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Former England captain Nasser Hussain has named KL Rahul as captain of his IPL 2020 Team of the Tournament which includes five foreign players.
Hussain, who was an expert for Sky Sport on ‘The IPL Cricket Show’, picked most players from the champion side Mumbai Indians (MI). But, in his team, Nasser did not include Rohit Sharma probably because the MI captain had not scored enough runs to deserve a place in the final XI.
For the openers’ slots, the cricketer-turned commentator wanted to pick MI opener Quinton de Kock (503 runs), but the Proteas star was edged out by KL Rahul (670 runs) and Shikhar Dhawan (618 runs), with the two Indian stalwarts racking up the scores in stylish fashion.
“It’s not just the runs they get. These two openers left hand and right hand, are so pleasing on the eye. T20 is about muscle and hitting the ball, but it is also about stroking the ball and Dhawan and Rahul had magnificent tournaments.
“I think he (Rahul) is one of the best white-ball players going at the moment. He is a good lesson for any young boy or girl about how to stroke a cricket ball and not over-hit it. Rahul strokes it beautifully,” Hussain said during the show.
At number 3 and 4, the 52-year-old went with Surya Kumar Yadav (480 runs) and Ishan Kishan (516 runs). Both the batsmen were the top two leading run-scorers of the tournament among uncapped players.
RCB superstar AB de Villiers (454 runs) came in next and was also named the wicket-keeper of the team. ABD was magnificent with the bat and also kept wickets for RCB in IPL 2020.
MI all-rounder Hardik Pandya was slotted at number 6 in Hussain’s team of the season. Though Pandya did not bowl a single delivery this year but was destructive with the bat and scored 281 runs in 14 games at a stellar strike rate of 179.98.
Among the bowlers, Hussain picked four top pacers in the form of Jofra Archer, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, who picked a stunning 102 wickets between them combined.
Wrist spinner Rashid Khan, who picked 20 wickets in 16 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), was the lone spinner in Hussain’s best XI.
Nasser Hussain’s IPL 2020 Team of the Tournament:
KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, AB de Villiers (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jofra Archer, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
