Right-handed IPL XI of all time

The star-studded Indian Premier League 2018 is around the corner and the cricket fans have been waiting with bated breath for the exciting tournament to begin. Making an all-time XI is never an easy task as there are a huge number of wonderful players to choose from. Since there is a restriction of four foreign players per side, choosing them was particularly difficult.

Here is my 'greatest right-hander IPL XI of all time.'

Openers:

#1 Virender Sehwag

"Focus on footwork" - The coaches may preach the youngsters about the importance of the footwork till the cows come calling home but Virender Sehwag seemed to have paid deaf ears to all such wise advice. His batting may not please the mentors in the world as it makes a mockery of their manuals but is an ultimate delight for any spectator. His inimitable and intrepid style of batting made him the most feared batsman of his time.

In Test cricket, Virender Sehwag scored runs at a strike rate of 82, a rate that would have earned him the tag of an 'aggressive batsman' even in ODIs. That stat alone speaks volumes of Viru's destructiveness with the willow. If a player scored runs at such a rate in the game's longest format, where slow scoring is perfectly is acceptable, it is not hard to guess how much havoc he wreaked in the T20 format. His strike rate of 155 in the Indian Premier League is amongst the highest but with Sehwag, such astronomical strike rates are totally expected. The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' will open the batting of our side.

#2 Shane Watson (Overseas)

Watson was an aggressive batsman and a handy bowler

Who better than Shane Watson to partner with Virender Sehwag? In the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, Rajasthan Royals lacked the star power that all other teams had in plenty and were the least fancied team in the tournament. But, they surprised everyone by winning the title and Watson was one of the chief architects of the Royals' success.

Since then, there was no looking back for the talented all-rounder from Queensland. Watson, who had not yet cemented his place in the Australian team, became an indispensable player for the Kangaroos. His test record may be modest but his place on the list of the best modern-day allrounders in the shorter formats is beyond question.

In the subsequent editions of the IPL, he became a hot property. Apart from smashing the bowlers to all parts of the ground, he also provides a useful pace bowling option. In 104 matches, Watson scored 2622 runs at a strike rate of 138 and grabbed 86 wickets.

Middle order:

#3 Virat Kohli

Kohli's thirst for runs in unquenchable

Till a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable and downright ludicrous to claim that Sachin Tendulkar's batting records could be broken. But, with each passing year, the claim looks more and more plausible, thanks to Virat Kohli's unstoppable willow. His rate of run scoring has been so impressive that it invited comparisons with the maestro and gave rise to the debate -"Is he as good as Sachin?"

Unlike in case of the Indian team, Kohli may not be the undisputed no.1 batsman for his team in the IPL and will have to share the honours with Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. Since the inception of Kohli, Royal Challengers never let go of Kohli and not many players have played for only one team for so many seasons. As one would expect of him, Kohli holds the record for the highest no. of runs in a single edition, a feat he achieved when he plundered 973 runs in IPL 2016. The run machine from Royal Challengers will be our no.3.

#4 Rohit Sharma

Once set, Rohit Sharma makes the scoreboard gallop

Rohit Sharma was always touted as a colossal talent and his career began with plenty of promise. After a string of failures, there were doubts whether he would join the long list of cricketers with unfulfilled potential. But, Rohit finally hit the consistency and since then, he has been the scourge of the bowlers. He remains the only player to smash two double hundreds in ODIs.

His batting exudes elegance and when he is on song, the boundaries flow freely from his magical willow. Without dropping even an iota of elegance, he can rip the bowling attack to pieces and cause incalculable damage to the opposition.

His test statistics need a lot of improvement but in ODIs and T20s, his record brooks no argument. With more than 4000 runs under his belt, he is also among the top three run scorers in the IPL. The lynchpin of the Mumbai Indians unit will occupy the no.4 slot in our line-up.

#5 AB de Villiers (Overseas)

De Villiers is an ingenious stroke-maker

One often hears of the commentators praising a batsman about his ability to play shots all around the park but AB de Villiers took it to another level altogether. When de Villiers is in his elements, the ball can disappear to the most unimaginable corners of the ground. This sets de Villiers apart from the rest of the great batsmen of the modern era and earned him the nickname 'Mr. 360." While there is plenty to admire about his batting other than this aspect, this alone makes his batting an enthralling spectacle. The South African scores runs at a breakneck speed but gets them in truckloads too.

De Villiers has been a spectacular performer in the IPL over many years. He scored in excess of 3000 runs at an average of 38 and a strike rate of 148. Those numbers are not very far from those of Chris Gayle(average 41 and strike rate 151), who is widely considered the most devastating batsman in the IPL history. De Villiers will be the fulcrum of our middle-order.

#6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c) (wk)

Dhoni is one of India's most charismatic cricketers ever

The selection of Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a no-brainer. Widely regarded as the greatest finisher at least in today's cricket, Dhoni is an invaluable asset to any team he plays in. His big-hitting prowess can turn the matches on its head and his uber-cool attitude can often clinch the important final moments in nail-biting contests. When the team is in dire straits, Dhoni can eschew his attacking instincts and stabilise the innings. When the time is ripe, he can unleash his big hits that can send the fielders scurrying for cover.

