Former India cricketer Pravin Amre has joined Delhi Capitals as assistant coach for the upcoming two seasons of the Indian Premier League, the team announced on Wednesday (6 January 2020).The 52-year-old Amre, who served as the franchise&#39;s head talent scout between 2014-2019, will join the existing coaching staff, headed by Ricky Ponting.&quot;I am grateful to the Delhi Capitals management for having me on board. With the team having reached its very first IPL final in 2020, this is certainly an exciting time to be back there. I look forward to working with Ricky again, and all the players,&quot; Amre was quoted as saying in a press release.&quot;I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Pravin Amre back to the Delhi Capitals side,&quot; said CEO Dhiraj Malhotra, on the latest development.&quot;Ours is a team with an Indian core, and that thought process applies to our coaching staff as well.&quot;Few coaches know the domestic cricket scene in India as thoroughly as Amre does. He has been instrumental in getting the likes of Shreyas, Rishabh and Prithvi to our franchise, and his experience will once again be extremely valuable for us. We are delighted to have him on board.&quot;Amre, who played 11 Tests and 37 ODIs for India, has had a prolific run in domestic cricket as a player and coach.He coached Mumbai to three Ranji Trophy titles, and has also worked as a personal coach with several India internationals.

The 52-year-old, who served as the franchise's head talent scout between 2014-2019, will join the existing coaching staff, headed by Ricky Ponting

