Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20: Best XI of the tournament

Rohan Kadam (Karnataka)

Such was the dominance of Karnataka’s batsmen in Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul and Manish Pandey, that you can be excused somewhat for not talking much about Rohan Kadam. But, that didn’t let him not do what he has been doing for consecutive seasons now: score a lot of runs at a whirlwind pace.

Kadam was the leading run-scorer in Karnataka’s title-winning heist last season. The swashbuckling batsman racked up 536 runs in 12 innings at a strike-rate of close to 130. But, unfortunately for Kadam, the tournament was held after the IPL auction which meant there was no talent scout to look at the right-hander’s exploits.

So, what does Rohan do? He decided to do it all over again. Kadam emerged as the bedrock of Karnataka’s middle-order and in 7 innings, amassed 258 runs at an average of 43 and a strike-rate of 131.63 with the help of three half-centuries. Kadam scored a crucial 35 off 28 balls in the final where he stroked some lusty blows to take the pressure off Pandey at the other end. So, IPL scouts, are you watching? There is a run-machine here who deserves to get an IPL ticket.