IPL 2019: Best team of must-be-retained players
After eight weeks of non stop cricketing action, the eleventh season of the Indian Premier League came to an end in May 2018 with the Chennai Super Kings winning the tournament and completing a fairy-tale return to the league. The last season of this lucrative T20 league unfolded to be bigger and better than ever with seven out of eight teams in contention for the playoff spots right up to the last day of the league stage matches. There were a number of fierce contests between bat and ball and quite a few players took the onus upon themselves and performed splendidly for their franchises.
As the trend goes, one can only hope that the next season of the IPL is bigger than that of IPL 2018. There is a possibility that the next edition of the IPL might not be held in India because of the general elections and the IPL Governing Council will have to find a suitable venue to host the biggest T20 league in the world. IPL 2009 was held in South Africa and the first half of IPL 2014 was held in Dubai. It remains to be seen as to where the IPL takes us in 2019.
Before the next season kicks off, the franchises will have to review their squads and decide as to which players they'd like to retain and which players they'd like to let go. They can plug holes in their squads in the IPL players auction and also make use of the pre-season trading window ahead of the new season. The aim will be to put together a well-balanced squad with a plethora of options for various situations. Here's a balanced line up of the top performers in IPL 2018 who must be retained by their respective franchises for IPL 2019.
Imagine pitting this team against the World XI! What an encounter that would be!