Delhi Capitals

Amre joins Delhi Capitals as assistant coach

Every T20 league brings a local flavour which distinguishes it from other leagues. IPL already rises above its peers owing to the second largest population in a world driven by an unparalleled love towards cricket. BCCI being one of the first-movers in the territory of franchise cricket also played its part.&nbsp;On cricketing grounds, India, with its rich history of spinners was supposed to bring them to the forefront of T20 cricket, even though experts had written their obituary at the inception of the format. That is what happened. The use of spinners in IPL was at its peak in 2019 which could well be termed as <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/a-season-of-turn-and-bounce-in-ipl-201954" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a season of turn and bounce.&nbsp;</a>When the 2020 season was announced to be staged in the UAE, it appeared to be another grand season for the tweakers. Teams with a good spin attack were seen at an advantage. Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals made it to every experts&rsquo; probable Top 4 as their squad boasted of the most experienced spinners. Royal Challengers Bangalore roped in the leg-spinner Adam Zampa as a replacement for the unavailable pace bowler, Kane Richardson.&nbsp;However, what happened drew stark juxtaposition with the expectations. The pitches were conducive to fast bowlers and we witnessed pace ruling the roost.It was uncharacteristic behaviour from the UAE pitches. In T20Is involving the Test playing nations in the UAE since 2018, spinners took wickets at 21.5 runs apiece while getting a wicket every 20 balls. The economy stayed at 6.5 runs per over. In IPL 2020, spinners went at 34 runs per wicket and 27.1 deliveries per wicket while conceding runs at 7.5 per over.&nbsp;Let us analyze the middle phase - overs 7 to 15 in every T20 innings. The spinners are supposed to be more dominant in that phase, which had been the case in IPL since 2012. The numbers since 2017 tell the tale.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F294fa598752839f1bf517dcf045b815cf53ef358.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">While the average and strike-rate for pacers is marginally higher than it was in 2017, 2020 remains to be the only edition in this timeline when pacers managed better numbers than spinners.&nbsp;It is worth noting that the economy-rate during this phase this season was 7.4, which is pretty much similar to what it had been in the previous editions. Spinners were still able to cease the flow of runs. Ample turn was there if the bowlers ripped the ball, like Ravi Bishnoi&rsquo;s googlies. However, wickets did not come. The difference was not the turn but the speed of it.&nbsp;In the UAE, the ball turns but at a slower speed allowing the batsmen to adjust themselves. On Indian pitches, the ball grips, bounces higher with sharper turn, giving batsmen less to no chance to adapt. CSK&rsquo;s home ground, Chepauk is a prime example.&nbsp;Consequently, the spinners took a backseat this year in the wicket&rsquo;s department. In 2018, Rashid Khan was at the second spot in the list of most wicket-takers. In 2019, Imran Tahir won the Purple Cap. This year, Tahir played only three games despite being available throughout the season. Although, it was due to CSK&rsquo;s squad combination but they suffered the most due to the unforeseen behaviour of the pitches.&nbsp;Having built a dynasty on the viciously turning pitches of Chepauk, they seemed helpless on the pacy tracks of the UAE.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fa90c0735a3597d1457540868b50d65fa2d622ddb.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Ravindra Jadeja had one of his worst years with the ball averaging 53 runs per wicket and 36.3 balls per wicket - both second worst in a season. In other repercussions, a brilliant all-rounder like Mohammad Nabi could play only one game. In CPL 2020, he picked 12 wickets in as many games at an economy of 5.1 runs per over with his off-breaks. But acknowledging the nature of pitches, Sunrisers Hyderabad opted for a pace bowling all-rounder. After Mitchell Marsh was injured, Jason Holder took what was supposed to be Nabi&rsquo;s spot prior to the tournament. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the second highest wicket-taker in CPL 2020 went wicketless in his two games.&nbsp;On the other hand, the finalists, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals flourished. MI were able to continue with their strategy of two overseas pacers. The only vulnerability of their squad - a thin spin department - was never highlighted. Similarly, DC paired Kagiso Rabada with Anrich Nortje. The duo took 52 wickets between them.&nbsp;The pitches were expected to slow down but even that did not happen. The track for the final in Dubai was lively. Only Sharjah slowed down with a considerable decline in the par score.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F6f041c7f892a06850572c5c71ce8c931001b7de8.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">It is not only spinners who suffered. The contingent of pacers who relied on change of pace also faltered. For DC, Keemo Paul did not get a game and Harshal Patel tapered off. Daniel Sams, the highest wicket-taker in the BBL 2019/20 couldn&rsquo;t pick a single wicket in three games. Jaydev Unadkat and Tom Curran were innocuous.&nbsp;RCB bought Dale Steyn and Isuru Udana. Both were excellent in the Mzansi Super League prior to the auction. The South African pitches provided grip to their variations. In IPL, they were deserted of that additive.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F654c3a61cc06778e5e9ff6176094bc3c2408940e.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">The assistance was only available at Sharjah but got neutralized by the miniscule size of the ground. Chris Gayle <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/top-tactical-blunders-in-ipl-2020-1605694744301" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">exploited</a> it wonderfully in <a href="https://www.cricket.com/match-score/197733/summary/kkr-vs-kxip-match-46-indian-premier-league-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Match 46</a>, though against the spinners.&nbsp;A combination of true pitches and big grounds allowed the pacers with sheer pace or quality swing or both to populate the Top 10 wicket-takers list of the season. Rabada won the Purple Cap, Jofra Archer was the Most Valuable Player of the season despite his team finishing with a wooden spoon and Trent Boult levelled the feat of most wickets in the Powerplay in any season (16). Spinners bowled only 16.5 percent of overs in the Powerplay this year compared to 25.2 percent in 2019. Jasprit Bumrah gathered over 1,000 points in Criclytics MVP list of the season solely on the back of his bowling.&nbsp;All these developments this year created the highest difference between the bowling average of pacers and spinners.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fb7464eefa046a73a51c925ef1ebf62978ed72d9d.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Hence, 2020 became an outlying season in IPL in terms of pace bowling. It was a kind of season we won&rsquo;t likely be seeing anytime soon with the BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly asserting that the 2021 IPL will be staged in India.

