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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) both had a typical IPL campaign in 2023.
RCB found it difficult to string a consistent run of wins, won matches that few expected them to win, and lost some that no one saw them losing. MI, meanwhile, looked down and out multiple times but found a way to slip into the playoffs.
While RCB, for the umpteenth time, were over-dependent on their most experienced batting trio, five-time champions MI made up for an injury-hit bowling attack with stellar contributions from all batters, especially the youth.
These aspects come up when one tries to pick a combined 11 (plus one impact player) from both teams based on the season. It needs to be noted here that this team is picked position-wise.
For example, although Cameron Green can play as a finisher, he's only been considered for the position he batted most at - No. 3.
Openers: Ishan Kishan (wk) and Faf du Plessis (c)
'Why no Virat Kohli? He scored two centuries and was in the race for the Orange Cap!' You are right if you are thinking that as Kohli indeed had an excellent season. But here we'll have to play the team balance card.
Firstly, only one wicketkeeper across these teams performed well - Ishan Kishan - so it's impossible to leave him out.
Then, Faf du Plessis was the most consistent batter of the tournament with ten 40-plus scores, with five of those coming in back-to-back matches. The 38-year-old was like Arsenal in the English Premier League - led the Orange Cap table for most of the season, only giving it up at the end stage to Shubman Gill. The South African will also lead this team.
Rohit Sharma would have been a better captaincy choice but batting-wise, he had one of his worst seasons.
Middle order: Glenn Maxwell, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, and Nehal Wadhera,
The middle order picked itself in this team. It's where RCB struggled the most and MI fared the best.
Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, and Nehal Wadhera all performed much better than their RCB counterparts. They are perfect for the batting positions they had in MI and will take No. 4 to 7 here, respectively.
RCB's wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik had a forgettable season and none of Mahipal Lomror, Michael Bracewell, or Anuj Rawat did enough to warrant a place.
The only RCB guy who did was all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (400 runs from 14 matches at 33.33 and 183.49), who just pipped fellow Aussie Cameron Green (452 runs from 16 matches at 50.22 and 160.28) for the No. 3 spot.
Maxwell started well and Green converted a slow start to a big finish but the former had superior strike rates against pace (196.96) and spin (172.26) gave him the edge.
Maxwell will also provide a crucial spin option, considering (as we'll see ahead) there's only one spinner who enjoyed a wicket-taking season across both teams.
Bowlers: Piyush Chawla, Mohammed Siraj, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal
In Mohammed Siraj, Jason Behrendorff, and Akash Madhwal, this combined team admittedly has three bowlers with similar profiles.
However, Siraj and Behrendorff can easily take the new ball with Madhwal, who picked up an excellent five-wicket haul against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), taking a chunk of the slot overs.
IPL veteran Piyush Chawla was at his best in IPL 2023 and picked up the most wickets (22) for an Indian leg-spinner in the season. He'll lead the spin bowling attack of this team with Maxwell in support.
Impact player: RCB's Harshal Patel
This team with its seven explosive batters will mostly work while batting first. Although Maxwell (right-arm off-spin), David (right-arm off-spin), and Wadhera (leg-spin) can hold four overs on their day, it's a big risk. So, depending on the situation, one of the batters can then switch for Harshal Patel.
Harshal Patel didn't have a great season but still was RCB's second-highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps, which is equal to Madhwal and Behrendorff. He also provides a bit of batting so can come in at any time in the game.
