Best playing 11 of Maharaja Trophy 2024 ft. Karun Nair and Shubhang Hegde
The Maharaja T20 trophy concluded successfully on Sunday, September 1. The Mysuru Warriors lifted the trophy for the first time after beating the Bengaluru Blasters convincingly by 45 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The top two teams after the league phase locked horns for the ultimate glory. The Blasters won the toss and asked Mysuru to bat first. SU Karthik and skipper Karun Nair stitched together an 81-run stand to set the platform before Manoj Bhandage's blistering 44* off 13 powered the Warriors to 207/4 in 20 overs. In reply, Bengaluru could only score 162/8 despite LR Chetan's half-century, falling short by 45 runs.
There were some spectacular performers in the final and throughout the season as well. Some well-known players proved their credentials once again, while many youngsters hogged the limelight for the first time.
On that note, let's take a look at the best-playing XI of the Maharaja T20 Trophy.
Top order - SU Karthik, LR Chetan, Karun Nair
SU Karthik from Mysuru and Bengaluru's LR Chetan form the opening pair of the best-playing XI of the Maharaj T20 Trophy. Karthik has been a consistent performer for the Warrior throughout the season. He finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 372 runs in 12 matches at an average of 31 and a strike rate of almost 125.
Karthik also played a defining knock in the all-important final, scoring 71 off 44 balls, including seven boundaries and three maximums. He also won the Player of the Match award in the summit clash.
Conversely, Chetan played an aggressive brand of cricket, which will complement Karthik's patience game brilliantly. The Bengaluru Warriors opener aggregated 429 runs in 11 innings at an average of 42.90 and a strike rate of over 150 to finish third in the leaderboard of highest scorers. He also scored a quickfire half-century in the final but couldn't guide his side to victory.
Karun Nair, who is mostly associated with red-ball cricket, reinvented himself as a T20 player in the 2024 Maharaja T20 Trophy. The right-hander finished as the highest scorer of the tournament with 560 runs in 12 games at an average of 56 and a strike rate of over 180. He also scored an unbeaten 124 off 48 balls against the Mangalore Dragons and was named the Player of the Tournament.
Middle order - Abhinav Manohar, Manoj Bhandage, and R Smaran
Hard-hitting batter Abhinav Manohar, who had a life-changing tournament, will bat at No.4 in this side. Manohar, who is yet to gain his ground in the Indian Premier League (IPL), once again proved that he is destined for greater success.
The Shivamogga Lions star finished as the second-highest scorer after Nair with 507 runs in 10 matches at an average of 84.50 and a strike rate of over 195. Manohar smashed an unbeaten 84 off just 34 deliveries against the Mangalore Dragons.
Manoj Bhandage and R Smaran will close the middle order, with both capable of playing breathtaking knocks and taking the team to victory. Bhandage boasts the best strike rate of the tournament - 213.13. He also scored at an average of 41.71 in the 2024 Maharaja T20 Trophy, which is a testament of his consistency.
The Mysuru Warriors batter smashed an unbeaten 44 off 13 balls, including two boundaries and five sixes, at an astronomical strike rate of 338.46.
Smaran, meanwhile, finished seventh in the run-scorers chart with 302 runs in nine innings, including a hundred and two half-centuries. The Gulbarga Mystics batter scored an unbeaten 104 off just 65 deliveries against the Mysuru Warriors, hitting 11 boundaries and four maximums.
All-rounders - Shubhang Hegde and Kranthi Kumar
Shubhang Hegde and Kranthi Kumar will be the two all-rounders on this side. Both of them made significant contributions with both bat and the ball throughout the tournament.
Hegde scored 200+ runs in eight innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 151.12. He also picked up 14 wickets, with the best figures of 3/28. Kranthi, on the other hand, Kranthi aggregated 119 runs and has also scalped 14 wickets, with the best figures of 3/18. He scored an unbeaten 39 off 21 balls in the final but couldn't guide his side to victory.
Bowlers - Lavish Kaushal, Vidyadhar Patil, and LR Kumar
Lavish Kaushal, Vidyadhar Patil, and LR Kumar will form the bowling unit to close of the best-playing XI of the 2024 Maharaja T20 Trophy.
Kumar finished as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 17 scalps from nine matches, with the best figures of 3/30. Vidyadhar, who is part of the Mysuru Warriors, finished as the second-highest wicket-taker with 16. He was also exceptionally good in the final against Bengaluru, returning with figures of 3/19 in four overs.
Lavish, who was the third-highest wicket-taker in the competition with 16 scalps, rounds of the team. However, Lavish had a disappointing outing in the final, going for 43 runs in the final.