Predicting top 5 run-scorers of IPL 2020 in UAE

Following the postponement of the T20 Cricket World Cup, the BCCI is clear to host the IPL later this year. The IPL was scheduled to begin at March 29th but because of the ongoing global pandemic, the tournament had to be postponed. Although the dates of the money-minting T20 extravaganza are yet to be announced, it is reported that the tournament will begin on 26th September and the final will be played during the first or second week of November.

One thing that is clear is that the tournament will be hosted in UAE. This step has to be taken because some of the major Indian cities such as Mumbai and Pune are marked as red zones amid COVID-19 pandemic. UAE, on the other hand, is largely safe from the novel coronavirus.

Moreover, UAE has hosted the IPL earlier in 2014 when general elections were held in India. The only difference this time will be that UAE will have the privilege to host the entire tournament, unlike in 2014 when they hosted only the first half of the tournament.

T20 is such a format where batsmen are very important. You can have the best bowler in the world but he can only bowl 20 per cent of the overs. If you have one or two of the best batsmen in the world, they can bat the entire innings if they are in form and take the match completely away from the opponents. Although this doesn’t work always, as bowlers are as important as batsmen. But, no side has won the IPL with a weak batting line up.

Certain teams such as KXIP benefited due to the conditions in UAE as Australia maverick Glenn Maxwell played brilliantly in those conditions. Overseas stars will prefer playing on the UAE pitches which don’t offer much help to the spinners. Indian players, on the hand, might find it slightly hard as they have historically been performing better on home soil. On that note, let’s look at five players who can emerge as top run-getters in the cash-rich league this year.

Here’s the list comprising five batsmen:

1. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is the all-time top scorer in the IPL. He has played 16 matches less than Raina, who is on second place with 5368 runs. Kohli has scored 5412 runs in 177 matches and he is one of the few players in IPL to have represented only one team– Royal Challengers Bangalore– since the inception of the tournament. Kohli will look to bounce back this season after scoring 464 runs last season, which is average by his standards.

Kohli is an absolute run-machine. He has more than 20,000 runs for India in all formats of the game including 70 centuries. Kohli is the most feared batsman in the world. He has the ability to make any target seem achievable and that quality of his makes him stand out when compared to others. He is currently ranked 1, 2 and 10 in ODI, Test and T20Is respectively. Of his 5412 runs in the IPL, 5 have been centuries which is just 1 short of the record held by his former teammate Chris Gayle.

Kohli has often found himself acting as a lone warrior or at-most being involved in a two-man show for RCB in the IPL. This is largely due to the fact that the franchise has had its long-lasting issues when it comes to bowling. Moreover, their lower middle order hasn’t been able to finish games, which puts a lot of pressure on Kohli and AB De Villiers.

The closest RCB have ever come to winning the IPL title was in 2016 when they lost in the final to SRH. That season, King Kohli scored 973 runs which obviously won him the Orange Cap. This included 4 fantastic centuries and RCB will hope he has another season to remember.