MY IPL ELEVEN

Congrats Deccan! What a final, down to the very last over. It was a fitting end to a very successful tournament - last year's worst team is now the champions.

This year's tournament had a few similarities to last year's: the team least favored to take the cup before the commencement of the season grabbed the cup; the highest scorers were left-handed Australians; the highest wicket takers were left-arm fast bowlers; the Man-of-the-Series went to Austalians; the Man-of-the-finals went to Indians. I wonder what next year would have in store for us.

Now for a look at the overall statistics, to draft an IPL 2009 team.

The openers should be a no-brainer: the famous pair of Gilchrist and Hayden would be anyone's pick for the best opening pair this season. Its amazing how they have reproduced their form of old this season - after retiring from the game.

The number three slot is a very important slot in any form of the game. Deciding the best number 3 batsman this year is thus the toughest choice. Raina was good for Chennai but probably a touch inconsistent. Dilshan played in many positions in the middle order for Delhi and was very successful. I would thus place him at number three as he is good at counter-attacking or defending, depending on the situation at hand.

A.B. De Villiers was Delhi's best batsman and should take fourth spot. He is very reliable and plays according to the situation too. His ability to rotate the strike and strike the big sixes would make him an asset to any team.

Rohit Sharma was voted as the best under-23 Indian player, and I think he highly deserved it, as he was one of the best all-rounders this season. He thus would be my number 5 batsman - another important slot and this batsman is responsible for either providing stability to the middle of the innings, or for being the finisher, and Rohit has those qualities.

Numbers 6 and 7 would be all-rounders, and I think J.P. Duminy and Brad Hodge would be perfect candidates. Duminy made the most number of fifties along with Hayden, and showed great composure when Mumbhai were struggling. Hodge was Kolkata's stand-out player and deserves mention. Even though these were not the respective positions for these players, they are talented enough to fit these roles well.

The next four positions would of course go to specialist bowlers. Purple-cap holder RP Singh should be shoo-in for anybody's IPL team. P.Ojha was also outstanding and would be ideal to choke the batsmen in the middle overs. Anil Kumble was tremendous this season and I would make him the captain as well as he was the main catalyst for the resurgence of Bangalore. Finally I will have Malinga as my strike-bowler: very good at the beginning and death overs.


My IPL XI:

Gilchrist (wk)
Hayden
T. Dilshan
A.B. De Villiers
Rohit Sharma
J.P. Duminy
B. Hodge
A. Kumble (c)
P. Ojha
R.P. Singh
L. Malinga