New Delhi: After a thrilling conclusion to the Indian Premier League 2017 season, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting picked his Team of the Season, featuring Sunrisers Hyderabad David Warner as skipper.
Revealing his picks for the team of the season to cricket.com.au, Ponting started with the selection of Warner (IPL 10's) orange cap holder alongside Hashim Amla as openers. Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa (wk) in the middle order, while Ben Stokes and Hardik Pandya were picked as all-rounders. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Rashid Khan and Imran Tahir were picked as mainstream bowlers.
David Warner
"Warner has just been in complete control of his game for a number of years now in the IPL. He thrives on extra responsibility and leadership. Having won the tournament last year and got close again (this year) but couldn’t quite get across that last hurdle, Davey’s led the side really well. I’ll actually name him captain as well on the back of what he’s done the last couple of seasons," Ponting said on Warner's selection and naming him as captain.
Stats
Matches: 14 | Inns: 14 | Runs: 641 | HS: 126 | Ave: 58.27 | SR: 141.81 | 100s: 1 | 50s: 4
Hashim Amla
"A bit of a surprise packet right through this tournament. He’s someone who’s been overlooked at a few auctions in a row. He got a chance as a replacement player at the back-end of last season with the Kings XI, but this year played the best that I think anyone has ever seen him play, whether it be in an international T20 game or in the IPL," Ponting said on Amla's selection.
Stats
Matches: 10 | Inns: 10 | Runs: 420 | HS: 104no | Ave: 60 | SR: 145.83 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 2
Gautam Gambhir
"I said before the finals started that I’m a bit surprised that he’s batting in that number three position considering what he’s done at the top of the order for Kolkata for a long time. He’s ended up with nearly 500 runs … that’s a reasonable tournament," Pontin said on Gambhir's selection.
Stats
Matches: 16 | Inns: 16 | Runs: 498 | HS: 76no | Ave: 41.50 | SR: 128.02 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 4
Suresh Raina
“He’s just a class T20 player (and) a classy short-form player. He’s got a great one-day record for India as well. (While) he’s got the ability to really dominate spin-bowling," Ponting said for Raina.
Stats
Matches: 14 | Inns: 14 | Runs: 442 | HS: 84 | Ave: 40.18 | SR: 143.97 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 3
Robin Uthappa (Wicket-keeper batsman)
“Another one that has opened the batting for most of his career at the Knight Riders (but) found himself in a slightly different position own the order. I’ve named him at number five as the ‘keeper-batsman. Although I’ve felt both him and Gambhir have batted out of position," Ponting said on Uthappa's selection.
Stats
Matches: 14 | Inns: 13 | Runs: 388 | HS: 87 | Ave: 29.84 | SR: 165.10 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 5 C: 9 | St: 6
Ben Stokes
“The MVP for the entire tournament (and) the guy that was most talked about before the tournament started was Ben Stokes. (He’s) on a huge deal with the Supergiants and has probably earned every cent of it to be fair. Twelve wickets in 12 games, made that big hundred as well," Ponting said for English all-rounder Ben Stokes.
Stats
Matches: 12 | Inns: 11 | Runs: 316 | HS: 103no | Ave: 31.60 | SR: 142.98 | 100s: 1 | 50s: 1 Wickets: 12 | Ave: 26.33 | BB: 3-18 | RPO: 7.18 | SR: 22.00
Hardik Pandya
“One guy I’m happy to name in the side is Hardik Pandya, the young allrounder from the Mumbai Indians. I’ve had a chance to work a lot with him the last couple of years. He had a dream-start two seasons ago, (but) found things a bit tougher last year. But with a little bit of the expectation off him now and he’s had a chance to represent his country now and grow into what international cricket … he’s starting to blossom into a particularly good allrounder," Ponting said for Stokes.
Stats
Matches: 17 | Inns: 16 | Runs: 250 | HS: 35no | Ave: 35.71 | SR: 156.25| 100s: 0 | 50s: 0 Wickets: 6 | Ave: 35.50 | BB: 2-22 | RPO: 8.19 | SR: 26.00
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
“He’s been the leading wicket-taker with 26 wickets in the tournament, (a bowling) average of 14, which is pretty remarkable in those types of conditions. (Kumar has been) one of the main reasons Sunrisers had the tournament they did," Ponting said on Bhuvi's selection.
Stats
Matches: 14 | Wickets: 26 | Ave: 14.19 | BB: 5-19 | RPO: 7.05 | SR: 12.07
Jaydev Unadkat
“If you wind the clock back five or six years, this guy was touted as the next Indian opening bowler in Test cricket, one-day cricket and T20 cricket. He’s got the ability to swing the ball around as we saw through this tournament and he’s got very good slower ball skills as well," Ponting said on Unadkat's selection.
Stats
Matches: 12 | Wickets: 24 | Ave: 13.41| BB: 5-30 | RPO: 7.02 | SR: 11.4
Rashid Khan
“I’ve actually named two leg-spinners in the side, one that started the tournament really well (was) Rashid Khan. One thing you see with the spinners – and certainly the good spinners in T20 cricket – is even if they don’t take a lot of wickets, their economy-rate is always quite low," Ponting said on Rashid's selection.
Stats
Matches: 14 | Wickets: 17 | Ave: 21.05 | BB: 3-19 | RPO: 6.62 | SR: 19.0
Imran Tahir
“(His) runs-per-over is slightly higher – 7.85 – which is a little on the high side for a top-class spinner in the IPL but … 12 games, 18 wickets (speaks for itself). You know when you bring these leg-spinners on through those middle-overs that they are going to create some opportunities for you and Imran Tahir has been around for a long, long time," Ponting said on Tahir's selection.
Stats
Matches: 12 | Wickets: 18 | Ave: 20.50 | BB: 3-18 | RPO: 7.85 | SR: 15.7
Stats Courtesey: cricket.com.au