Dhoni's international T20 strike rate of 125 is a bit low by his lofty standards but in the IPL, it goes up by a notch. He scores his runs at the rate of 136 runs per hundred balls and has more than 3500 runs to his name. His wicket-keeping skills are fantastic too and Dhoni has acquired a great reputation for making stumpings in the blink of an eye.

Under his captaincy, both Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiants enjoyed tremendous success. Who better than Dhoni to marshall our side and don the gloves?

All-rounder:

#7 Dwayne Bravo (Overseas)

First-rate allrounders like Dwayne Bravo are a must in any T20 side

Till the late 1980s, the West Indian team was a team of devastating players that crushed all the opposition like a juggernaut. Then, the Caribbean cricket plummeted to bottomless depths but the arrival of the T20 format again gave the West Indian cricket lovers reasons to smile. While their fortunes in the game's main formats remain unchanged, West Indies became a powerhouse in T20 format and produced many players of great T20 calibre. Dwayne Bravo is one such product.

Bravo may not be a devastating batsman but is capable of hitting lusty blows and adding some quick runs in the death overs.

As his economy rate of 8.19 suggests, Bravo is slightly expensive but his amazing wicket-taking rate amply compensates for it.

Kieron Pollard, his compatriot, is a worthy contender for this slot but Bravo's superior bowling ability clinches the deal in his favour. Bravo has 122 wickets in just 106 matches, at a rate of more than one wicket per match, which is a rarity in T20 format. His slower deliveries bamboozled many batsmen and his mastery in the death overs earned him the tag of a 'death overs specialist.'

Spinners:

#8 Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin's top-notch off spin flummoxed many batsmen

Ravichandran Ashwin has always been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit but it was his IPL exploits that first made him a household name. Since then, he grew in stature and it did not take long for him to displace Harbhajan Singh as the national team's frontline spinner in both formats.

Ashwin's off-spin has plenty of variations and is famous for 'carrom ball' that can catch the batsmen off-guard. He can bowl brilliantly in the power play overs too, which strengthens his case further.

Ashwin was one of the vital cogs of the Chennai Super Kings team. He became Dhoni's go-to-man whenever he needed wickets and more often than not, he delivered.

Harbhajan (average of 26.65 and an economy of 6.95) too is an excellent choice for the role of the off-spinner and gives Ashwin a run for his money. But, the tall offie from Madras again prevails over him (average of 24.99 and an economy of 6.54) but only by a wafer-thin margin.

#9 Amit Mishra

With his large bag of tricks, Mishra can be too hot to handle

Due to the presence of two great spinners in the form of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra's international appearances were few and far between. With selectors looking to inject fresh blood, Mishra did not get many opportunities even after the retirement of the greats. However, he remained a formidable force in domestic cricket and in the Indian Premier League, he accomplished enough to be regarded as one of the tournament's greatest bowlers. In the IPL, Mishra bagged 134 wickets in 126 matches and only Lasith Malinga took more wickets.

Unlike most of today's spinners, Mishra is not afraid of giving the ball a good amount of flight and possesses a fine googly as well. Mishra also holds the distinction of taking three hat-tricks in the IPL.

Many teams may not generally prefer playing two frontline spinners but without Mishra, the burden of spin will fall solely on Ashwin as both Watson and Pollard are pace-bowling allrounders. In India, a good number of pitches offer fine assistance for the spinners, and hence, a wicket-taking spin option like Mishra deserves a slot.

Pace bowlers:

#10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvi is a key player in the Sunrisers bowling lineup

While there was never a dearth of great spinners from India, quality pace bowlers remained a rare commodity. However, the current crop of pacers gave a new hope to the fans that good days for the Indian pace bowling are in the offing. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the most impressive among them.

Despite the presence of big names like Dale Steyn and Trent Boult, Kumar held his own in the Sunrisers' bowling lineup. He is one of the most prolific wicket-takers in the IPL. His record of 111 wickets in 90 matches at an economy rate of 7.08 certainly testifies to it.

When on song, Kumar swings the ball beautifully bringing the ball back into the right-hander and poses serious questions to the batsmen. Considering his fine record in the IPL, it is hard to leave Kumar out of the team.

#11 Lasith Malinga (Overseas)

Not many batsmen could effectively counter Malinga

A tally of 154 wickets in 110 matches is a very decent one in ODI cricket and is likely to give the bowler long run in the team. But, to do so in T20s where a bowler can bowl a maximum of four overs, is incredible. Lasith Malinga accomplished precisely that in the IPL. All this by giving away just 6.86 runs per over shows how difficult the batsmen found him to dominate.

The name of Malinga brings to mind countless yorkers that were delivered with surgical precision and landed at the batsmen's toes or the base of the stumps like howitzer shells. However, he is far from being a one-trick pony. Malinga can bowl deceptive slower balls, effective bouncers and extract good swing as well.

Cricket in the recent decades tilted firmly in the favour of the batsmen and the imbalance is more pronounced in case of T20 cricket, where the batsmen are given the license to go hard at the bowlers right from the outset. As a result, many bowlers struggled but this slinger with a weird hairstyle proved to be a real tough nut to crack even for the best of the batsmen.

Leaving out the highest-wicket taker in the tournament would be a cardinal sin and hence, Malinga's choice is the easiest to make.