IPL 2020 - Ranking the power hitters of all 8 teams
The wait for the Indian Premier League has begun. Cricket enthusiasts across the country are buzzing with excitement for the new-look teams which they support.
In less than 3 months, the much-anticipated cricket carnival will begin. Many notable players were auctioned ahead of the 2020 season. Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to retain the core of the team and made only a few changes to their squads. However, the majority of the teams actively took part in the auctions to make many interesting buys.
In this article, we will focus on the power hitters of each 2020 IPL franchise and rank them according to their abilities.
Also see – PSL 2020 schedule
Power hitters such as Andre Russell have the ability to turn the game on its head and take the game away from the opposition. Russell's blitzkrieg of 48 off 13 deliveries had helped KKR defeat RCB in IPL 2019 from a virtually impossible situation. The knock included 7 sixes and a four as KKR won comfortably in the end with 5 deliveries to spare.
With the ability to produce such knocks from nowhere, power-hitters are always looked at closely in the IPL as they are potential match winners.
Without further ado, we rank the power hitters of the 8 IPL teams this season. A criterion used in the article is that the strike rate of the player in his IPL career has to be over 135. That is the reason why a few IPL veterans such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have not been considered in the rankings. We have, however, made a few exceptions.
#8 Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Power-Hitters: AB de Villiers, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Chris Morris
The three-time IPL runners up have sufficient power hitters to turn things around for their team. AB de Villiers is undoubtedly the most important one. The WK-batsman has an astonishing IPL career. In 154 matches, Mr. 360 has scored 4395 runs at an average of 39.95 and a phenomenal strike rate of 151.23. He is also 2nd on the most sixes chart with 212 maximums to his name.
The experienced player also has 3 centuries and 33 50s to his name. To add to this his athleticism and brilliance in the field, AB is a great force to have in the team. The 35-year-old was retained for ₹11 crores by the Bangalore-based franchise and will look to create an impact this season as well.
Shivam Dube is also a destructive batsman. However, the youngster is yet to prove his mettle in the IPL. Experts predict that he is one of the players to watch out for in future Indian cricket. The Mumbai-born player packs a punch and he proved it by hitting 5 sixes in an over during a Ranji Trophy match. Dube has also hit 5 sixes in an over in the T20 Mumbai League.
The young Dube is a part of the Indian T20 squad currently playing against Sri Lanka. A few good power-packed performances could do him a lot of good by boosting his confidence.
English all-rounder Moeen Ali is also a power-hitter. The 32-year-old has a strike rate of 165.92 in the IPL and is an economical right-arm off-break bowler as well.
Chris Morris was recently roped in by RCB for a hefty sum. The bowling all-rounder can wreak havoc with the bat once he gets going. A strike rate of 157.62 in the IPL is a testament of this fact. The Pretoria-born player failed with the bat in the previous season and will be looking to make amends in IPL 2020.