CPL 2020 - Team of the Tournament🏆
Trinbago Knight Riders outplayed each team for 12 consecutive games to lift their fourth title. A tournament that marked the return of cricket post Covid-19, CPL 2020 did lag behind the previous seasons in terms of quality of cricket; a large part was played by the substandard pitches and unavailability of major foreign players. Between all that, we saw two teams in the finals, one proving to be unbeatable and the other performing beyond expectations to reach their first ever knockouts.
With the 8th edition of the CPL over, we look at the best possible playing XI from the tournament:
Glenn Phillips (WK)
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One of the bright spots in an otherwise dismal batting display for the Jamaica Tallawahs this season, Philipps scored 316 runs at an average of 35.11 and a strike rate of 127.41. Philipps walks into the side as the opener as well as the wicket-keeper, because of his consistency throughout the tournament.
Lendl Simmons
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The highest run-getter this season, Lendl Simmons walking into this side is a no-brainer, but if someone would have said the same at the halfway stage of the tournament, it would have been debatable. Having below-par returns within the first half, Simmons peaked just at the correct time and ended the tournament with two consecutive unbeaten half-centuries. The Trinbago opener scored 356 runs at an average of 39.55. The Player of the Match in the finals, Simmons was backed by his skipper and team management despite having poor returns within the initial stages, which proved to be vital in the later half of the season.
Shimron Hetmyer
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At number 3 slot we have Guyanese batsman Shimron Hetmyer. Hetmyer scored a total of 267 runs at an average of 33.37 and a strike rate of 125.94. The Guyana Amazon Warriors batsman scored 3 fifties throughout the season with the best score of 71*.
Darren Bravo
He is not considered a decent T20 batsman, but Darren Bravo pipped rather fancier names like Pooran and Munro to earn a spot in this XI, because of his incredible consistency throughout the tournament. Bravo served as the calm between the storms named Munro and Pollard for TKR and when he managed to stay till the end, he didn’t shy away from taking on the bowlers. Bravo scored 297 runs at a astonishing average of 59.4 and finished as the third highest run getter of the season.
Kieron Pollard (C)
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He won the Man of the tournament for his magnificent show both with the bat and the ball, the Trinbago Knight Riders skipper lit the tournament in every possible way; be it his power-hitting, slower balls and cutters while bowling or his sharp captaincy. There was no way the winning skipper wasn’t going to make it to this side. Pollard aggregated 207 runs at an average of 51.75 and a strike rate of 204.95. His innings of 72 off 28 balls against the Tridents from a virtually impossible situation gave his side an almost unbeatable feel. With the ball, Pollard picked 8 wickets, including a 4-fer in the final.
Jason Holder
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The Barbados Tridents skipper had a horrible season as a captain, but he was incredible with both the bat and the ball. Holder aggregated 192 runs at an average of 21.33 and a strike rate of 140.14, which includes a match-winning 69 in their last league match. With the ball he picked atleast 1 wicket within the Powerplay every game, barring a couple. His 10 wickets coming at an economy of 6.64 is enough for him to walk into this side.
Mohammad Nabi
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The Afghanistan all-rounder was one of the key reasons why St.Lucia Zouks qualified for the semifinals for the first time ever. Nabi excelled with the ball within the powerplays and played decent knocks with the bat coming in within the later stages of an innings. Though his form tapered off towards the end of the season, Nabi had done enough to secure a spot in this XI. He aggregated 156 runs at an average of 19.5, which included crucial runs at the death in a couple of games. With 12 wickets, Nabi stands joint-fifth in the wicket-takers list including a five-wicket haul.
Rayad Emrit
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The St.Kitts and Nevis Patriots skipper was consistent throughout the tournament, but never got the limelight as his team failed to impress in mostly all the games this season. Emrit finished with 11 wickets from 10 games, bowling mostly in middle and death overs. His economy of 5.97 makes him a valuable asset for the side, especially for his death bowling. Moreover, his knack of picking crucial wickets earns him a spot within the XI, ahead of the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Naveen ul Haq.
Scott Kuggeleijn
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The highest wicket-taker of the season and St.Lucia Zouks’ Scott Kuggeleijn was consistent throughout the tournament and barely went wicketless. Coming in as a replacement, Kuggeleijn picked 17 wickets in the tournament while bowling the crucial overs in the powerplays as well as death. Not only that, but he was also Sammy’s go-to bowler whenever he needed wickets and Kuggeleijn delivered more often than not. Unarguably he was the best pacer in the tournament and walks into this side as the first-choice pace bowler.
Sandeep Lamichhane
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The wrist-spinner from Nepal, Sandeep Lamicchane was pretty impressive this season, bowling most of his overs within the middle overs. Except for the semi-finals against TKR, Sandeep picked at least 1 wicket in every game. Sandeep maintained a formidable economy of 5.28. He walks into the side as the lone wrist-spinner. Though there were more experienced campaigners like Tahir and Rashid Khan, Lamichhane’s consistency stood out.
Mujeeb Ur Rehman
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Quite unfortunate to finish up with just 3 wins, the second-highest wicket-taker of the season Mujeeb is a certainty in this side. Bowling few overs in the Powerplays and few in the middle, Mujeeb kept chipping in with wickets and was one of the key reasons why Jamaica reached the semi-finals. Having 16 wickets from 11 games, Mujeeb maintained an economy of 5.29.
Special Mention
Colin Munro and Kyle Mayers were in for the number 3 spot, but Hetmyer’s consistency along with his match-winning contributions in games where the openers failed makes him a far better choice.
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The same goes for Pooran, Chase and Russell, who were in contention for the number 4 and 5 slots. The consistency of Bravo and Pollard is unmatched by any other player.
The toss-up between Dwayne Bravo, Kesrick Williams and Naveen ul Haq for the death bowling option ended up with Emrit taking the spot, because of his superb economy and the knack of being amongst wickets.
Imran Tahir, Akeal Hossain, Chris Green, Rashid Khan and Fawad Ahmed narrowly missed out the spots for the two spinners. Hardly you see Rashid Khan not walking into the team of the tournament, but this is how it goes. Mujeeb and Lamicchane have been able to maintain pressure better than anyone else.
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