IPL 2022: Aakash Chopra picks his team of the tournament, names Hardik Pandya captain

The IPL 2022 found its deserving winner in Gujarat Titans who comfortably overcame the Rajasthan Royals in a one-sided final in their backyard at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 29. The team was outstandingly led from the front by star all-rounder Hardik Pandya as they topped the league standings and then went on to register convincing wins in the knockouts to lift the trophy.

Lately, Aakash Chopra has come forward and picked his IPL 2022 team for the tournament. The former Test opener named Hardik as captain. Justifying the same, Chopra went on to say that not only did the Baroda cricketer lead well but also proved his mettle with his all-round abilities by his powerful performances in the middle-order and bowling a match-winning spell in the final.

Hardik Pandya captained diligently: Aakash Chopra

“When you want to name a captain for the Indian team, then look at me, he (Hardik Pandya) has never lost a final huh! Of course, he had won the four of them as a player and the fifth one was as a captain, but as a captain, it is the way in which he has captained the side. Batted at number four, captained diligently, took great care of this team, made a hand combining all five fingers and bowled well after that, picked up wickets”, said Aakash Chopra while analyzing Pandya’s performance on his official Twitter handle.

“He broke the back of the opposition in the final. Hardik Pandya has been absolutely sensational”, he added.

Pandya finished the tournament with 487 runs and 8 wickets from 15 matches. His figures of 3/17 at an impressive economy rate of 4.2 completely derailed Rajasthan’s innings and they could only manage to post 130/9 on the board. Apart from Hardik, Orange Cap winner Jos Buttler, Purple Cap winner Yuzvendra Chahal, and GT’s middle-order superstar David Miller also find a place in Chopra’s XI.

Aakash Chopra’s IPL 2022 Team of the tournament

Jos Buttler (wk), KL Rahul, Rahul Tripathi, Hardik Pandya (c), Liam Livingstone, David Miller, Andre Russell, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.