IPL 2024: Kevin Pietersen names his team of the tournament

The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League is set to end on May 26 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, with Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad on the night of the finals. Ahead of that, former cricketer Kevin Pietersen named his team of the tournament, which features two players from KKR and two more from the other finalists SRH.

Sunil Narine, who is certain to win the MVP of IPL 2024 has been named by Pietersen as one of the openers. Star India cricketer Virat Kohli, who is the leading run-scorer of IPL is the other opener in Pietersen’s team. Rajat Patidar, who had a very ordinary start to the tournament turned the tide in the business end and eventually made it to Pietersen’s squad and is named at number three.

Shivam Dube, Heinrich Klaasen, and Cameron Green have been named at number four, five, and six respectively. Dube had a stunning season for Chennai Super Kings, as he made 396 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 162.29. Klaasen was terrific for Hyderabad and played a massive part in them getting them to qualify for the summit clash. He also made a half-century in Qualifier 2, which was extremely important in the context of the game.

Pietersen named Nicholas Pooran at number seven, and Andre Russell at number eight. The West Indies duo were ruthless, to say the least. Pooran was arguably Lucknow Super Giant’s best player in the season while Russell was not just good with the bat but was equally effective with the ball and also in the field.

Yuzvendra Chahal has been named at number nine. The star spinner picked up 18 wickets in 15 matches for Rajasthan Royals but his performance towards the fag end of the tournament dipped. Nevertheless, he is expected to finish as the second-leading wicket-taking spinner in the tournament. Among pacers, Pietersen has named Jasprit Bumrah and T Natarajan. The Mumbai Indians pacer picked up 20 wickets in the season and is currently the second-leading wicket-taker of the tournament while Natarajan has 19 wickets to his name and can surpass Bumrah in the final.