The 2024 Indian Premier League season came to an end on Sunday night, with Kolkata Knight Riders clinching their third league title in a dominant style. Mentored by Gautam Gambhir, coached by Chandrakant Pandit and led by Shreyas Iyer, KKR delivered one of the most dominant campaigns to lift the trophy.
KKR topped the league stage and went on to hammer Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1 and the final. In the ultimate clash on Sunday, the Knight Riders bowled out Pat Cummins-led SRH for just 113 and chased down the target in just 10.3 overs.
While deciding the team of the tournament, we have to stick to the constraints that IPL have in place for any playing XI – that is a maximum of four overseas players. This means a few overseas players who have had a terrific tournament will miss out in this team. So let’s have a look at the best XI of IPL 2024 with an additional impact player option.
Top Order: Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders), Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Abhishek Sharma (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
The start of KKR’s dominance started with the resurgence of Sunil Narine with not just the ball but with the bat as well. The man who was the centrepiece in KKR’s first two title wins a decade ago, walked away with the ‘Most valuable player’ award in IPL 2024.
Narine was asked to open the innings and he turned the clock back, scoring 488 runs at an average of 34.85 and strike rate of 180.74, including one century and three half-centuries. Narine was magnificent with the ball as well, picking 17 wickets at an economy rate of 6.69.
Virat Kohli would be looking forward to carrying his form into the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup
Virat Kohli had an underwhelming first half of the tournament where he was criticised for his scoring rate but delivered one of the great campaigns. Kohli upped his game in the second half and won Orange Cap for the most runs in the competition, scoring 741 runs at an average of 61.75 while striking at 154.69. The RCB superstar registered one century and five half-centuries in the season and smashed the second most (38) sixes.
There were multiple candidates for this spot including Travis Head and Sanju Samson but Head missed out due to the overseas limit whereas Samson’s form faded in the later stages.
Abhishek Sharma edges out both, having smashed 484 runs at an incredible strike rate of 204.21 while averaging 32.26, including three fifties. The SRH opener struck the most (42) sixes in the competition and had the second-best strike rate among batters with more than 200 runs.
Middle Order: Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals), Heinrich Klaasen (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants), Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Rajasthan Royals’ continuous backing of Riyan Parag, even when the world laughed at them, finally paid off in IPL 2024 with the youngster producing an excellent campaign. Batting at number four, Parag was the third-highest run-getter in the tournament with 573 runs at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of 149.21. Parag registered four half-centuries in the season, often stepping up when the team was in trouble.
Along with their openers, Heinrich Klaasen played a pivotal role in Sunrisers Hyderabad reaching the final of IPL 2024. Batting in the middle order, the South African batter scored 479 runs in the season at an average of 39.91 while striking at 171.07.
Klaasen smashed four half-centuries in the tournament, including a crucial 34-ball 50 in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals. Klaasen was solid behind the wickets for SRH and he would be the wicket-keeper in the best XI of IPL 2024.
Nicholas Pooran was the standout batter for Lucknow Super Giants in a batting line-up that struggled throughout the competition. Batting mostly at number 5/6, Pooran scored 499 runs at an average of 62.37 while striking at 178.21, and hit three half-centuries including 75 off 29 against Mumbai Indians.
Andre Russell did not have to do much with the bat for KKR this season but his impact with the ball was massive. The Jamaican all-rounder bagged 19 wickets in the tournament, striking every 9.25 balls and often dismissing the opposition’s top batters. Russell also made 222 runs from nine innings at a strike rate of 185 while averaging 31.71.
Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav (Delhi Capitals), Harshit Rana (Kolkata Knight Riders), Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians), Varun Chakravarthy (Kolkata Knight Riders)
The left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was exceptional for Delhi Capitals, whose home venue in Delhi was a nightmare for bowlers. He picked 16 wickets from 11 games in the tournament, conceding at 8.65 and striking every 16.12 deliveries.
Jasprit Bumrah had the best economy rate among the top 10 bowlers this IPL
Jasprit Bumrah was an anomaly in IPL 2024, showing just how far ahead of the pack he truly is. The Mumbai Indians fast bowler stood tall amongst the rest of the bowlers in the competition, having the best economy rate for anyone who bowled more than four overs.
Bumrah picked 20 wickets from 13 games at 6.48 runs per over and at 15.5 balls per wicket. To highlight how brilliant he was, none of the other top 10 wicket-takers had an economy of less than 8. Bumrah is one of the smartest players in this game and would be the captain of the best XI of IPL 2024.
To partner Bumrah in the pace unit, we have Harshit Rana who was one of the impressive players in the competition. Having a hit-the-deck bowling type, Rana bowled at a good speed throughout the season and showed some variations too. He snared 19 wickets from 11 innings at an economy of 9.08 while striking every 13.31 balls.
Varun Chakravarthy was one of the key players for KKR in their title-winning campaign. The mystery spinner had a slow start to the season but was exceptional in the second half, ending up as the second-highest wicket-taker. Varun claimed 21 wickets from 14 innings at an economy of 8.04 and strike rate of 14.28.
Impact Player: T Natarajan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
T Natarajan will be a new ball bowler in the side, partnering Bumrah in the powerplay overs. Natarajan, like Bumrah, is known for troubling batters with his yorkers and will have a big role to play with the fielders inside the 30-yard circle.
Natarajan went for plenty of runs in the final but had a phenomenal season before that. He got 19 wickets at an economy rate of 8.84 before the game with KKR, which fell to 8.56 in the first six overs.