Nasser Hussain announces his IPL 2020 team of the tournament

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has announced his Team of the Tournament for the just-concluded IPL 2020. The latest edition of the cash-rich league came to an end on Tuesday with the final between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals. Mumbai Indians clinched the title by beating the first-time finalists by five wickets in Dubai.

Mumbai Indians, who were playing their sixth final and fifth in eight years, faced little difficulty in seeing off Delhi. After restricting the Shreyas Iyer-led side to 156 for 7, the Rohit Sharma-led side chase down the total with more than an over remaining. Rohit led from the front and top-scored in the final, scoring a fine 68.

Nasser Hussain’s Team of the Tournament:

Nasser Hussain has compiled a star-studded lineup for his IPL 2020 team of the tournament. For the openers’ slots, he has picked Delhi Capitals’ Shikhar Dhawan and Kings XI Punjab’s KL Rahul. Rahul and Dhawan finished IPL 2020 as the highest and second-highest run-scorer respectively. Nasser picked the team for Sky Sports.

“It’s not just the runs they get,” Hussain said of his openers. “These two openers are so pleasing on the eye. T20 is about muscle and hitting the ball but it’s also about stroking the ball and Dhawan and Rahul had magnificent tournaments.

“Rahul, I think, is one of the best white-ball players going at the moment. He is a good lesson for any young boy or girl about how to stroke a cricket ball and not over-hit it. Rahul strokes it beautifully,” he added.

At number three, he picked Mumbai Indians’ Suryakumar Yadav who scored 480 runs. For the next two batting spots, the former cricketer picked Mumbai Indians’ Ishan Kishan and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s AB de Villiers. Kishan scored 516 runs this season while de Villiers finished IPL 2020 with 454 runs.

For the sixth spot, Hussain picked Mumbai’s Hardik Pandya who slammed 281 runs at a strike-rate of almost 180 before picking Rajasthan Royals’ Jofra Archer as the all-rounder. Archer, who was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the season, took 20 wickets and impressed with his hitting abilities that saw him clobber 10 sixes.

In the bowling department, the former England star went with three pacers – Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult – and a sole spinner in the form of Rashid Khan. All the bowlers picked up 20 or more wickets this season.

Here is Nasser Hussain’s IPL 2020 Team of the Tournament:

KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, AB de Villiers (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jofra Archer, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult