Ahead of the grand finale between defending champion Mumbai Indians and rookies Delhi Capitals in Dubai on Tuesday, former Australian off-roader Tom Moody decided to choose his 2020 IPL XI based on performances throughout the season.
Moody took into account the IPL rules of a maximum of four foreign cricketers in an XI and selected a team that would take a beating.
The 1999 World Cup winner chose this year’s IPL’s top two race scorers, KL Rahul of KXIP and Shikhar Dhawan of Delhi Capitals, as the starters for his team.
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Both Rahul and Dhawan are in the top half of the IPL 2020 Orange Cap list. Dhawan (603) needs 68 more runs in the final against the Mumbai Indians to defeat Rahul, who has scored 670 runs in just 14 games.
Moody made a big decision by not picking Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli as his number 3 hitter and went ahead with Suryakumar Yadav of the Mumbai Indians, who has scored 461 runs in 15 games. While Kohli has scored 7 more runs than Yadav with a better average, the IM right-hander has a much better hit rate of 148.23 compared to Kohli’s 121.35.
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The great RCB, AB de Villiers, however, was chosen as number 4 by Moody. RCB was eliminated from the Eliminator, but De Villiers had played an important role in helping them qualify for the playoffs by scoring 454 runs with a strike rate of 158.74.
There was no room for SRH captain David Warner, who has scored 548 runs in 16 games and is the third-highest run scorer this season.
Moody chose IM lefty Ishan Kishan and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Rahul Tewatia as their No. 5 and 6. Both youngsters have had an excellent season for their respective franchises.
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Moody chose Sunrisers Hyderabad leg spinner Rashid Khan as their number 7. Rashid has chosen 20 wickets in 16 matches and has the best economy rating (5.37) among the top 10 bowlers of IPL 2020.
The other leggie from Moody’s IPL XI was Yuzvendra Chahal from RCB. He collected 21 wickets in 15 games and was one of the main RCB forces in the bowling department.
Moody chose three fast bowlers, who can also play Yorkers when they die. He entered with current Purple Cap holder Kagiso Rabada (29 wickets), runner-up Jasprit Bumrah (27) and Jofra Archer of Rajasthan Royals (20 wickets).
Tom Moody IPL 2020 XI: 1. S Dhawan – DC 2. KL Rahul – KXIP 3. S Yadav – MI 4. ABD * – RCB 5. I Kishan – MI 6. R Tewatia – RR 7. R Khan * – SRH 8. J Archer * – RR 9. K Rabada * – DC 10. Y Chahal – RCB 11. J Bumrah – MI
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