Former Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain, Shane Warne, who lifted the first trophy of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, has revealed his best XI of the 11th season.
Ahead of the IPL 2018 final clash between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Warne has named some interesting names in his XI and also left some big names in the team.
His teams start with opener Jos Buttler and KL Rahul, who were leading run-scorers for their respective teams — RR and Kings XI Punjab. Rahul scored 659 runs at 54.91, while Buttler amassed 548 runs and played a pivotal in RR’s journey to playoffs. After the openers, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain Virat Kohli has been named at number three by Warne, who is also the top scorer for his team with 530 runs at 48.18.
Coming to middle-order, Warne has named Delhi Daredevils’ star player Rishabh Pant for number four spot, followed by MS Dhoni as the wicketkeeper of the team and then there are all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Andre Russell.
Among bowler, Warne has picked Afghanistan sensation Rashid Khan alongside current Purple cap holder Andrew Tye and then chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. Rashid and Tye are the top wicket-takers of their team, while Bumrah has second most wickets for Mumbai Indians and Kuldeep has joint most for KKR.
Interestingly, Warne has left tournament’s best all-rounder Sunil Narine, who has also earned most points for Most Valuable Player award.
After revealing the team, Warne also predicted that CSK will lift the trophy this time.
Good luck to both teams in the IPL final tonight, here’s my “All star team” from this years IPL
Butler
Rahul
Virat
Pant
Dhoni
Pandya
Russell
R.Khan
Tye
Kuldeep
Bumra
Agree ? I think CSK will win !— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 27, 2018
Shane Warne’s IPL 2018 XI:
Jos Buttler, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Andre Russell, Rashid Khan, Andrew Tye, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah