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The fourteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was postponed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the COVID-19 breached the bio bubble of franchises and infected the players along with support staff members.
As many as 29 matches were played in this year’s edition before it was deferred. Even in the first half, IPL 2021 was able to entertain the fans courtesy of some brilliant performances by players of various teams.
Like every season, the cricket experts give their views concerning who played better and who failed to impress. The trend has been continued, although the difference is that only 29 matches are being considered this time around.
Following the bandwagon, former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has come up with his ‘Best XI of IPL 2021’. On his YouTube channel, Hogg began the proceedings with Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan from Delhi Capitals (DC) as his openers.
Both Shaw and Dhawan were quite dominant in the league. While Shikhar was the highest run-scorer with 380 runs, Shaw was the fourth-highest run-getter with 308 runs.
For the following position, Hogg picked Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson. Samson started the season pretty well, scoring 277 runs in seven matches at an average of 46.17, including a tremendous century. The Aussie named Rishabh Pant to bat at number 4 and made him the captain of his side.
“I’ve been very impressed with the way that Rishabh Pant has captained. So, I’m going to reward him by making him captain of my team. I’ve just been very impressed with that that he’s controlled his emotions and batted to the situation for the Delhi Capitals,” said Hogg.
Hogg picked Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB) crisis man AB de Villiers, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran for number five, six and seven, positions respectively.
Hogg picked two pacers and as many spinners in the bowling department. The 50-year-old went with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) star Rashid Khan and Mumbai Indians (MI) leggie Rahul Chahar for specialist spinners. Both Rashid and Chahar were the highest wicket-takers for their respective sides. He took 11 scalps from 7 matches and 10 wickets from as many games.
Among the fast bowlers, Hogg named Avesh Khan and Jasprit Bumrah. Avesh impressed everyone with his splendid performance. He was the second-highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps in eight matches. On the other hand, Bumrah picked up six wickets in seven games.
Brad Hogg’s best IPL 2021 XI:
Rishabh Pant (c, wk), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson, AB de Villiers, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Rashid Khan, Rahul Chahar, Avesh Khan, Jasprit Bumrah.
