IPL 2019: Best IPL XI with current players who were also part of IPL 2008 

#2. The Middle-Order

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina - Mr. IPL

Matches - 178, Runs - 5034, SR – 138

Suresh Raina is Mr. IPL. He holds quite a few of the batting records in IPL. He is the first player to complete 5000 runs in IPL. He has also played the most number of matches in IPL and holds the record for the most number of catches.

The southpaw always comes in to bat at No. 3 for CSK. In fact, in 154 out of the 174 innings, Raina has batted at one down position. He is a proven match-winner for CSK and a big match player.

Raina is the No. 3 batsman in this team.

Virat Kohli(Vice-Captain)

Virat Kohli - First among equals

Matches – 165, Runs – 5000 SR – 131

Virat Kohli is only the second player after Raina to complete 5000 runs in IPL. Kohli made his debut in the very first match of IPL history when Brendon Mc Cullum went berserk with an unbeaten inning of 158 off 73 balls.

Kohli batted at No. 3 in that match and scored a solitary run. Since then, the RCB skipper has come a long way and he is now arguably the world’s No. 1 batsman in all formats of the game. It all started for Kohli with the under 19 World Cup win in March 2008 followed by the inaugural IPL in April 2008.

Kohli’s best performance in IPL came in 2016 when he accumulated 973 runs in one season at an average of 81 and strike rate of 152. Even in the last season of IPL, he made 530 runs.

Virat is the No. 4 batsman and the vice-captain of this team.

AB de Villiers

Ab de Villiers - The 360 degrees player

Matches - 143, Runs – 4032, SR – 151

AB de Villiers played for Delhi Daredevils in his first 3 years of IPL. He was a moderate success for Delhi. But the moment he joined RCB in 2011, his IPL career took a new turn. Since 2011, AB has scored more than 300 runs in every season for RCB.

More than the number of runs, the pace at which he scored those runs was really unbelievable. He is a 360 degrees player capable of hitting the ball to all parts of the ground.

Being a finisher, AB de Villiers is the ideal No. 5 batsman in this team.