IPL 2018: All-time top Indian Premier League squad

The Indian Premier League is stepping into its second decade. The first ten years of the league have changed the dynamics of cricket. The unthinkable has now become plausible and 20 off the final over now seem achievable.

The first decade was filled with entertainment, thrill, emotions and nail biters. A lot of games went down to the wire and the fans were glued to their seats. As we step into a new decade of the Indian Premier League, let us take a look at the all-time IPL XI from the first ten years.

#1 Chris Gayle

A strike rate of 151.20 with a batting average of 41.20. Even the most optimistic T20 fans wouldn't have bargained for these stats. Chris Gayle has scored 3626 runs in 101 IPL games including five centuries and twenty-one half centuries.

The West Indian is a player who can win a game for his side single-handedly. The opener is unarguably the first pick in this side with two orange caps to his name. The only thing missing from his cabinet is the Indian Premier League trophy, which he will want to procure before he retires from the shortest format of the game.

#2 David Warner

A pocket-sized dynamite who can play to the need of the team, David Warner has represented two franchises in the ten years of the league so far and has managed to score 4014 runs at an average of 40.54 with a strike rate of 142.13. Warner has smashed the bowlers in all parts of the park since he made his IPL debut in 2009 for the Delhi Daredevils.

Warner led his franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad to the title in 2016, when they defeated Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final.

#3 Virat Kohli

Before the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League, Virat Kohli had no centuries to his name. In 2016, the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper scored four centuries and seven fifties to bag the orange cap with a record 973 runs to his name.

Kohli has scored 4418 runs at an average of 37.44 with a strike rate of 129.82 in the IPL. In the first three seasons of the tournament, Kohli was trying to cement his place in the side but thereafter he transformed into an all-round player who started scoring heaps of runs in the league. Kohli is one of the top picks in this side.

#4 Suresh Raina

The master of the Indian Premier League, Raina has been phenomenal in all ten editions of the IPL so far.

The all-rounder did not miss a single game in the first nine editions of the tournament. He is the leading run-scorer in the IPL with 4540 runs to his name, he has scored these runs at an average of 34.13 with an impressive strike rate of 139.09.

Raina has also clinched twenty-five wickets and his fielding is an added advantage for his team, and has lit up the Indian Premier League since its arrival.

#5 Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians Captain Rohit Sharma makes it to the all-time XI. Rohit is in the top five on the list of the leading run scorers of the tournament scoring 4207 runs with an average of 32.61 with a fair strike rate of 130.89.

Rohit has also scalped fifteen wickets including a hat trick he took for the Deccan Chargers. The MI skipper has been a part of an IPL winning franchise on four occasions, once with the Deccan Chargers and thrice with the Mumbai Indians. Rohit Sharma grabs a spot at number five in the all-time IPL XI.

#6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain and keeper)

The most obvious choice in this team is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni has led the Chennai Super Kings to two titles and has been the most successful skipper in the IPL. His batting and wicket keeping ability add to make a lethal combination.

The former India skipper has scored 3561 runs at an average of 37.88 with a strike rate of 136.75 in the IPL, and most of his runs have come in the lower middle order (no.5,6 and 7). He has affected 106 dismissals in form of catches and stumpings. Dhoni has finished many last ball thrillers including the famous one where he scored 23 off Axar Patel's final over to win the game for Rising Pune Super Giant.

#7 Yusuf Pathan

Handy with both bat and ball, Yusuf Pathan has scored 2904 runs in the IPL. He averages 29.63 with the bat and has a magnificent strike rate of 145.49. Pathan holds the record for the fastest fifty in the tournament, he scored a fifty of 15 balls.

The all-rounder has picked up 42 wickets with the ball with an economy of 7.39 which is considered good in T20 cricket. Pathan is a hard hitter of the ball and is crucial for his team's success. He has been a part of three tournament wins.

He represented the Rajasthan Royals in the first edition where he pulled off a 36 ball century against the Mumbai Indians.

#8 Dwayne Bravo

An all-rounder who is wonderful with the bat, extraordinary with the ball and athletic in the field, transform an all-rounder into a complete all-rounder.

Dwayne Bravo has been the best all-rounder to have played the IPL. Bravo averages about 23 with the willow in hand with a strike rate of 125.94, and has finished matches successfully alongside MS Dhoni.

Bravo has picked up 122 wickets with a strike rate of 16.39, and his economy of about 8 is impressive for a bowler who usually bowls at the death. Bravo makes it to the side as an all-rounder.

#9 Amit Mishra

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra is behind Lasith Malinga in terms of most wickets in the Indian Premier League.

Mishra has been a consistent wicket-taker in the tournament and has also made several useful contributions in the lower order with his timely cameos. Mishra has scalped 134 wickets in 126 matches.

The wrist spinner has a strike rate of 19.69 and his economy of 7.41 is brilliant for a spinner who tosses every ball up. Mishra has taken three IPL hat tricks which is the most for any bowler in the IPL.

#10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The Purple Cap winner of the previous edition of the tournament. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has picked up 111 wickets in 90 matches with a strike rate of 12.07. His economy of 7.08 is tremendous for a bowler who bowls two overs in the powerplay and two at the back end of the innings.

Kumar has added plenty of tricks to his bag, he has worked on his pace recently and has managed to increase it. He has also added the yorker and the knuckleball in his armoury. The pacer has replaced his tag of 'the swing bowler' to a tag of 'the complete bowler' in quick time.

#11 Lasith Malinga

154 wickets in 110 IPL games. The side arm action has worked brilliantly for the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Indian Premier League.

Malinga has represented only one franchise in the tournament so far and has given them the best possible results.

He has an economy rate of 6.86 which is considered splendid in T20 cricket. Malinga has sent the stumps flying over the years. He has been a part of the title-winning side thrice. The Sri Lankan procured the purple cap in 2011 taking 28 wickets in a single edition. It is a no-brainer to have Malinga in the all-time XI.

Honorable mentions:

Plenty of other players were considered but not selected due to constraints such as team balance, foreigner quota constraints. The players considered were: