Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20: Best XI of the tournament

After a set of controversial knock-out games, the Vijay Hazare Trophy once again looked towards the VJD method to determine the result in the final and that saw Karnataka win the game by 60 runs. The south-Indian side triumphed for the fourth time in the tournament history and were thoroughly ahead in all departments in comparison to their opponents. Tamil Nadu cruised through the group stages, winning all their 9 games in the Elite Group C and remained unbeaten till they met Karnataka in the final. It turned out to be a major disappointment for Dinesh Karthik and his troops to come so close yet so far, but there are a number of positives to take out for the sides. Here’s a small tribute to all the exceptional individual performances this edition by throwing light on the best XI of the tournament. 1. KL Rahul – wicketkeeper (Karnataka) KL Rahul. (Photo Source: Twitter) Despite having a decent World Cup campaign in the absence of the first-choice opener Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul turned up big time in the Vijay Hazare trophy and announced to the world he’s not done yet. The 27-year-old scored runs consistently alongside his partner in crime Devdutt Padikkal and Manish Pandey as they churned out a stupendous title-winning campaign. Rahul chipped in with 598 runs in 11 innings at an average of 66.44 and a strike-rate just in excess of 80. In most of his knocks, he took the backseat and provided solid platforms for the likes of Padikkal and Manish Pandey to get the side to a big total. His campaign also included one century against Kerala and five half-centuries. The wicket-keeper batsman also had a decent time behind the stumps, solidifying his claim for the keeper-batsman position in the limited-overs, which is left vacant with the absence of MS Dhoni. If he can keep going this way, it won’t be long before he will be India’s first-choice keeper-batsman ahead of Rishabh Pant. 2. Yashashvi Jaiswal (Mumbai) Yashasvi Jaiswal. (Photo Source: Twitter) The youngster who caught more attention than any other in this tournament, Yashashvi Jaiswal has been scoring runs for fun for Mumbai. The 17-year-old opened the innings alongside senior player Aditya Tare and the duo did a fabulous job pretty much every game. Despite not hogging a lot of limelight in the first few rounds of the tournament, once Yashashvi Jaiswal scored that stupendous double century against Jharkhand, becoming the youngest in List-A history to do so. He went on to score another brilliant hundred against Kerala and just when things were going fabulously against Chhattisgarh in the quarter-finals, rain-interrupted and the dream was diminished. He piled up 564 runs in 6 innings at an average in excess of 104 and also maintained an impressive strike-rate of 104.05. The youngster is highly likely to represent the country in the upcoming U19 World Cup in South Africa. 3. Devdutt Padikkal Devdutt Padikkal. (Photo Source: Twitter) One of the most attractive players of the tournament, Devdutt Padikkal had a spectacular outing and finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer. The 19-year-old scored big runs pretty much every game and formed a sensational opening stand with KL Rahul. The stylish left-handed batsman scored just 11 runs in the final, but it was enough for him to finish above Abhinav Mukund as the highest run-scorer. He registered a total of 609 runs, bagging 2 hundreds and five half-centuries. The youngster was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore last season. The Royal Challengers have been struggling to find a good opener ever since they lost KL Rahul and Chris Gayle in 2018 and this could perhaps be a great few months for the teenage sensation. 4. Rahul Dalal (Arunachal Pradesh) Rahul Dalal. (Photo Source: Twitter) After representing Haryana for a few seasons, Rahul Dalal moved to Arunachal Pradesh and had a sensational outing with the bat. The 27-year-old from Faridabad was instrumental in keeping Arunachal Pradesh alive in most games, but they could only manage two wins in the Plate group. He smashed 515 runs in 8 innings, registering six half-centuries in the process. Despite not converting one of these half-centuries to a three-figure score, he managed to muster runs at an average of 85 and a strike-rate just under 100. His batting has attracted a lot of attention and some franchises could turn to him when the auction happens in December in Kolkata. After all the years of struggle and hard work, Dalal is finally finding his feet and scoring good amount of runs to stay in contention. 5. Baba Aparajith (Tamil Nadu) Baba Aparajith. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Baba Aparajith first was noticed in the U19 World Cup in 2012, where they won the trophy comfortably under the leadership of Unmukt Chand. It took some time for him to really hog better limelight and it finally happened this season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He looked at his fluent best throughout the tournament and played an instrumental role in helping Tamil Nadu win all their group matches. He found a groove that the bowlers found difficult to cope with and smashed home 598 runs in 12 innings, at an average of 66.44. He scored one century against Railways in a tricky run chase besides six half-centuries. Baba Aparajith has been warming the bench in the last few seasons of the IPL and perhaps this could be a game-changing year for the 25-year-old if he gets going in the Ranji Trophy as well. 6. Manish Pandey – Captain (Karnataka) Manish Pandey. (Photo Source: Twitter) Manish Pandey has been having a great time in recent months as a captain and he capped it off with another trophy to his cabinet. After leading the side to a successful Syed Mushtaq Ali campaign earlier this year, he made it two in two for Karnataka with the big one, the Ranji Trophy, on the horizon. He led Karnataka stupendously from the front and scored invaluable runs coming down in the order. He played the role of a finisher in most games and did the job beautifully, making a huge statement to the national selectors. He piled up 525 runs at an average in excess of 100 and a strike-rate of 108.02. It has been a memorable few months for the Sunrisers Hyderabad cricketer, who will be keen on putting more pressure on the selectors with an impressive performance in the Ranji Trophy. 