No one could&#8217;ve written a more dramatic script (not literally!) for the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/t20/ipl-indian-premier-league/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019</a> final as the Mumbai Indians, much like the way they did it in 2017 at the same venue, won the game by 1 run. They clinched their fourth title under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, who individually has five winners medals to his name, more than any other player in the tournament&#8217;s history.

The grand finale at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday was a testament to how close this season has been. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/t20/ipl-indian-premier-league/rcb-royal-challengers-bangalore/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Royal Challengers Bangalore</a>, who finished at the bottom with 11 points, were just one point away from Sunrisers Hyderabad, who finished fourth with 12 points. This definitely will go down as the closest IPL there has ever been.

Every great journey comes to an end and it came to an end on a sensational note in Hyderabad. While there were celebrations on the Mumbai side, the Chennai Super Kings will find it difficult to digest the margin of defeat, which is a little too narrow to tolerate.

All we can say is it was a privilege to witness something as epic in the 2019 edition of the IPL and here&#8217;s a look back at the best XI of this tournament.:

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/04/David-Warner-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-337481" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/David-Warner-2.jpg" alt="David Warner" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337481" class="wp-caption-text">David Warner. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption>

The first player in IPL history to win three Orange Caps, David Warner continues to reign supreme in the cash-rich league. He has been phenomenal ever since he was signed by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014, scoring over 500 runs in every season he appeared since then. Warner clearly needed no second invitation to come and shower his dominance and he did so with some brutality this time.

It was his big come back, he was coming out of a year-long suspension and people expected him to be a bit rusty. But, Warner, he picked up from where he left, and registered a sensational tally of 692 runs in just 12 innings, with 8 half-centuries and a hundred against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. His opening combination with <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/englands-jonny-bairstow-elated-with-his-first-ever-ipl-experience/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonny Bairstow</a> worked wonders for the side that otherwise looked very pale.

The second best among run-getters was KL Rahul who despite playing a couple more innings was almost 100 runs behind Warner, Quinton de Kock the third, played as many as 16 innings and still fell 163 runs short of his tally. Naturally, he took the Orange Cap.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/05/KL-Rahul.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-339187" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/KL-Rahul.jpg" alt="KL Rahul" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-339187" class="wp-caption-text">KL Rahul. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption>

Another season with a lot of runs for KL Rahul but to once again to no avail. The Karnataka superstar is no longer a youngster and had to lead the batting side. He tried, again, single-handedly but hardly ever found stable support from the other end, which led to another failure. Resultantly, the Kings XI Punjab finished awfully out of the top four for the second season running despite a really good start.

The 27-year-old registered a whopping 593 runs at an average in excess of 53.91 in 14 matches. The only batsman who really has put up a better show than him is his opening partner in this team. A bit like Warner, Rahul too came into this edition on the back of a controversy relating to a talk show and had to make his bat talk.

Looking at the way fans are singing his praises, he definitely has redeemed himself.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/04/Shreyas-Iyer-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-332756" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Shreyas-Iyer-1.jpg" alt="Shreyas Iyer" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-332756" class="wp-caption-text">Shreyas Iyer. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption>

A promising youngster with great temperament, stylish technique and Mumbai cricket upbringing was given an opportunity to lead an IPL franchise this season and <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2019-shreyas-iyer-goofs-up-during-toss-leaves-sanjay-manjrekar-in-splits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shreyas Iyer</a> most certainly has not disappointed one bit. He had a bunch of youngsters and some veterans at his disposal during his stint this season Iyer has earned great compliments from some of the legends of the game.

It was not just the way he led the team but also for his own batting. Apart from leading the Delhi Capitals into the playoffs and finishing third in the overall race, he was consistent and controlled with the bat. He amassed 463 runs in 16 innings for the franchise at an average of 30.87 and scored three half-centuries.

After losing out in the race for a spot in the Indian World Cup squad, Iyer is setting up significant long-term targets not just with the Capitals but at the national level as well and the platform looks set.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/04/Rishabh-Pant-shot.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-335309" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Rishabh-Pant-shot.jpg" alt="Rishabh Pant" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-335309" class="wp-caption-text">Rishabh Pant. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

The Indian selectors are still under the scanner for not picking Rishabh Pant in the World Cup squad, although their justification reason was plausible at that point. It really is hard to believe the dynamic batsman is just 21 and probably has a good 13-15 years of amazing cricket ahead of him. Pant had his share of lows this season, but when it mattered, he was always there for the Capitals.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was retained by the Capitals for a whopping INR 15 crore by the franchise and he delivered with a mind-boggling performance against <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/t20/ipl-indian-premier-league/srh-sunrisers-hyderabad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunrisers Hyderabad</a> in the Eliminator. Besides that, he scored 488 runs in 16 innings which includes three fifty-plus scores.

