IPL 2019 - Team of the Season
After 8 weeks full of hair-raising and nail-biting moments, Season 12 of the Indian Premier League has finally come to an end, with Mumbai Indians bagging the title for a record fourth time, thereby becoming the most successful team of the tournament till date.
In a rollercoaster final which kept changing fortunes, Mumbai held their nerve to edge over CSK for the fourth time this season, as they registered a 1 run win over MS Dhoni's troops. In the process, Rohit Sharma maintained his 100% win record in an IPL final, winning the title for the 5th time (having won it in 2009 with the Deccan Chargers).
IPL is known to be a platform for its highly competitive and sublime brand of cricket. It provides an opportunity for young players to brush their shoulders with seasoned experts, and carve a niche for themselves. This season, too, was marked with some brilliant individual performances. Let's have a look at the team of the season:
Disclaimer: The views in the article are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Sportskeeda.
Openers
David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
David Warner made a comeback with a vengeance and stamped his authority over the tournament. The dashing southpaw was a pillar of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad, as he gave them impressive starts regularly.
Warner was in electric touch right from the beginning, being the side's top scorer in the first two games and followed it up with an unbeaten century against RCB. He consistently notched top scores for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, playing an anchor's role.
Warner finished as the highest run scorer of the tournament, bagging the Orange Cap award in just 12 games, with 692 runs at an average of 69.20. He scored 8 fifties and 1 hundred, including five consecutive 50s. Warner was the one of the key components who propelled SRH to the playoffs.
Shikhar Dhawan (Delhi Capitals)
Shikhar Dhawan takes the second opening spot in the season's best squad alongside his erstwhile opening partner. Dhawan's addition to the squad worked wonders for Delhi Capitals, who qualified into the playoffs after a gap of 7 years.
The southpaw had an impressive run in the tournament and ended up being the highest run scorer for his franchise, with 521 runs in 16 games at an average of 34.73. With Delhi Capitals being a team brimmed with budding youngsters, Dhawan discharged the role of a senior international professional, maintaining the tempo of the game and holding things from one end. His contribution from the willow gets even more praiseworthy considering the testing track of Feroz Shah Kotla being his home pitch.