IPL 2020: Harsha Bhogle picks his best XI of the tournament

Renowned sports journalist Harsha Bhogle has picked his best XI of the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). To start with, he named KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan as the openers. Rahul was the Orange Cap holder with 670 runs and a top score of an unbeaten 132 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). His team Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) couldn’t make the playoffs.

Dhawan, on the other hand, became the first Indian batter with back to back tons in the cash-rich league. He also helped the Delhi Capitals (DC) make the final where they lost to the Mumbai Indians (MI). Talking about MI, Bhogle went for Suryakumar Yadav at number three. Yadav played some superlative knocks in the middle-order, playing for the Mumbai-based franchise.

At number four, Bhogle went for RCB’s AB de Villiers, who was arguably the standout batter for the Challengers in the tournament. In the middle-order, he went for Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard. Both the batters turned up with some useful cameos lower down the order. Bhogle made his picks while speaking on Cricbuzz Live.

Harsha Bhogle leaves out Kagiso Rabada

Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami formed Bhogle’s eleven. Archer, de facto, got the Most Valuable Player award. Not only did he pick up wickets, but he also managed to turn up with some lusty blows in the death overs. Archer’s team floundered as the Rajasthan Royals (RR) ended at the bottom of the points table after starting the tournament with two wins in Sharjah.

However, Bhogle didn’t pick the Capitals’ Kagiso Rabada, who became the Purple Cap holder with 29 wickets from 16 matches. Shami was impressive for the Punjab team. Among the spinners, he picked Yuzvendra Chahal and Rashid Khan, who both managed to shine for their respective teams.

Both their teams made the playoffs but failed to reach the final. Among the spinners, the duo of Rashid and Chahal were the most successful, to say the least.

Here’s the best XI:

KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers (wk), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Jofra Archer, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal