IPL 2020: Best stat-padders XI of the tournament

9. Tom Curran

Ben Stokes’ unavailability at the early phase of Rajasthan’s campaign allowed Tom, the eldest Curran sibling, to slot into the playing XI as a like-for-like replacement. The Surrey all-rounder had previously shown good form in the international arena- both with the bat and the ball; which allowed the RR think-tank to put a lot of faith in him.

While Tom did come up with some clinical performances, much like his team, his purple patch only came good in a few patches, and this inconsistency really hurt his team.

3 wickets from 5 matches aren’t particularly impressive stats; but the more pressing issue here is at what expense (bowling average of 69.33, economy rate of 11.44) they were claimed. RR would’ve clearly hoped for a much better showing from their gun overseas death-bowler.

Batting-wise, too; Curran’s lusty blows only arrived when his team had already slipped out of the match. His unbeaten 36-ball-54 against KKR in a 37-run defeat illustrates that point well. There’s an obvious aspect of beefed-up figures to Curran’s performances this season, which makes him perfect for a spot in this XI.