IPL 2020 has finally come to a close, and what a tournament it has been. The Mumbai Indians clinched their fifth title, beating the Delhi Capitals by five wickets in the final.
With the season coming to an end, it’s time to make our team of the tournament. As always, this proved to be a difficult task with so many players putting up a good show. Predictably, the XI was dominated by players from the two best teams in the tournament, Mumbai and Delhi. Champions MI contributed to four spots in the side, while three players came from runners-up DC. Apart from these, two players from the Rajasthan Royals found a spot, and one each were picked from the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kings XI Punjab.
One debatable decision would be the omission of pacer Kagiso Rabada, the season’s purple cap holder, from the team. We’ve adhered to the maximum limit of four overseas players in the side, which is why the South African misses out despite his stellar performance in the tournament. Here’s what our team looks like.
KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab) – Wicketkeeper
(14 matches, 670 runs, SR 129.34, 1 hundred, 5 fifties)
KL Rahul may have had a topsy-turvy debut season as captain, but with the bat his form reigned supreme. The opener amassed more runs than any other player in the season, including five fifties and a century. He smashed 132 in a game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the highest score by an Indian player in the IPL.
Shikhar Dhawan (Delhi Capitals)
(17 matches, 618 runs, SR 144.73, 2 hundreds, 4 fifties)
Dhawan had the best IPL season of his career. The left-hander led the Delhi Capitals’ batting in the tournament, returning 618 runs at an average of 44.14. He also became the first player in IPL history to score two back-to-back centuries.
Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians)
(16 matches, 480 runs, SR 145.01, 4 fifties)
Suryakumar Yadav was the lynch-pin of Mumbai Indians’ batting lineup, scoring runs consistently through the season at a good pace. He also engineered Mumbai in some tricky chases and took them home.
Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals) – Captain
(17 matches, 519 runs, SR 123.27, 3 fifties)
At 25, Shreyas Iyer was the youngest captain in IPL 2020 and led Delhi to their best-ever season finish, which is why he is chosen to lead our side. He had a decent run with the bat too, including a valiant half century to navigate his team out of troubled waters in the final.
Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians)
(14 matches, 516 runs, SR 145.76, 4 fifties)
In retrospect, the Mumbai Indians camp must be laughing that they chose to play Saurabh Tiwary over Ishan Kishan in the lineup for the first few games. As soon as he broke into the side, Kishan was unstoppable. He averaged 57 this season and hit more sixes (30) than anyone else in the tournament.
Marcus Stoinis (Delhi Capitals)
(17 matches, 352 runs, SR 148.52, 3 fifties, 13 wickets, economy 9.53)
The big Australian was the all-rounder par excellence of this season. He proved to be a terrific finisher down the order, hitting big sixes regularly. Stoinis was the only player to score over 300 runs and pick more than ten wickets this season.
Rahul Tewatia (Rajasthan Royals)
(14 matches, 255 runs, SR 139.34, 10 wickets, economy 7.08)
Tewatia has been one of the finds of IPL 2020. The 27-year-old showed that he could wield the long handle, famously hitting five sixes in an over against KXIP. The all-rounder averaged over 42 with the bat in the season, and took 10 wickets with his leg-spin at an impressive economy rate.
Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals)
(14 matches, 20 wickets, economy, 6.55, best 3/19, 113 runs, SR 179.36)
Adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of IPL 2020, Jofra Archer bowled at a rapid pace and terrorised batsmen. His 20 wickets came at a paltry economy of 6.55. Archer registered 175 dot balls in the season, the joint highest with Jasprit Bumrah. He also hit a few big ones with the bat, contributing 113 runs for his side at a strike rate of 179.
Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
(16 matches, 20 wickets, economy 5.37, best 3/7)
The Afghan spinner had yet another supreme IPL season. He picked up 20 wickets this year at an unbelievable economy rate of under 6. His best performance came against the Delhi Capitals when he conceded just 7 runs for 3 wickets, a spell that included 17 dot balls.
Trent Boult (Mumbai Indians)
(15 matches, 25 wickets, economy 7.97, best 4/18)
The toss-up for this spot was between Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada. We eventually decided to go with Boult because he consistently picked up wickets at the start of the innings, unlike Rabada whose wickets largely came in the end overs when the batsmen were desperate to score quickly. Boult was easily the best new ball bowler in the tournament, providing breakthroughs within the powerplay in almost every game.
Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)
(15 matches, 27 wickets, economy 6.73, best 4/14)
Mumbai’s talisman pacer was in his element once again. There’s little that he cannot seem to do with the ball in his hand in a T20 game. He picked up wickets with the new ball, provided breakthroughs in the middle overs and closed out games at the death. His partnership with Trent Boult was crucial to MI’s success. Together they accounted for 52 wickets this season.
Those who missed out
Devdutt Padikkal (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
15 matches, 473 runs, SR 124.80, 5 fifties
AB De Villiers (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
15 matches, 454 runs, SR 158.74, 5 fifties
Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians)
16 matches, 268 runs, average 53.60, SR 191.42
Kagiso Rabada (Delhi Capitals)
17 matches, 30 wickets, economy 8.34, best 4/24
Yuzvendra Chahal (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
15 matches, 21 wickets, economy 7.08, best 3/18
Varun Chakravarthy (Kolkata Knight Riders)
13 matches, 17 wickets, economy 6.84, best 5/20
Anrich Nortje (Delhi Capitals)
16 matches, 22 wickets, economy 8.39, best 3/33
T Natarajan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
16 matches, 16 wickets, economy 8.02, best 2/24