IPL 2024: Here’s the Combined Best Team of the Tournament

Sunil Narine and Virat Kohli, the MVPs as we look at the combined greatest team of the tournament for IPL 2024. 

17 years and counting as the biggest T20 tournament in the world, the Indian Premier League successfully concludes yet another season in the form of IPL 2024. In a first since long as Kolkata Knight Riders end their decade-long wait for an IPL trophy as they completely thrash Sunrisers Hyderabad in a one-sided final to win their third IPL trophy. KKR are now only behind Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, who have 5 titles each.

It’s quite amazing how things take a sharp turn in the IPL. The team that was toying with the bowlers throughout the tournament,  posted totals of 250+ thrice in the tournament, and chased a target of 167 in just 9 overs, but just could not even cross 120 on the day that was most needed. But such is the cruel format that no matter how best you are, there can be such days where you may have absolute zero control.

But taking nothing away from Sunrisers, who were superb through the tournament alongside Kolkata Knight Riders, the deserving champions. While these two teams were the standouts, we also saw some superbly amazing performances in the batting and bowling departments. No harm in saying, but Sunil Narine was a class apart this season. His performance could well be the most valuable performance in the history of IPL.

But who other than Narine impressed the most? Well, let’s look at the greatest team of the tournament for IPL 2024. As usual, we will stick by the IPL rules by selecting a maximum of 4 overseas players. Apart from this, we will try to make sure we have 5-6 bowling options, batting depth till 7, and a wicket-keeper in the final 11. Alright then, let’s look at the greatest team of the tournament for IPL 2024.  

Top-order- Sunil Narine, Travis Head & Virat Kohli

Starting with the openers, there were actually many openers who were impressive throughout the tournament. There were Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head for SRH. There were Phil Salt and Sunil Narine for KKR. Then there were Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis for CSK. Apart from these six, the ones who impressed were Ruturaj Gaikwad for CSK, KL Rahul for LSG, Jake Fraser-McGurk for DC, etc.

But the ones that impressed the most looking at the overall performance were Sunil Narine, Travis Head, and Virat Kohli. Sunil Narine is actually the MVP of this season. Not only did he impress in the batting department by scoring 488 runs at a strike rate of 181, but he also took 17 wickets at a superb economy rate of 6.7. Narine also won the Most Valuable Player award by scoring 450 points; that’s almost 50% more than that of 2nd-placed Virat Kohli. Thanks to Gautam Gambhir for promoting Narine up the top. 

Supporting him shall be Travis Head, and what an electrifying opening pair will that be. Barring the knockout performance where he got 2 ducks, Travis Head should be really proud of the way he played throughout the tournament alongside Abhishek Sharma. If not for those pace-friendly wickets early on in the Knockouts, Head could have had more success. But even then, scoring 567 runs at a strike rate of 191.6 is extraordinary. He also hit 64 fours this season; the most any player this season. 

Finally, at number 3 shall be Virat Kohli, who ends the season on a high as well as on a disappointment. While Virat Kohli should be extremely happy for the way he contributed to his team, his aggressive batting combined with energy in the field was simply outstanding to watch. But again, Kohli must be disappointed for 17 times in a row for not converting those runs into a trophy. After an inspirational comeback, RCB just couldn’t cross the line as they lost a key Eliminator to RR. 

Middle-order – Sai Sudharsan & Riyan Parag

The middle-order is dominated by the two uncapped Indian players, who impressed the most this season. Both, Sai and Parag had a dream season scoring more than 500 runs for their team. While Sai Sudharsan scored 527 runs from just 12 innings at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 141.3, Riyan was a touch better with 573 runs from 14 innings at an average of 52 and a strike rate of 149.2. Both played with great maturity and consistency throughout the season. 

Finishers – Nicholas Pooran & Heinrich Klaasen

Coming to the finishers, look no beyond Nicholas Pooran and Heinrich Klaasen. Talk about explosive batting or consistency, both were top-notch on that front. If you bat at 5-6, one can either be belligerent or consistent, but can’t be both. But Pooran and Klaasen proved this theory wrong. While Pooran scored 499 runs at a strike rate of 178.2, Klaasen scored 479 runs at a strike rate of 171.1. Scoring near about 500 runs at such a strike rate is simply exemplary.  

Bowlers – Harshal Patel, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah & Varun Chakravarthy  

Talking about the bowlers, this is an area that seems completely dominated by the Indian players. Not only do we have the top 7 wicket-takers as all Indian players, but the four bowlers in our list are also Indian players. Talking about the best pacer of the tournament, there’s none other than Jasprit Bumrah. Be it taking wickets in bulk or being economical, Bumrah had both. Overall, he could take 20 wickets at a solid economy rate of 6.5; the best among all bowlers this season. 

Alongside Bumrah, if there are two pacers who impressed the most, those are Purple cap holder Harshal Patel and best uncapped bowler, Harshit Rana. Purple Patel as we call him, brought his 2022 self on the table by making his variations work magic this season, and his 24 wickets are proof of his fantastic performance. With Harshal, Harshit Rana was easily the most impressive uncapped pacer with 19 wickets from just 11 innings. 

Finally, for the best spinner in the tournament, Varun Chakravarthy felt an upright winner alongside his partner, Sunil Narine, who also made it to the squad. Chakravarthy finished as the second-best wicket-taker with 21 wickets to his name from just 15 innings. Chakravarthy had 20 wickets in 2023, but he bettered his performance this season with a better average and economy rate. 

IPL 2024 Greatest Team of the Tournament: 

1. Sunil Narine
2. Travis Head
3. Virat Kohli (c)
4. Sai Sudharsan
5. Riyan Parag
6. Nicholas Pooran
7. Heinrich Klaasen (wk)
8. Harshal Patel
9. Harshit Rana
10. Jasprit Bumrah
11. Varun Chakravarthy

So, that’s about the best team of the tournament for IPL 2024. Other than the 11 players that are mentioned here, Andre Russell could be the best 12th man in the team. But if we had to make an alternate best 11, Abhishek Sharma and Jake Fraser-Mcgurk as openers, Ruturaj Gaikwad at 3, Sanju Samson at 4, Rishabh Pant at 5, Andre Russell at 6, and Sam Curran at 7. For the bowlers, we have Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins, T Natarajan, and Avesh Khan. 

Thanks for reading! What’s your take on the IPL 2024 team of the tournament? Please email your comments to business@cricalytics.com

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