NEW DELHI: Former Australia cricketer Matthew Hayden has included Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson, and Jasprit Bumrah in his IPL team of the tournament ahead of the final clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Hayden revealed his 12-member team on the broadcasters' official X handle on Sunday. He chose Sunil Narine and Travis Head as the openers. Narine scored 482 runs, including a century and three fifties for Kolkata, while Head accumulated 567 runs for the finalists, with a hundred and four half-centuries, making him the fourth-highest run-getter of the tournament.
At number 3, Hayden selected Virat Kohli, who had a stellar season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, finishing as the highest run-getter with 741 runs, including a century and five fifties, across 15 games.
For the middle order, Hayden picked Rajasthan Royals' captain Sanju Samson (531 runs), Riyan Parag (573 runs), Lucknow Super Giants' Nicholas Pooran (499 runs), and Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen (463 runs).
In the bowling department, Hayden included Rajasthan's Yuzvendra Chahal (18 wickets) and KKR's Varun Chakaravarthy (20 wickets) for spin, while Mumbai Indians' pacer Jasprit Bumrah (20 wickets) would lead the pace attack alongside Rajasthan's Avesh Khan (19 wickets) and Sandeep Sharma (13 wickets).
Hayden's team of the tournament: Sunil Narine, Travis Head, Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson, Nicholas Pooran, Riyan Paran, Heinrich Klaasen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma.
(With IANS inputs)
