IPL 2020 | Tom Moody picks Suryakumar Yadav ahead of Virat Kohli in his IPL team of the year
SKY has scored 461 runs in 15 matches
|@IPL
As this year’s IPL nears conclusion, Tom Moody posted his IPL team of the year on Twitter and the most surprising exclusion from the list was Virat Kohli, who lost his place to Suryakumar Yadav. On the back of a brilliant season, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul get picked as the openers of his team.
Ahead of the big final between defending champions Mumbai Indians and first-timers Delhi Capitals in Dubai on Tuesday, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody decided to pick his best team of IPL based on their statistics this season, with a few notable names missing from his team.
According to the norms of the IPL, Moody kept four overseas players in his XI, which include Royal Challenger Bangalore’s main man AB de Villiers, Rajasthan Royals lethal pacer Jofra Archer, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s leg-spinner Rashid Khan and Delhi Capitals’ pacer Kagiso Rabada.
The opening slot in his team is occupied by KXIP’s KL Rahul and Delhi Capitals’ Shikhar Dhawan, both of whom occupy the top 2 positions on the points table. Dhawan with 603 runs needs 68 more in the final against Mumbai Indians to topple Rahul from the top spot, who has scored 670 runs in just 14 matches. There was no place for SRH captain David Warner, who has scored 548 runs in 16 matches and is the third-highest run-scorer this season.
For the number 3 position, Moody made a surprising call by not picking Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli and instead picked Mumbai Indians’ Suryakumar Yadav, who has scored 461 runs in 15 matches. While Kohli has scored 7 runs more than Yadav at a better average, the MI right-hander has a much better strike rate of 148.23 compared to Kohli’s 121.35 and has played best of the best knocks o this IPL.
Moody went with MI left-hander Ishan Kishan and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Rahul Tewatia as his No.5 and No.6. Both the youngsters have had a terrific season for their respective franchises. At number 7 comes Rashid who has picked 20 wickets in 16 matches and has the best economy rate (5.37) among the top 10 bowlers of IPL 2020.
The other leggie in Moody’s IPL XI was RCB’s Yuzvendra Chahal. He picked up 21 wickets in 15 matches and was one of RCB’s main forces in the bowling department.
In the pace department, Moody went with three out and out fast bowlers, who can also bowl yorkers at the death. He picked the second-ranked Jasprit Bumrah (27 wickets) along with Rabada (29 wickets), and Rajasthan Royals’ Jofra Archer (20 wickets).
It's time to select your team of the tournament, here's mine! @IPL #IPL2020
— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) November 9, 2020
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
