With just a few hours left for the first ball of the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League being bowled, former English skipper Michael Vaughan has predicted his orange cap and purple cap winners. He had earlier predicted that Royal Challengers Bangalore will finish their tag as the perennial underachievers of the tournament and win their first title.
Michael Vaughan picked Rishabh Pant as his leading run scorer of the tournament while he picked the chinaman bowler from Kolkata Knight Riders, Kuldeep Yadav. Both Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav are two special young talents in the circuit who has the ability to change the complexion of the game either way.
Michael Vaughan predicted the leading run scorer and wicket taker of the tournament
Taking to his Twitter handle, Vaughan wrote, “#NoBrainer … @RishabPant777 leading scorer … @imkuldeep18 leading Wicket-taker … @RCBTweets to win it !!!!!. Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant were star performers for their respective franchise last year. Rishabh Pant was the 2nd highest run scorer last year as he finished with 684 runs in the group stage of the tournament.
He took the tournament by storm after his sensational knock of 128 of a mere 63 deliveries. During that knock, he tormented the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling line-up. In the final over of Delhi Daredevils’ innings, Pant smashed 28 runs which included switch hits, inventive and ramp shots. It was a sheer exhibition of strokeplay. Had Delhi Daredevils finished in the Top 4, Pant would have definitely finished No 1.
Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, rose into the limelight after his stellar performance for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League 3 years ago. Since then there has been no looking back for Kuldeep. He has been an integral part of KKR squad and was one of their leading wicket-takers last year. The left-arm chinaman bowler will look to make an impact in the middle overs and set himself on track prior to the 2019 World Cup.
The tournament begins today with defending champions Chennai Super Kings fighting it out against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It will be a make or break season for Bangalore who hasn’t won the championship yet. Both captains MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli will be eager to come out on the field and give their best.