The thirteenth period of the Indian Premier League has arrived at its midway imprint with the opposition still hardened concerning the rush to the end of the season games. While Delhi Capitals have explored through to the top position, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challenge are battling for the subsequent spot. The opposition for third spot is extreme as a few groups are competing for the fourth spot.
Performances also have been impressive this season by several cricketers. While the known faces Virat like Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, Steve Smith, or Jos Buttler have blown hot and cold, several youngsters have shined and made their name. Players like Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tewatia, or Sam Curran have surprised many with their splendid performances.
So, if a dream team had to be picked after the halfway stage then who would get into the line-up? Former Australia batsman and current IPL commentator Michael Slater was asked to do the same and he made some surprising decisions in his fantasy IPL team of the season, including choosing Shreyas Iyer as the captain of the team.
Here is Slater’s fantasy team of the season:
1 Devdutt Padikkal, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Shreyas Iyer (c), 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Rishabh Pant, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Trent Boult.
Slater’s team looks very strong on paper with Rabada and Boult leading the line while Rashid, Chahal, and Krunal take care of the spin department.
He picked Padikkal as the opener with Agarwal, which is based on the current performances of both the players. They are in the race for the Orange Cap. It is to be noted that there was no place of either Kohli or Rohit. The middle-order is looked after by captain Iyer, wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, and AB de Villiers. In Slater’s team, the onus to provide some late-order hitting would be put on Krunal.