The league stages of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League are over! Whilst 4 teams qualify, the others shall look back at what has been and what should have been. But meanwhile, I'm going to get down to doing the hard, rather risky job of selecting the 11 best players of DLF IPL 2012. And here it is -
1) Christopher Gayle -
Can you ever not have him in your side? With over 700 runs massacred all around the park, in different venues against a variety of bowlers, Henry Gayle bagged the Orange Cap for the leading run-scorer a second time on the trot. His pyrotechnics failed to ensure that RCB went through to the play-offs, but that won't stop me from giving him the opener's slot!
2) Virender Sehwag -
With Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir being strong contenders to partner Gayle, this was always going to be a hard one. Gambhir's innings have often buoyed KKR, but with Sehwag scoring half-centuries at will at 160+ runs per 100 balls, my favorite player here.
3) Rahul Dravid (c) -
Probably the biggest surprise in My XI! Five years ago, when Rahul started off with T20 in the IPL, it seemed like he was far from capable at the game. Five years hence, The Wall (if he permits me to call him that) has reinvented his game and brought in refreshing new ideas to his style of captaincy to win the all-important No 3 slot and get the skipper's cap. Rahul's resourcefulness and success at extracting the best out of a squad devoid of big booming superstars has been more than remarkable this season and for that, he must take this place.
4) Kevin Pietersen -
Kevin played a bare 8 games this season but what an impact he made! Pietersen's 103* against the Deccan Chargers set the tone for the Delhi Daredevils and the devils haven't looked back since. Not even after KP's departure.
5) AB de Villiers (wk) -
I've often been against giving AB Devil the keeper's gloves, thereby missing out on his fielding heroics. However, considering that no other wicketkeeper batsman in the IPL has made as much of an impact as AB has, I'd be forced to put him behind the stumps.
6) Cameron White -
The Australian had a rather indifferent start to the tournament. However, as time went by, he found his footing and the ball began to take off. Pasting balls to different parts of the country, White has been the only significant contributor to the Deccan Chargers' batting, apart from Shikhar Dhawan, and his ferocious strike rate of 149.68 ensures that he gets the No 6 spot to up the ante towards the end of the innings.
7) Mayank Agarwal -
Mayank hasn't quite made it to the higher end of the run-getters' list but that's more because he hasn't had much batting to do than anything else. However, this guy really did charge up RCB in hard situations. Recall his innings against CSK at Chepauk where, while opening the batting with Gayle, Mayank smothered Bollinger and his comrades to all parts of the park, racing away to a quickfire 42 while his famous Jamaican partner was on a mere 6 runs. Ever since, Mayank has chipped in with many a useful cameo for RCB, most famously, the 30-ball 64* against the Mumbai Indians.
8) Irfan Pathan -
I've always been a big fan of Irfan's right from his debut for India. Over the years, many things have happened to the fairly pacey swing bowler from Baroda. However, the hunger for success hasn't disappeared. Wickets or not, Irfan is always a handy all-rounder to have in your side and his odd cameos with the bat have always helped Delhi raise the bar further.
9) Dale Steyn -
He might have taken a beating or two at the hands of AB de Villiers, but Dale Steyn has been one of the most lethal pacemen in the tournament. With swinging balls delivered at 150 km/h and unrelenting accuracy, Dale Steyn has made life difficult for the batsmen every time he's come on. The lone warrior in the bowling attack of the Deccan Chargers.
10) Sunil Narine -
How can you ignore him?! With his funny action and mind boggling tricks with the ball, the Trinidadian wonder boy has almost single-handedly taken the Knight Riders into the play-offs. They still can't read him, they say. And when you have a man who can take 3-4 wickets every game at an economy rate of 5.14, you're bound to be favorites!
11) Morne Morkel -
He has been Virender Sehwag's go-to man all through the competition. Every time the opposition looks to get on top of the Daredevils, Morne Morkel has come up with the most beautiful yorker or unsettling bouncer to get rid of the opponent's hopes. His fine spell of death bowling against the Rajasthan Royals shall always come up as one of the highlights of the tournament - DD won that game by one run.
