it too. So I am happy with him getting wickets with the new ball. He is sensational with a bit of reverse swing at the end of the innings. He is another reason why KXIP were searching a place in the playoffs till the very end,” he elaborated.
“At No.10 is Jasprit Bumrah. You can bowl him at any phase and he’ll bowl yorkers, bouncers, and he can swing the ball, what more can I say, you don’t really need to talk much about it. And finally is Chahal from RCB, 20 wickets at 19.05 and a good economy rate of 7.16,” he concluded.
In the video, Hogg also explained that he has not selected KL Rahul in the line-up because of his low strike rate.
Brad Hogg’s Best XI of IPL 2020 League Stage:
Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers, Eoin Morgan, Hardik Pandya, Jofra Archer, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.