7. Nitish Rana (Delhi) Nitish Rana of KKR. (Photo Source: Twitter) This could come as a bit of a surprise for some, but Nitish Rana had a brilliant all-round campaign this edition for Delhi. The 25-year-old who represents the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL was Delhi’s highest run-scorer and highest wicket-taker in what turned out to be a decent edition for them. He picked up 12 wickets with the ball and also piled up 311 runs with the bat at an average just in excess of 50. Delhi finished third in the amalgamated group A & B table but lost the quarter-final to a highly spirited Gujarat side. Not many results went in favor of him, but he made the most of the chances he had. He wasn’t at his attacking best in the tournament and was working on calculated risk. He will next feature in the Deodhar Trophy followed by the Ranji Trophy, where he will be keen on delivering some big performances and hog the limelight of the selectors. 8. Abhimanyu Mithun (Karnataka) Abhimanyu Mithun. (Photo Source: Twitter) What can be a better way to celebrate a birthday than to pick up a hat-trick and also win a trophy for your side? Abhimanyu Mithun had a dream 30th birthday as he registered a sensational hat-trick, dismantling Tamil Nadu. His performance set the tone for the day as Karnataka laid hands on the trophy for the fourth time in their history. Besides the hat-trick, Mithun was thoroughly impressive throughout the tournament. He picked up 20 wickets in 9 matches, at an average of 14.55. His economy too was under 4 and that is all the more impressive considering a fact that he bowled some of the toughest overs at the beginning and towards the end. In the final over of Tamil Nadu’s innings, he dismissed Shahrukh Khan, M Mohammed and Murugan Ashwin off consecutive deliveries to become the first Karnataka player in history to pick a List A hat-trick. 9. Sandeep Sharma (Punjab) Sandeep Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter) Punjab had a terrific season this time and reached the quarter-finals quite convincingly before rain gods interrupted their game against Tamil Nadu and tarnished their dreams. Despite not getting a good finish, Punjab’s Sandeep Sharma once again exhibited great quality swing bowling and had a terrific outing. He played just 8 games this season and returned with an impressive 17 wickets. With a bowling average of 14.88 and an economy of 3.81, it would be fair to say he did a great job with the new ball for Punjab and sets the tone brilliantly for him before the Ranji campaign begins. He also had an impressive strike-rate of 23.4. Sandeep Sharma was well supported by Siddarth Kaul, the duo who also represent the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. Kaul picked up 16 wickets and complimented his partner pretty well over the course of the tournament. 10. Pritam Das (Assam) Pritam Das. (Photo Source: Twitter) Without a shadow of a doubt, Pritam Das has been the most impressive bowler of this tournament. Assam lost the chance to make it to the quarter-finals by a not so huge margin and they gave a pretty good fight to the group leaders Puducherry. Despite winning 6 wins out of 9, all they could manage was a fourth-place finish. In this fine campaign for Assam, Pritam Das was the chief architect with the ball. He picked up a staggering 23 wickets in just 9 matches. He maintained a scintillating economy of 3.25 and also had a strike-rate just above 9 over the course of the tournament. He too had a good bowling partner complimenting him profusely in Rosham Alam, just the way it happened in the case of Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul. Alam picked up 20 wickets in 9 innings and he too maintained a brilliant average of 11.58. 11. Sagar Udeshi (Puducherry) Sagar Udeshi. (Photo Source: Twitter) It was a great campaign for Puducherry, who entered the quarter-finals by topping the Plate group. One of their most impressive players for this edition was the left-arm spinner Sagar Udeshi, who bowled in great channels throughout the tournament and kept things tight for the batsmen. He picked up 19 wickets in 10 games for Puducherry this season, at an average of 11.42 and an economy of 2.87. He also had an impressive strike-rate of 23.8 and picked up crucial wickets at regular intervals for the side. Puducherry’s campaign this season had very few bad moments and they won 7 out of the 9 group games courtesy Udeshi and some other flashes of individual brilliance. They, unfortunately, ran into the eventual champions Karnataka in the quarter-finals and failed to stay on the same level with them throughout the game, thus ending their campaign with a top-8 finish.

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Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20: Best XI of the tournament

Manish Pandey-led Karnataka broke Tamil Nadu's unbeaten 11-match streak and won the trophy for the fourth time on Friday.

3. Devdutt Padikkal

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