1) Christopher Gayle -
Can you ever not have him in your side? With over 700 runs massacred all around the park, in different venues against a variety of bowlers, Henry Gayle bagged the Orange Cap for the leading run-scorer a second time on the trot. His pyrotechnics failed to ensure that RCB went through to the play-offs, but that won't stop me from giving him the opener's slot!2) Virender Sehwag -
With Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir being strong contenders to partner Gayle, this was always going to be a hard one. Gambhir's innings have often buoyed KKR, but with Sehwag scoring half-centuries at will at 160+ runs per 100 balls, my favorite player here.
3) Rahul Dravid (c) -
Probably the biggest surprise in My XI! Five years ago, when Rahul started off with T20 in the IPL, it seemed like he was far from capable at the game. Five years hence, The Wall (if he permits me to call him that) has reinvented his game and brought in refreshing new ideas to his style of captaincy to win the all-important No 3 slot and get the skipper's cap. Rahul's resourcefulness and success at extracting the best out of a squad devoid of big booming superstars has been more than remarkable this season and for that, he must take this place.
4) Kevin Pietersen -
Kevin played a bare 8 games this season but what an impact he made! Pietersen's 103* against the Deccan Chargers set the tone for the Delhi Daredevils and the devils haven't looked back since. Not even after KP's departure.
5) AB de Villiers (wk) -
I've often been against giving AB Devil the keeper's gloves, thereby missing out on his fielding heroics. However, considering that no other wicketkeeper batsman in the IPL has made as much of an impact as AB has, I'd be forced to put him behind the stumps.
6) Cameron White -
The Australian had a rather indifferent start to the tournament. However, as time went by, he found his footing and the ball began to take off. Pasting balls to different parts of the country, White has been the only significant contributor to the Deccan Chargers' batting, apart from Shikhar Dhawan, and his ferocious strike rate of 149.68 ensures that he gets the No 6 spot to up the ante towards the end of the innings.
7) Mayank Agarwal -
Mayank hasn't quite made it to the higher end of the run-getters' list but that's more because he hasn't had much batting to do than anything else. However, this guy really did charge up RCB in hard situations. Recall his innings against CSK at Chepauk where, while opening the batting with Gayle, Mayank smothered Bollinger and his comrades to all parts of the park, racing away to a quickfire 42 while his famous Jamaican partner was on a mere 6 runs. Ever since, Mayank has chipped in with many a useful cameo for RCB, most famously, the 30-ball 64* against the Mumbai Indians.
8) Irfan Pathan -
I've always been a big fan of Irfan's right from his debut for India. Over the years, many things have happened to the fairly pacey swing bowler from Baroda. However, the hunger for success hasn't disappeared. Wickets or not, Irfan is always a handy all-rounder to have in your side and his odd cameos with the bat have always helped Delhi raise the bar further.
9) Dale Steyn -
He might have taken a beating or two at the hands of AB de Villiers, but Dale Steyn has been one of the most lethal pacemen in the tournament. With swinging balls delivered at 150 km/h and unrelenting accuracy, Dale Steyn has made life difficult for the batsmen every time he's come on. The lone warrior in the bowling attack of the Deccan Chargers.10) Sunil Narine -
How can you ignore him?! With his funny action and mind boggling tricks with the ball, the Trinidadian wonder boy has almost single-handedly taken the Knight Riders into the play-offs. They still can't read him, they say. And when you have a man who can take 3-4 wickets every game at an economy rate of 5.14, you're bound to be favorites!
11) Morne Morkel -
He has been Virender Sehwag's go-to man all through the competition. Every time the opposition looks to get on top of the Daredevils, Morne Morkel has come up with the most beautiful yorker or unsettling bouncer to get rid of the opponent's hopes. His fine spell of death bowling against the Rajasthan Royals shall always come up as one of the highlights of the tournament - DD won that game by one run.
