Cricket pundit Harsha Bhogle picked his IPL 2018 XI ahead of the final. His captain is MS Dhoni, although he has Kane Williamson in his team but prefers the former Indian skipper over the Kiwi to lead the side.

The major surprise was him picking Caribbean all-rounder Sunil Narine for the opening role and ignoring Cheanni Super Kings star performer Ambati Rayudu. Rayudu has scored 586 runs with an average of 41.85. What stats won't show is how he has taken responsibility at crucial stages for Chennai.

AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were also missing from Harsha's XI. The 56-year-old picked Umesh Yadav from Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Youngster Rishabh Pant found a place in the XI after his blistering performance in IPL 2018. If Mumbai Indians isn't in top 4, they have this man, Pant to blame for his match-saving innings in the last group stage game.

Rashid Khan was picked by Harsha. He seems to make it to everyone's top XI this season after the performance he showed in the pressure games. 

Harsha relies on Jasprit Bumrah and Siddharth Kaul to shape his fast bowling unit along with Umesh and Andre Russell.

Bhogle did justice with Dinesh Karthik to pick him in his team. The Kolkata Knight Riders skipper with a boost in confidence looked very impressive this year. He also managed to lead his team in playoffs when everyone had counted Kolkata out.

Another big player, Andrew Tye of Kings XI Punjab couldn't make it to Bhogle's XI. It was surprising considering he is still the purple cap holder despite his team not making it to the top 4. Tye has 24 wickets by his name this season which includes three four-wicket hauls. 

Here is Harsha Bhogle's XI: 

Sunil Narine, KL Rahul, Kane Williamson, R Pant, MS Dhoni (C), Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russel, Rashid Khan, Siddharth Kaul, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah