Sachin Tendulkar has unveiled his top eleven from the Indian Premier League’s recently finished 2022 season (IPL). In their debut season in the league, the Gujarat Titans won the title, with Hardik Pandya guiding the squad to win in his first season as a captain of any team. Tendulkar stated that the eleven players were picked completely based on their achievements this season.
“It’s got nothing to do with players’ reputation or their past performances. It is purely based on their performances this season and what they have been able to achieve this season” said Tendulkar in a video in his Youtube channel.
“Hardik was the standout captain this season. He was clear in his mind, proactive. I always say that don’t regret, celebrate. If you are able to celebrate, it means the captain is outsmarting the opposition and that is what Hardik did,” he added.
The former Indian cricketer then stated that he would begin with Jos Buttler and Shikhar Dhawan because he desired a left-right partnership at the top. While Buttler won the Orange Cap and was named player of the tournament after amassing an incredible 863 runs in 14 innings, including four centuries, Dhawan scored 460 runs in 14 matches.
KL Rahul of the Lucknow Super Giants was his third choice. With 616 runs in 15 innings, including two hundreds, Rahul was the second highest run scorer after Buttler.
Liam Livingstone and Dinesh Karthik, two big-hitting batsmen, followed, with Tendulkar selecting the latter as his wicketkeeper.
“Bringing another left hander here because the left-right combination is important. There are a number of names who were there but I am going to play David Miller. He showed tremendous form, very good consistency and played some crucial knocks. What I observed this season was that he was able to hit towards all sides of the ground. It was proper cricketing shots and it was a treat to watch.”
At the bowling front, Tendulkar picked Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah and Gujarat Titans’ Mohammed Shami. Bumrah, according to the batsman, is the finest death bowler in the world.
Bumrah and Shami both have 15 and 20 wickets for their respective teams at the end of the season. The former batsman selected Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans) and Yuzvendra Chahal (Rajasthan Royals) as spinners.
Sachin Tendulkar’s IPL 2022 XI: Jos Buttler, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya (captain), David Miller, Liam Livingstone, Dinesh Karthik, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.
