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Ricky Ponting names his team of the IPL

Former Australia captain appoints David Warner as skipper of his star-studded best XI from the 10th edition of the IPL

1. David Warner (captain) (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Matches: 14 | Inns: 14 | Runs: 641 | HS: 126 | Ave: 58.27 | SR: 141.81 | 100s: 1 | 50s: 4

“Winner of the orange cap with the most runs. He’s 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. He’s got great presence on the field and he demands his teammates to play the same way and that’s a sign of a very good leader.”

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2. Hashim Amla (Kings XI Punjab)

Matches: 10 | Inns: 10 | Runs: 420 | HS: 104no | Ave: 60 | SR: 145.83 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 2

“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. He’s the only man in the tournament to score two hundreds (in IPL10) and has got them pretty quickly. You can’t really argue with what he’s done, so a fantastic tournament for him and probably one of the main reasons the Kings XI were able to turn their fortunes around, just missing out on the finals by one game.”

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3. Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Matches: 16 | Inns: 16 | Runs: 498 | HS: 76no | Ave: 41.50 | SR: 128.02 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 4

“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. I’ve said for a long time that the number three position in T20 cricket is the hardest spot to bat because you’ll generally go in at the loss of a very early wicket and be expected to hit boundaries straight away. He’s a very good player of spin which is probably why he’s been able to adapt pretty well to that number three position.”

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4. Suresh Raina (Gujarat Lions)

Matches: 14 | Inns: 14 | Runs: 442 | HS: 84 | Ave: 40.18 | SR: 143.97 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 3

“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. In that role in the middle-order is generally when most of the spinners are bowling, and he’s got the ability to really dominate there.”

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5. Robin Uthappa (wk) (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Matches: 14 | Inns: 13 | Runs: 388 | HS: 87 | Ave: 29.84 | SR: 165.10 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 5 C: 9 | St: 6

“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, he’s ended up having a pretty good tournament. He’s a guy whose strike-rate is incredible this year, 165 for the entire tournament. You need those guys in the middle-order to be able to score quickly right from the start. You don’t have that luxury anymore in the T20 game to be able to play yourself in and work the ball around. You have to go in and dominate right from the start and I think that’s what he’s been able to do really well.”

Uthappa, Gambhir ride Kolkata to top spot

6. Ben Stokes (Rising Pune Supergiant)

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

“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. The thing about him is he does bring that real X-factor to their line-up and he’s someone you can rely on to bowl four overs. He can also make a hundred in the middle-order. Those sorts of players are pretty hard to find. I know they paid a lot of money for him but I’m sure they’re pretty happy that they did. Unfortunately for them he wasn’t around for the finals. When it comes down to what it came down to on that last ball of the game, not having your X-factor player there, they sadly missed him.”

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7. Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians)

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

“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. The thing that I liked was when it was his turn to step up and bowl a couple of overs, either with the new ball or towards the back-end of the innings, he was able to do it and do it well. He closed out a couple of games (with the ball) as well. He’s a pretty complete package now.”

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8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Matches: 14 | Wickets: 26 | Ave: 14.19 | BB: 5-19 | RPO: 7.05 | SR: 12.07

“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. He was someone we showed a lot of interest in when I was (coaching) Mumbai, we were really keen to get hold of him, knowing our conditions where the ball swings around a bit more. But the Sunrisers – rightly so – held on to him because he’s been a terrific player for them.”

Ponting declares Bhuvneshwar the best IPL 10 bowler

9. Jaydev Unadkat (Rising Pune Supergiant)

Matches: 12 | Wickets: 24 | Ave: 13.41| BB: 5-30 | RPO: 7.02 | SR: 11.4

“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. He did a terrific job for his team in varying conditions with new ball and old ball, that’s the sort of flexibility you need in your team as far as your fast bowlers are concerned.”

Unadkat hat-trick stuns Hyderabad

10. Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Matches: 14 | Wickets: 17 | Ave: 21.05 | BB: 3-19 | RPO: 6.62 | SR: 19.0

“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. When you have leg-spinners in your side, you know that they can tie things down but they’re also a better chance of getting wickets than some of the finger spinners going around, hence naming (Rashid).”

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11. Imran Tahir (Rising Pune Supergiant)

Matches: 12 | Wickets: 18 | Ave: 20.50 | BB: 3-18 | RPO: 7.85 | SR: 15.7

“(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. He’s another one who’s been at a number of different teams but he’s had a really good tournament for his team this season.”

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