IPL 2019: Best XI of the tournament

No one could’ve written a more dramatic script (not literally!) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 final as the Mumbai Indians, much like the way they did it in 2017 at the same venue, won the game by 1 run. They clinched their fourth title under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, who individually has five winners medals to his name, more than any other player in the tournament’s history.

The grand finale at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday was a testament to how close this season has been. Royal Challengers Bangalore, who finished at the bottom with 11 points, were just one point away from Sunrisers Hyderabad, who finished fourth with 12 points. This definitely will go down as the closest IPL there has ever been.

Every great journey comes to an end and it came to an end on a sensational note in Hyderabad. While there were celebrations on the Mumbai side, the Chennai Super Kings will find it difficult to digest the margin of defeat, which is a little too narrow to tolerate.

All we can say is it was a privilege to witness something as epic in the 2019 edition of the IPL and here’s a look back at the best XI of this tournament.:

1. David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

The first player in IPL history to win three Orange Caps, David Warner continues to reign supreme in the cash-rich league. He has been phenomenal ever since he was signed by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014, scoring over 500 runs in every season he appeared since then. Warner clearly needed no second invitation to come and shower his dominance and he did so with some brutality this time.

It was his big come back, he was coming out of a year-long suspension and people expected him to be a bit rusty. But, Warner, he picked up from where he left, and registered a sensational tally of 692 runs in just 12 innings, with 8 half-centuries and a hundred against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. His opening combination with Jonny Bairstow worked wonders for the side that otherwise looked very pale.

The second best among run-getters was KL Rahul who despite playing a couple more innings was almost 100 runs behind Warner, Quinton de Kock the third, played as many as 16 innings and still fell 163 runs short of his tally. Naturally, he took the Orange Cap.