Expectations backed spin but it was pace which ruled the roost in IPL 2020 

Trent Alexander Boult

Jasprit Jasbirsingh Bumrah

Anrich Arno Nortje

Kagiso Rabada

Jofra Chioke Archer

Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja

Dale Willem Steyn

Isuru Udana Tillakaratna

Indian Premier League, 2020

Chennai Super Kings

Mumbai Indians

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Kings XI Punjab

IPL 2020: An outlying season of pace over spin

Against all odds, the BCCI has managed to pull off the Indian Premier League (IPL) in UAE without any trouble whatsoever. Other than the 60 IPL matches, four Women&rsquo;s T20 Challenge matches too were played, slowly turning that event into an annual fixture as well. In the end however, there could be only one winner and it was Mumbai Indians who deservedly beat Delhi Capitals by five wickets in the grand finale in Dubai.While there were plenty of nail-biting finishes, Super Overs, teams etching out a win from the jaws of defeat, there were also some games which showed yawing gaps between the two sides on the day.We look back at five such games here:KXIP vs RCB, Match 6, Dubai: It was among the first of many KL Rahul master-classes this season. This time it was Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who were at the receiving end as Rahul mercilessly smashed the bowlers to all parts smashing an unbeaten 132 off 69 as Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) went on to post 206 for 3. RCB, who have a strong top-order were reduced to 4 for 3, which also included the wicket of Virat Kohli.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fcd70fd3ed77aebfed18ab56e187c9d9dd614cc67.jpg" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">AB de Villiers and Washington Sundar tried to salvage some pride, but the bowlers were clinical enough to ensure that RCB did not have a whiff, securing a 97-run victory &ndash; the biggest margin of victory in IPL 2020 &ndash; and a much-needed one that Punjab needed who were robbed of a victory against Delhi Capitals (DC) in their first match. This win over RCB would turn out to be their only win in their first seven matches.SRH vs KXIP, Match 22, Dubai: It looked like David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were back to their very best after putting on 160 for the first wicket in 15 overs against KXIP, who fought back extremely well in the death and let their opponents add just 41 in the final five overs. That&rsquo;s as good as things got for KXIP as SRH bowlers were clinical, picking up wickets at regular intervals to ensure KXIP never got into the game. In doing so, they not just won by 69 runs, but also wrapped things up inside 17 overs to give them their third win of the season.&nbsp;This was Warner and Bairstow&rsquo;s fifth 100-run stand and the second highest overall, after their mammoth 185 against Bangalore last year, which was also an IPL record for the best opening wicket partnership.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F096045e8907db468efc83fafc883561ad68f1d6d.png" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">KKR vs RCB, Match 39, Abu Dhabi: RCB were in excellent form going into this match having won six out of their nine matches, while KKR huffed and puffed their way to five wins in nine matches. Less than 10 days before this match, they were reduced to an 82-run loss against RCB in Sharjah and now, they had to set the record straight. However, that is not what happened as Mohammed Siraj ripped through the KKR top-order to finish with 3 for 8 in his four overs. KKR managed just 17 runs in their Powerplay, which was their lowest in the IPL. At 17 for 4 in six overs, the game was lost right there and despite a valiant 30 from Eoin Morgan, KKR managed to put on just 84 for 8 on the board, which RCB chased down with eight wickets and 39 balls to spare. Needless to say, KKR had a day to forget.CSK vs MI, Match 41, Sharjah: The Sharjah Cricket Stadium had been witness a few high-scoring matches IPL 2020, but it turned out to be a disastrous one for three-time champions CSK. CSK had lost four wickets inside three overs and were staring down the barrel from thereon, thanks to menacing spells from Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah. Sam Curran&rsquo;s 52 salvaged some pride in the end as CSK posted 114 for 9.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fff5b6d8ca150c2201217aed7c7859e0f4fdc01a1.JPG" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">In the absence of Rohit Sharma, it was Ishan Kishan (68*) who opened alongside Quinton de Kock (46*) for MI. The pair took MI home in 12.2 overs, avenging the defeat MI had suffered at the hands of CSK in the first match of the season.&nbsp;MI vs DC, Qualifier 1, Dubai: In a game where the stakes were high, DC were clearly not up to the mark as they succumbed to a 57-run defeat at the hands of MI. Chasing 201, DC were reduced to 20 for 4, with their top three dismissed for a duck. Marcus Stoinis (65) and Axar Patel (42) gave the team a bit of respectability with a 71-run stand, but that was not enough as DC, who had lost half their side with just 41 runs on the board went down, giving Mumbai a direct ticket to the final. After being put into bat, MI put in a strong performance with fifties from Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. Hardik Pandya then smacked five sixes in the end to add a cherry on top after which Boult and Bumrah took over picking up six wickets between them.&nbsp;

