Harsha Bhogle, the veteran cricket commentator, has picked his team of the tournament from Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 after it concluded with Mumbai Indians emerging victorious for the fifth time, so far.

Harsha Bhogle started the proceedings by naming openers in the form of KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan, who were first and second respectively among leading run-scorers.

Harsha Bhogle. Image Credit: Getty Images.

Harsha Bhogle Names KL Rahul And Shikhar Dhawan As Openers

Leading Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for the first time, KL Rahul ruled batting charts despite his team being eliminated from playoffs to grab the Orange Cap by scoring maximum runs in the thirteenth season of the cash-rich league. In 14 games, the 28-year-old accumulated 670 runs at a noteworthy average of 55.83. He also smashed five half-centuries and a hundred.

Shikhar Dhawan, on the other hand, finished IPL 2020 as the second-highest run-scorer. As an opener of Delhi Capitals (DC) who reached IPL final for the first time, the left-handed southpaw did an outstanding job by taking his side to their first-ever IPL final. Shikhar Dhawan scored 618 runs in 17 matches with four fifties and two consecutive centuries, which was the first-ever instance.

KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Harsha Bhogle then named Suryakumar Yadav as his number three batsman. The Pune-born player impressed everyone with his consistency in IPL by amassing 480 runs in 16 games at an impressive strike-rate of 145 averaging 40, scoring above 400 in the last three editions.

The 59-year-old commentator went with RCB’s mainstay AB de Villiers as his wicket-keeper batsman. AB De Villiers had continued his form with the bat as he clubbed 454 runs in 15 matches including five dazzling half-centuries at a strike rate of about 160.

He selected the Mumbai Indians pair of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya as his team’s finishers. The former had a mind-boggling strike-rate of 191.42 and topped the chart in best batting strike-rate of IPL 2020. Hardik Pandya who played as a batsman only and didn’t bowl also enjoyed a good season as he ended IPL 2020 as third on the list of best strike-rates (178.98).

Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah To Lead Bowling Attack In Harsha Bhogle’s XI

Among bowlers, Harsha Bhogle picked Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah as lead seamers along with Mohammed Shami. Jasprit Bumrah ended IPL 2020 as second-highest wicket-taker behind Delhi’s Kagiso Rabada. The MI speedster bagged 27 wickets in 15 matches averaging a meagre 14.96 with 4/14 being his best figures.

At the same time, Most Valuable Player Jofra Archer and Mohammed Shami were the leading wicket-takers for their respective teams. Both the bowlers picked up 20 scalps in 14 games.

Interestingly, Harsha Bhogle did not include ‘Purple Cap’ winner leading wicket-taker Kagiso Rabada in his team of the tournament. In 17 games, Kagiso Rabada picked up 30 wickets at an average of 18.26 with 4/24 being his best.

Harsha Bhogle selected both Rashid Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal as two spinners in his XI. Both of them were the most successful spinners in IPL 2020. While the latter claimed 21 wickets in 15 games averaging 19.28, Rashid Khan bagged 20 scalps in 16 matches averaging 17.2. The former was the most economical bowler too.