An XI of the greatest ever IPL players

IPL is about to complete its ten years and has played a vital role in changing the way the game is played now. It was the first franchise-based T20 league that had the glamour and the money comparable to the football ones. It is also responsible for the growth and acceptance of the T20 as a form of cricket.

Now after ten years, IPL is no longer just a cricket league, it's a festival now, which is celebrated all over the world. Its impact has been such that every other cricketing nation now has a franchise based T20 league in their country, yet none has been as successful as the IPL.

Australia's Big Bash comes the closest, but with Indian players not participating in it, its viewership is still not quite like the IPL's. However, the IPL's contribution to the world cricket is much more than the financial revenue it has generated, it has given the world cricket players like Shaun Marsh, David Warner, R Ashwin and many more, who went on to play Test cricket for their respective countries.

With the best league in the world turning ten, let's create an XI that has defined the IPL over the years.

Openers

David Warner

A left-handed flamboyant opener with the ability to decide a game's fate in the powerplay itself is every franchise's dream. In addition to that, the consistency with which Warner does that makes him even more desirable.

The Australian has grown as a player and as a captain in the IPL. His fight for the foreign opener's slot was against none other than Chris Gayle, but Warner was slightly ahead due to his consistency and the fact that he had won an IPL as a captain.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit has had a very successful IPL career- both as a captain and as a player. He is the only captain to hold the IPL thrice and as a player, he has won it four times. Many believe that the IPL captaincy stint with Mumbai Indians has made him a better player.

Sharma has captained MI for five seasons and has won the tournament in three of them. He is also one of the two players to score above 350 runs in each season of the IPL, the other one being Suresh Raina.



Middle-Order

Virat Kohli (VC)

Kohli recently became the most expensive player in the IPL history as RCB retained him for a whopping Rs 17 crores. Yet, most of the cricket experts called it a bargain as Kohli's value in the auction pool was estimated to be around Rs 20 crores. This speaks volumes about the player.

He is arguably the best batsman across formats and has been with RCB since the very first season. Kohli's rise in the international cricket has a lot to do with his exploits in the IPL.

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina, in many ways, is already an IPL legend. He is the highest run-getter in the tournament and has never had a bad season with the bat. Raina has featured in nine playoffs, which is the highest along with MS Dhoni himself.

The southpaw is one of those players who've defined the IPL over the years. IPL also gave his international career a boost as he learned the art of finishing games in the tournament.

MS Dhoni (WK) (C)

MS Dhoni has been synonymous with the Chennai franchise in IPL. Dhoni has captained in the most number of matches and has also featured in the most number of IPL finals.

A destructive wicketkeeper-batsman and a captain par excellence, Dhoni is easily one of the most valuable players of all-time.

All-rounders

Kieron Pollard

Just like every other Windies player, Pollard's forte is T20 cricket. He has given the Mumbai fans many wonderful moments to cherish and is one of the faces who define Mumbai Indians.

Pollard will partner Bravo as the all-rounder in this XI.

Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo belongs to that rare breed of T20 players which every team loves to have. He can bowl at any stage of the game and can also play match turning cameos towards the end of the innings.

Under the leadership of MSD, he improved as a death bowler and honed his batting skills as well. In addition to this, his fielding abilities are par excellence and he has taken some absolute stunners during the IPL.

Bowlers

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only bowler to have won the Purple cap for two consecutive years in the IPL. In the last three seasons, he has taken his game to another level. During the IPL, Bhuvi learnt the art of nailing yorkers which has made him a complete bowler as he was already good at the start of the innings.

Amit Mishra

Amit Mishra is the lone spinner in the team and he faced some stiff competition for the spot. He has been chosen over the likes of Harbhajan, R Ashwin, and Narine who've been pillars for their respective teams. He is the highest wicket-taker in the IPL among the spinners.

Lasith Malinga

Lasith Malinga has been one of the most valuable players over the years in the IPL. In fact, such was his aura, that teams often took his four overs out of the equation while assessing what could be a good score on the pitch.

His ability to nail the yorkers on demand made him the most dangerous bowler to face in the death overs.

Ashish Nehra

Ashish Nehra, despite having an injury prone career, is seventh on the list of the highest wicket-takers with over 100 IPL scalps to his credit. The veteran had the ability to trouble even the best of batsmen even after having as many as 12 surgeries during his eighteen-year long cricketing career.