Here's a look back at matches that were won without giving the opponents a sniff

David Andrew Warner

Kannaur Lokesh Rahul

Suryakumar Ashok Yadav

IPL 2020: Matches that were totally one-sided

A majority of cricket experts called it wrong. There was an expectation of spin to win on the dry wickets in UAE. With only three venues and used pitches, it seemed like a matter of time when spinners will rage havoc. It never happened. The pacers proved to be the real match-winners in IPL 2020.&nbsp;Such was the dominance of pacers in IPL 2020 that the six of the<a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/1667/indian-premier-league-2020/most-valuable-player">&nbsp;top-10 most valuable players</a>, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/most-valuable-player-of-each-side-part-1-1605189727032" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the MVP of six teams</a> and top-four leading wicket-takers were all quickies. The question we try to answer here is who among them and their spin counterparts were the most impactful bowlers in IPL 2020.Similar to our analysis for the <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/the-most-impactful-batsmen-in-ipl-2020-usual-suspects-and-some-surprises-1605713034945" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">batsmen</a>, we feel that assessing the most impactful bowlers based on highest MVP points aggregated throughout the season is not a correct approach. It will lead to a disproportionate bias towards bowlers who played more matches or the bowlers that were just above average in most games.Hence, to arrive at the bowlers that had the most impact in IPL 2020, let us look at the players who finished as the best bowler in a match on most nights. Using this as a parameter, here is the list of cricket.com&rsquo;s most impactful bowlers in IPL 2020-&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F102e8fa64e875cec682eafd0e5b99ea3b48aa51a.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Since the rabbit is out of the hat, let us deal with the surprise first. Kagiso Rabada was the winner of the Purple Cap in IPL 2020. He took at least one wicket in 14 of the 17 games. However, while being among the wickets in most games, Rabada failed to deliver the impact upfront that defines the outcome of the game.&nbsp;Twenty out Rabada&rsquo;s 30 wickets came in the death-overs. While he bowled a similar number of overs in the Powerplay (23 vs 23.4 at the death), he took just two wickets in this phase. Whenever he picked early wickets, he affected the outcome of the game, like in the Qualifier 2 when he got the all-important wicket of David Warner. This turned out to be the only game when Rabada finished as the best bowler on the night. Lack of wickets when it mattered resulted in the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2020, the bowler with the fifth-highest MVP bowling points, finish with no man of the match awards in this season.Jofra Archer was the MVP of IPL 2020, let alone be the most impactful bowler. He was the best bowler in a game on six occasions. These include Rajasthan&rsquo;s savoured victories against MI and KXIP later in the season. Archer bowled a spell of 2/26 and 2/31 in these games that saw runs in the range of 185-195. In all the other four games, he finished with a spell of less than run a ball while picking at least two wickets.One can argue that if not for the presence of the other, either of Jasprit Bumrah or Trent Boult could have toppled Archer for the top spot. However, a better argument would be that pressure they created as a pair led them to their best season in the IPL at an individual level.Both Bumrah and Boult were the best bowler in a game five times. There was a time later in the season when Bumrah came back from nowhere to threaten Rabada for the Purple Cap. He took 13 wickets for 45 runs in three penultimate games before the final, including a four-wicket haul against DC in the Qualifier 1.&nbsp;Boult too enjoyed most of his success against his former side, DC, against whom he finished with tournament figures of 9/96. This included a match-winning spell of 3/30 in the <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/live-report-ipl-2020-final-mi-vs-dc-1605015102744" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">final</a>. Leading the charts with the bat, Mumbai Indians had most match-winners with the ball as well. It signifies their absolute domination in IPL 2020-&nbsp;<img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F21943e3b8178785d41c09d0c578d96a6e91d8ddd.jpg" data-code="200" style="border-style: none; max-width: 100%; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(65, 65, 65); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&nbsp;A list of impactful bowlers in a T20 tournament cannot be complete without Rashid Khan. Like Boult and Bumrah, he too enjoyed most of his success against Delhi. Rashid&#39;s spell in SRH&rsquo;s first fixture against them, 3/14 while defending 162 in Match 11 was the best in IPL 2020 in terms of match impact. Later, his spell of 3/7 against the same opposition in a must-win game in Match 47 was the most economical this season.Wrapping up the top-5 is Delhi&rsquo;s own Anrich Nortje. While Rabada hogged the limelight this season, Nortje was the best bowler on the night on three occasions, all of them resulted in a win for Delhi. These were against CSK, KKR and RCB. His spell of 3/33 against KKR came at Sharjah when they scored 210/8 in reply to a target of 229.&nbsp;Three spinners and two pacers follow the top-5 most impactful bowlers. This includes one of the finds of the season &ndash; Varun Chakravarthy. Another example of a reduction in bias in this analysis is the inclusion of Chris Morris who played only nine games. If he would have been fit for more games, both him and RCB could have finished higher than where they did.

