Best playing 11 of TNPL 2024 ft. M Shahrukh Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin
TNPL 2024 is officially done and dusted. The 2024 edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League culminated last night (August 4) in Chennai with the final match between Lyca Kovai Kings and Dindigul Dragons.
The Kings only managed 129/7 in their 20 overs. In reply, the Dragons reached 131/4 in 18.2 overs and won by six wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin led the Dragons from the front with his all-round brilliance in TNPL 2024. There were some other top performers in the Tamil Nadu-based competition as well.
Without further ado, let's have a quick look at the best playing XI from TNPL 2024.
Openers - Tushar Raheja (wk) and Shivam Singh
iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans wicketkeeper Tushar Raheja will open the batting for this team along with Dindigul Dragons' opener Shivam Singh. Speaking about Raheja's campaign first, the left-handed batter scored 324 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 150. He recorded three half-centuries for Tamizhans.
Shivam Singh won the Orange Cap for aggregating the highest number of runs in TNPL 2024. The 28-year-old all-rounder, who made his IPL debut for Punjab Kings earlier this year, scored 364 runs in nine innings, averaging 45.50. Singh smacked a magnificent century in the league-stage match against Siechem Madurai Panthers.
Middle Order - Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Sai Sudharsan, Baba Indrajith, Baba Aparajith, and M Shahrukh Khan
Ravichandran Ashwin surprised the majority of the cricket fans by promoting himself up the order and scoring big runs for the Dindigul Dragons. The Dragons skipper smashed an unbeaten 30-ball 69 while opening the batting in the Qualifier 2 match against iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans.
Before that, Ashwin hit a 35-ball 57 at number three in the Eliminator against Chepauk Super Gillies, and he also scored 50+ at number three in the final against Lyca Kovai Kings. Overall, Ashwin scored 252 runs and scalped nine wickets in 10 games.
Sai Sudharsan was the top run-scorer for runners-up Lyca Kovai Kings. The southpaw aggregated 238 runs in seven innings, including an incredible 123* in the Qualifier 1 match against iDream Tirrupur Tamizhans.
Brothers Baba Indrajith and Baba Aparajith solidify the middle order of this team. Indrajith was the third highest run-scorer in TNPL 2024 with 286 runs at an average of 40.85 for Dindigul Dragons. His brother Aparajith led the Chepauk Super Gillies from the front with 234 runs and two wickets in eight matches.
M Shahrukh Khan was known for his finishing skills with the bat, but in TNPL this year, he ended second on the bowlers' leaderboard. The Lyca Kovai Kings all-rounder bagged 13 wickets in nine innings by bowling right-arm off-spin. With the bat, Shahrukh scored 225 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 182.92.
Bowlers - M Poiyamozhi, Athisayaraj Davidson, T Natarajan and Varun Chakravarthy
M Poiyamozhi will lead the pace unit of this team with Athisayaraj Davidson and T Natarajan. Poiyamozhi won the Purple Cap with 16 wickets in just seven matches. Although his team SKM Salem Spartans got eliminated in the league stage itself, no bowler from the top 4 teams could overtake Poiyamozhi on the bowlers' leaderboard during the playoffs round.
Joining Poyamozhi on this team is Trichy Grand Cholas' right-arm pacer Athisayaraj Davidson. Even his team got knocked out before the playoffs, but he finished third on the TNPL 2024 bowlers' leaderboard with 13 wickets in seven matches. Notably, he took a four-wicket haul in his last game against iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans.
T Natarajan and Varun Chakravarthy complete this lineup. Playing for iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, Natarajan bagged 12 wickets in eight matches at a splendid economy rate of 7.77. Meanwhile, Chakravarthy also took 12 wickets while playing for Dindigul Dragons. The spin bowler maintained an impressive economy rate of 6.61.