Among all the batsmen who scored more than 150 runs this season, the Delhi boy&#8217;s strike rate of 162.67 was second only to Andre Russell.

5. MS Dhoni (C &amp; wk) (Chennai Super Kings)

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/04/MS-Dhoni-six.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-335094" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-six.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-335094" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption>

It would be fair to say that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made an ordinary team look phenomenal and along with the bowling unit took them to the finals. It was his 8th IPL final as a captain, 9th as a final and sadly for the captain cool, he only won 3 of them. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2019-final-mi-vs-csk-who-said-what/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rohit Sharma</a> has now overtaken the great man as the first skipper to lead a franchise to 4 titles, however, Dhoni still qualifies into this team as the best captain of the season.

Dhoni in the 12th year at 37, in the twilight of his career, had his best season with the bat and also finished as the Chennai Super Kings&#8217; highest run-scorer this season, a feat he never achieved previously. With 416 runs to his name in 15 games, Dhoni managed an average of 83.20 and a strike rate just in excess of 130.

The captain led his team from the front by example, but couldn&#8217;t steer the side home, stumbling at the final hurdle by the finest of margins.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/03/Hardik-Pandya.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-327440" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Hardik-Pandya.jpg" alt="Hardik Pandya" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-327440" class="wp-caption-text">Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

We don&#8217;t associate Hardik Pandya with muscle, strength or brute force, but he is. The all-rounder was in the best touch we&#8217;ve seen him with the bat, the ball and overall as a cricketer. He enjoyed every bit of the season and won the third title of his career. Indian fans would be utterly disappointed if <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/andrew-flintoff-thinks-hardik-pandya-is-a-match-winner-but-an-underrated-one/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hardik Pandya</a> doesn&#8217;t replicate his IPL 2019 heroics in the upcoming World Cup.

Some of his cameos and especially the whirlwind knock at the Eden Gardens against KKR will be reminisced for a very long time. For the first time in his career, Hardik went past the 400-run mark in a season and it is a remarkable achievement for a cricketer who bats so down in the order.

Apart from the 402 runs, he also returned with 14 wickets to his name at an impressive strike-rate of 18.21. He personified the impossible this season, with Russell being the other man who did just that. After everything that happened in the talk show controversy, this definitely was a sensational way for Hardik to redeem himself.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/04/Andre-Russell-fifty.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-337140" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Andre-Russell-fifty.jpg" alt="Andre Russell" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337140" class="wp-caption-text">Andre Russell. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

When <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/andre-russells-ipl-form-attracts-interest-of-the-bbl-clubs-ahead-of-the-upcoming-season/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andre Russell</a> was announced as the Most Valuable Player for 2019, he received a massive cheer from the Hyderabad crowd on Sunday, a testament to how many fans he won through his fireworks this season. It was breath-taking, magnanimous and rather unbelievable to see the way he batted and the feats he pulled off this season.

The Caribbean all-rounder, who exploded pretty much every time he came out to bat unlocked a different level of his own self and with that showed everyone what else was possible. He wasn&#8217;t fully fit, regularly struggling with injuries and pain, on his shoulder, his wrists were a problem throughout but all that didn&#8217;t matter when he was at the crease with the bat in hand.

The only disappointment for him was his team&#8217;s performance, as they were a little too dependent on him to get the runs and the wins. That didn&#8217;t transpire well for the Knight Riders, who agonizingly fell short of a playoffs position. Russell scored 510 runs in 14 matches this season at a strike rate in excess of 200. He also picked 11 wickets for the side despite being a little expensive.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/05/Imran-Tahir-3.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-341215" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Imran-Tahir-3.jpg" alt="Imran Tahir" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-341215" class="wp-caption-text">Imran Tahir. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption>

A spinner in the T20 format playing against some of the most destructive batsmen in the format, in a game and league termed for the youngsters, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/rahul-chahar-reveals-that-tahir-is-his-go-to-person-whenever-he-needs-tips-for-bowling/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Imran Tahir</a> collected the Purple Cap. This should qualify as one of his finest exhibitions of leg-spin in any tournament, as Tahir finished the season with 26 wickets in his account at an average of 16.58 and a gobsmacking bowling strike rate of 14.85.