Find out if Rabada or Nortje had a better impact on DC’s success and the other most impactful bowlers in IPL 2020

Rashid Khan Arman

Yuzvendra Singh Chahal

Varun Chakravarthy Vinod

Patrick James Cummins

Christopher Henry Morris

Ravi Bishnoi

Kolkata Knight Riders

Rajasthan Royals

Was Rabada among the most impactful bowlers in IPL 2020?

T20 is the most difficult format to assess the batsmen. For the bowlers, it is acceptable to be good in either of the two aspects &ndash; taking wickets or being economical. But, for the batsmen, earning cricket&rsquo;s ultimate currency &ndash; runs - is not enough. Even the biggest knock of the match in terms of runs can be a match-losing one if not scored at a rate better than the average run-rate of that game.In the IPL this season, KL Rahul was head and shoulders above all batsmen in terms of net runs. He finished with 670 runs, 52 runs more than the next-best Shikhar Dhawan playing three innings fewer. But, was he the most impactful batsman in the season? Especially when these runs came at a strike-rate of 129.9 that is lower than six other top-10 run-getters in IPL 2020.In cricket.com&rsquo;s feature <a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/1667/indian-premier-league-2020/most-valuable-player" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">criclytics</a>, there is a report card for each of the 60 games in IPL 2020. Included in this are the MVP batting and bowling points awarded to each player based on their contribution in a particular match. &nbsp;One way of assessing the best batsmen in this year&rsquo;s IPL would be to gauge them by the net MVP batting points that each one of them accumulated throughout the season. However, when it comes to assessing the most impactful batsmen, this approach might not work for two reasons.Number one &ndash; There will be a bias towards the batsmen who did not play all matches. E.g. since Dhawan had 17 innings with the bat, it is easier for him to collect more points. On the other hand, since Ishan Kishan played only 13, he will miss out, which he does as he is 11th on the list of players with highest MVP batting points in IPL 2020.Number two &ndash; It is possible for a player to just be better than the average in most games and keep accumulating points to finish higher than a lot of other players. This will be irrespective of the number of high impact knocks he played in the season that made the difference for his side. Shreyas Iyer is one such example. He is sixth on the list of players with highest MVP batting points this season, but how many high impact knocks do you remember him playing? With a strike-rate of 123.3 this season, it is fair to say: not many.There is no other side that has cracked the code of T20 cricket quicker than the Mumbai Indians. This reflects in their results. The key to their squad is having a bunch of players with the ability to win a game on their own. If six players within a team put their hands up to win two games each, the side will win the trophy in most seasons.Coming to the crux of the argument, to identify the batsmen that had the most impact in IPL 2020, let us look at the players who finished as the best batsmen in a match on most nights. Using this as a parameter, here is the list of cricket.com&rsquo;s most impactful batsmen in IPL 2020-<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F36e2c45c657ee0b8e4029d2bec3950f7487b01a2.jpg" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">As both AB de Villiers and Dhawan finished as the best batsman on the night on four occasions, we have used the MVP batting points accumulated per innings as the tiebreaker.&nbsp;This list gives us a better idea about the batsmen who not just scored big runs in the tournament, but those runs mattered for their side and in the match. Now, all these knocks need not be match-winning as there can be other factors at play but they were the best in a given match.The leader of the pack, de Villiers, played a blinder against Jasprit Bumrah and co in Match 10 of the IPL. Then, he seemed to be batting on a different pitch against Kolkata at Sharjah. In the latter half of the tournament, he demolished the Royals on his own. With a little help from others and if not for Kane Williamson&rsquo;s astute counter-attack, de Villiers could have carried RCB to the qualifier as well.Not far behind was Dhawan who apart from his twin hundreds was Delhi&rsquo;s match-winner with the bat in the Qualifier 2 as well against the Royals in Match 30. He also finished second in the list of highest MVP batting points in IPL 2020.In what can be his breakthrough season, Kishan finished with the record of best batting points per innings. Not only did he hit the most sixes in IPL 2020, but he was also the best batsmen on the night on three occasions. Twice against Delhi, in the first qualifier and Match 51, and once against Chennai while opening the batting in Match 41.In most of his knocks this year, Rahul had a strike-rate below the match run-rate. But, whenever he was more aggressive, twice against RCB and once against MI in the historic twin Super Over game, he was the best batsman in the game and a match-winner for his side.Wrapping up the top-5 is&nbsp;David Warner who also leads the pack on highest MVP batting points accumulated in IPL 2020. Getting better as the tournament progressed, Warner was the best batsman in three matches including the all-important last league game against Mumbai Indians.It is a surprise to see Rohit Sharma in the list who is 28th on the list of highest MVP batting points. But, whenever he delivered, he created a difference. His high impact knocks came against MI&rsquo;s second and fourth game against KKR and KXIP when they were playing after a loss in their previous game. He was also the best batsman in the final.This analysis also rewards players like Mayank Agarwal who spent some time on the bench due to injury and could not finish among the top run-getters.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fdb4e90c5423d4d843a6ccfc7867088bc60d3fe8f.jpg" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Looking at the top-10 list, it is easier to understand the dominance of MI in this year&rsquo;s IPL. All four of their top-order batsmen find themselves among the most impactful batsmen this season. Overall, an MI batsman was the best batsman on the night on 11 occasions, the highest among all teams.&nbsp;

