Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has picked his team of the recently concluded tournament – IPL 2024. However, he picked batters based on the positions they batted this season and included a maximum of four overseas players in the XI as well. Notably, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the final in Chennai on Sunday, May 26, to clinch their third IPL title as well. While Virat Kohli won the Orange Cap as the highest runscorer, Harshal Patel won the Purple Cap as the top wicket-taker as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “There is no doubt about one person being in this team, that’s Sunil Narine. In batting, he scored runs, which includes a century. Consistency’s name became Sunil Narine in the first half of the tournament and he has bowled strongly as well. I think Sunil Narine will be there in all teams. His partner will be India’s Virat Kohli. Firstly, he is the Orange Cap winner, and secondly, how well he has played. You can check the strike rate, runs, century, quality, intent, passion or aggression – it was Kohli’s Virat season this year.”
Aakash Chopra also chose the Rajasthan Royals duo of Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag for the No. 3 and No. 4 positions respectively.
“I have given the No. 3 spot to Sanju Samson. He was batting at No. 3 and scored a lot of runs. One of his most consistent seasons which you discuss about and praise. Sanju Samson is also my team’s keeper. He has given match-winning performances as well. At No. 4, I have given a place to his teammate Riyan Parag. Suryakumar Yadav’s name also came to my mind here but I am going with Riyan. He has given match-winning performances and has played extremely well as an uncapped Indian. It was his breakthrough season,” he further added.
Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra also completed his top six by picking Shivam Dube and Nicholas Pooran in the team as well. Pooran smashed 499 runs which came at a strike rate of 178.21 in 14 innings in IPL 2024. However, Klaasen scored 479 runs at a slightly lower strike rate of
171.07 in 15 hits this season as well.
“I am keeping Shivam Dube at No. 5. There were discussions about whether he should be kept, whether Venkatesh Iyer or Nitish Reddy’s name can come here. I am going with Shivam Dube because he has batted at a different level. Till the time he wasn’t selected for India, he was destroying the opposition,” he explained.”After that, I have Nicholas Pooran. It could have been Pooran or Heinrich Klaasen but I have gone towards Pooran because firstly, I get a left-hander. His batting has been incredible, that is true for Heinrich Klaasen as well but I am still going with Nicholas Pooran.”
However, Aakash Chopra picked Andre Russell as a seam-bowling all-rounder and Pat Cummins as the captain of this hypothetical XI.
“Andre Russell is in my side. He is my third overseas player. He started hitting sixes from the start and thrashed Hyderabad in the first match. After that, he scored important runs and even bowled and fielded very well this time. I don’t remember when we had seen such a fit Andre Russell last time. Now comes the captain of the tournament. Although Shreyas Iyer lifted the trophy for sure and his captaincy was also very good, I am going with Pat Cummins. I liked Pat Cummins’ captaincy a lot. I will put my hand up and say that I didn’t have 100% confidence but he did very well. Pat Cummins is the captain of my team,” he again added.
However, he also chose Harshit Rana and Jasprit Bumrah as the two specialist Indian pacers in his playing XI alongside Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine in the spin-bowling department. He also named Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc and Abhishek Sharma as the four reserves as well.
“Harshit Rana is in my team – the best uncapped Indian fast bowler. Whoever was responsible for banning him should also see others’ celebrations and I feel you were wronged. You were trolled wrongly as well. It wasn’t a no-ball when Virat Kohli got out to your ball. Important matches, important performances – he has been very good.It’s obvious Boom Boom has to be there because the best fast bowler in this league was not anybody else but Jasprit Bumrah. He had an economy of 6.5 for the entire season where people were going for 10 or 11. We clap for anyone who goes at 9 or 9.5, and this guy picked up wickets and had an economy of 6.5,” he again shared.
“Last but not the least, Varun Chakaravarthy is a part of my team because he picked up wickets and was extremely accurate. He bowled in difficult phases and trapped different batters with different strategies. There might have been an odd match where he was hit a lot, or else he has been very good,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
