The 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) came to an end on November 10, with Mumbai Indians (MI) clinching the title by defeating Delhi Capitals (DC) in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Based on the performances in the tournament, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan recently named his IPL 2020 XI.
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Just like any IPL playing XI, Pathan went with the composition of four overseas and seven Indians cricketers.
Irfan opted to go with KXIP’s KL Rahul and DC’s Shikhar Dhawan as his openers. Both of them had a great season with the bat. While Rahul is leading the runs tally with 670 runs from 14 innings, Dhawan is second on the list with 618 runs from 17 innings.
“KL Rahul for sure and along with him Shikhar Dhawan. I cannot include David Warner as we can have only 4 overseas players,” Pathan quoted as saying by Times Now.
Batting at No. 3 in Irfan Pathan’s team is MI’s Suryakumar Yadav followed by RCB’s AB de Villiers. Both the batsmen have played impactful knocks throughout the tournament during the middle overs.
Pathan picked 'three-dimensional player' Kieron Pollard to bat at No. 5 and also named him the captain of his IPL 2020 team.
“I will have Kieron Pollard to bat at No.5, and he will also be the captain of my team. I had the option of Hardik, but he is not bowling and Pollard will give me the bowling as well as captaincy. He is an amazing fielder, so I will get a three-dimensional player,” he remarked.
Marcus Stoinis and Rahul Tewatia featured in Pathan’s team as all-rounders while Yuzvendra Chahal is a specialist spinner in his playing XI.
Coming to the fast bowling department, Irfan selected DC’s Kagiso Rabada, MI’s Jasprit Bumrah and KXIPs’ Mohammad Shami. While Rabada is the leading wicket-taker of IPL 2020 with 30 scalps, Bumrah and Shami have claimed 27 and 20 wickets respectively in the tournament.
Irfan Pathan’s IPL 2020 XI:
KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers, Kieron Pollard (c), Marcus Stoinis, Rahul Tewatia, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami.
