Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra has picked his best XI of Indian Premier League 2020, which included a few surprising omissions from the team. Nehra went with Orange Cap winner KL Rahul and Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner as his opening pair, while leaving out Shikhar Dhawan of Delhi Capitals, who was the second-highest run-scorer with 618 runs.
Also not making it into Nehra’s Best XI team were Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli and Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni.
“If you go just by the tournament performance, then my openers will be KL Rahul and David Warner,” Nehra said on Star Sports. “At No.3, I am not choosing Virat Kohli. It’s not that he has not scored runs but the impact runs were scored by Suryakumar Yadav, so I will keep him at No.3. There is no T20 team completed without AB de Villiers. So, he will be No.4.”
In the middle order, Nehra went with the Mumbai Indians duo of Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya, Kishan was MI’s leading run-getter with 516 runs from 14 matches while Pandya proved beneficial batting in the death on more than one occasion.
“At No.5, I would say Ishan Kishan. I will also keep him as my wicket-keeper although AB de Villiers will also be an option. At No.6, Hardik Pandya. After that Jofra Archer and Rashid Khan, both can bat as well,” Nehra added.
“And then Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah. My final pick will be one of Ravichandran Ashwin or Shami. If three fast bowlers are required, I will go with Archer, Bumrah and Shami. If only two are required, I will go with Bumrah and Archer and will play Ravichandran Ashwin instead of Shami,” Nehra said.
Nehra admitted it was tough leaving Dhoni out, but at the same time, stressed how closely fought this edition of the IPL was. Besides, IPL 2020 was Dhoni’s worst in terms of numbers as the CSK skipper managed just 200 runs at an average of 25.
“We also have Kagiso Rabada and Kane Williamson. And my thinking is that I will never make a team without MS Dhoni, but his tournament was not good. So, if you go by the tournament performances, this will be my XI,” Nehra said.
Ashish Nehra’s best IPL 2020 XI: KL Rahul, David Warner, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jofra Archer, Rashid Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin/Mohammed Shami