He was MS Dhoni&#8217;s go-to weapon in critical situations and picked up crucial wickets at defining moments in matches. He rather created those instances for his side and was the strike bowler. Tahir ran in to bowl with amazing exuberance in all the 16 matches and celebrated each of those wickets like it was his first ever.

It is pretty common that a spinner spends a few runs to be in the reckoning for the wickets, but Tahir maintained a tight economy. He bowled over 60 overs in the tournament and ensured his team was in the hunt for the title even as they put up ordinary shows with the bat on occasions.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/04/Shreyas-Gopal-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-336804" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Shreyas-Gopal-1.jpg" alt="Shreyas Gopal" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-336804" class="wp-caption-text">Shreyas Gopal. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Karnataka continues to shower more talents onto the national stage and the biggest contribution from that state to the IPL this season has to be Shreyas Gopal. The only Rajasthan Royals&#8217; representative in this XI, Gopal was pretty astounding with his leg-spin and the consistency he has shown makes him a contender for a spot in the national team.

Gopal a conventional leg-spinner with no mystery around him was still effective even against the best. He completed a double of dismissing <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/five-reasons-why-rohit-sharma-is-a-better-captain-than-virat-kohli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virat Kohli</a> and AB de Villiers against RCB this season in home and away fixtures, a feat he will never forget. The 25-year-old finished as the fourth highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 20 scalps to his name at an average of 17.35.

He did come in handy with the bat on a couple of occasions, but it&#8217;s his stupendous bowling effort that wins him a place in this XI.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/04/Kagiso-Rabada-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-337049" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Kagiso-Rabada-2.jpg" alt="Kagiso Rabada" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337049" class="wp-caption-text">Kagiso Rabada. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Kagiso Rabada, running in, rather charging in his run-up at a batsman is perhaps one of the best sights in world cricket at the moment. Delhi Capitals didn&#8217;t have a robust bowling attack this season, but he made it look line one. One of the most prosperous bowlers in the world at the moment, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/icc-world-cup-2019-kagiso-rabada-set-to-be-fit-for-the-mega-event-dale-steyn-doubtful/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kagiso Rabada</a>&#8216;s second season in the Indian Premier League turned out to be a sensational one.

It got to such a point when it appeared like he was picking wickets for fun, just the way David Warner collected fifty-plus scores with the bat. His consistency was a treat to witness for the Delhi fans who would now be hoping for him to a huge star in the coming seasons.

Rabada missed landing the Purple Cap on his head by a whisker and that despite his season-ending abruptly with 25 wickets in 12 games as he had to report back to the national team after an injury scare. His Proteas teammate Imran Tahir took the honours instead as the 23-year-old finished second best.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2019/05/Jasprit-Bumrah.jpg"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-338278" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Jasprit-Bumrah.jpg" alt="Jasprit Bumrah" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-338278" class="wp-caption-text">Jasprit Bumrah. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption>

When the chips are down and stakes are high, give the ball to <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-2019-yuvraj-singh-doesnt-prefer-playing-jasprit-bumrah-in-the-nets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jasprit Bumrah</a> and he will get you something out of nothing. Time and again, the remarkable consistency with which he has been pulling off miracles with the ball is in a way reminiscent of what Kohli does with the bat. His 2/14 spell in 4 overs in the final against the Chennai Super Kings will go down as one of the finest in IPL history.

Bumrah the very best in the business at least in white ball cricket, enhanced his reputation further this season as he didn&#8217;t give the batsmen an inch even as most other bowlers were treated with dismay. MI skipper Rohit Sharma used Bumrah as the Ace he had in his pack and the bowler won him all the bets.

The pacer picked up 19 wickets this edition at an average just over 21, but most importantly, his economy of 6.63 helped his team be the champions for the fourth time in the history.

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All we can say is it was a privilege to witness something as epic in the 2019 edition of the IPL and here's a look back at the best XI of this tournament.

IPL 2019: Best XI of the tournament

Indian Premier League (IPL 2019): Best XI of the tournament - most runs, most wickets, purple cap, orange cap, best captain, combined xi of the IPL season,

IPL 2019: Best XI of the tournament

All we can say is it was a privilege to witness something as epic in the 2019 edition of the IPL and here's a look back at the best XI of this tournament.

8. Imran Tahir (Chennai Super Kings)