The Indian Premier League 2020 has reached the business end and it will be Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians who will be taking on Delhi Capitals in the first Qualifier of the season on Thursday. The IPL 2020 has seen sensational performances from the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, and Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul - who both have scored hundreds in the season. Rahul, in fact, has been the leading run-getter in the tournament, scoring 670 runs in 14 matches. But while Dhawan found a place in former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg’s best XI of the league phase, KL Rahul missed out. (IPL 2020 Full Coverage)
Also not making it to the list were Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, who missed a few games due to injury and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli, who has scored 460 runs in 14 games this season
“First up off the bat is Shikhar Dhawan. What a wonderful series he is having this year. He has got a strike-rate of over 146 and a great average of 47 and he has got a couple of centuries as well,” Hogg said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“Opening the batting with him is Mayank Agarwal. I just love the way that he has played for Kings XI Punjab. If it wasn’t for him, they would have not been even close to getting to the playoffs. He was dynamite opening the batting for them.
“At No. 3, it is Suryakumar Yadav from the Mumbai Indians. I have just loved the way he has gone about his business. Got a brilliant strike-rate, very versatile, bowlers find it hard to set fields to him. So he is my No. 3. The first overseas player that I have got for you in this team is coming in at No. 4. It is AB de Villiers from RCB. His contributions for his team in the middle order have been absolutely sensational. If it wasn’t for him, RCB wouldn’t have been in the top four,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“At No. 3, it is Suryakumar Yadav from the Mumbai Indians. I have just loved the way he has gone about his business. Got a brilliant strike-rate, very versatile, bowlers find it hard to set fields to him. So he is my No. 3. The first overseas player that I have got for you in this team is coming in at No. 4. It is AB de Villiers from RCB. His contributions for his team in the middle order have been absolutely sensational. If it wasn’t for him, RCB wouldn’t have been in the top four,” he added.
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“Coming in at No.5, now he is from the Kolkata Knight Riders. He took over the captaincy of KKR and he is captaining this team. It’s Eoin Morgan. He has played some cameo innings for KKR and kept them alive. At No. 6, this is a big one. I hope he could bowl, he is a great fielder. He is very athletic. He is an entertainer. It is Hardik Pandya from the Mumbai Indians. Strike rate of over 200 and that is what you want from your No. 6,” Hogg further said.
“At No.7, its Jofra Archer. 20 wickets and he has got a strike rate of 184 with the bat. He has played a couple of cameos and held the Rajasthan Royals together. Coming in at No.8 is Rashid Khan. You can’t keep him out. Yes he can come in and play a couple of cameo innings with the bat. But really he has kept Sunrisers Hyderabad in the competition with the wickets that he has taken and the pressure that he has created with the ball,” he added.
“Now the final three. The next one I have got for you is Mohammed Shami. Great wicket-taking ability, not really happy with his economy rate but you can’t have the cake and eat it too. So I am happy with him getting wickets with the new ball. He is sensational with a bit of reverse swing at the end of the innings. He is another reason why KXIP were searching a place in the playoffs till the very end,” Hogg elaborated.
“At No.10 is Jasprit Bumrah. You can bowl him at any phase and he’ll bowl yorkers, bouncers, and he can swing the ball, what more can I say, you don’t really need to talk much about it. And finally is Chahal from RCB, 20 wickets at 19.05 and a good economy rate of 7.16,” he signed off.
Hogg explained that he has not included KL Rahul in the squad because of his low strike rate. He also reserved a special mention for RCB batsman Devdutt Padikkal.
Brad Hogg’s best XI of IPL 2020 league stage: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers, Eoin Morgan, Hardik Pandya, Jofra Archer, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.