Find out who joins Shikhar Dhawan and Ishan Kishan in the list of the most impactful batsmen in IPL 2020

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers

Shikhar Dhawan

Ishan Pranav Kumar Pandey Kishan

Rohit Gurunath Sharma

Shubman Gill

Quinton de Kock

Mayank Anurag Agarwal

The most impactful batsmen in IPL 2020 - Usual suspects and some surprises

Relief is the most predominant emotion I feel when the team I&rsquo;m coaching wins. And several of my coaching colleagues have revealed the same experience. The reason is because we do everything in our power to make that outcome happen. We select the best available players and then plan and prepare them in every way possible so that the team can win. In fact, I have always said that winning should never come as a surprise, it&rsquo;s what we plan for.Many in the Mumbai Indians ecosystem, from players through to fans, will have been ecstatic with their deserved IPL triumph on 10 November. I&rsquo;m sure if you ask some of their senior leaders, you&rsquo;ll find that relief sat right alongside that ecstasy, because that is the outcome that they had planned for and thus expected. Especially in that final, against a team that had been struggling for form for the second half of the tournament and who they had already beaten three times that season, twice beating them like they would a schoolboy team.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F2f5b73ff0ae2a6fd2ebefee369d17d675e30cd3c.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">The challenge for Mumbai now will be how to stay at the top. Each opponent they encounter will target them, and opponents will go into that encounter with the clear mental advantage of having nothing to lose. MI are now in that elite group of teams or individuals who will come to learn that it&rsquo;s often more difficult to stay at the top than it is to get there. A powerful lesson in this comes from mountaineers, in that 80% of those who die on the mountain, die on the way down. All prepare excellently to get to the top, but not enough prepare continue on from there.In contrast, all involved with Delhi Capitals will likely be having a bittersweet experience. Possibly more sweet than bitter in that they were lucky to have achieved a place in the finals after such a poor second half, and a little bitter for not having converted their incredible early-season run of form. One thing about not winning is that it gives a real focus and purpose for next season&#39;s IPL. Those who came between second and around 5th will already be keenly looking at those small areas where they can improve for next season.For the teams that ended up near the bottom, it may well be the beginning of a lot of introspection, concern and maybe ringing of changes. Losing has a tendency to see people over-focussed on what went wrong, which mostly serves to further undermine confidence. I&rsquo;ve been part of losing teams where owners and management go on a witch hunt for errors and their perpetrators, which is like rubbing salt in a wound. This approach is not nearly as helpful as spending more than 50% of reflection time on highlighting and reinforcing all that went well, and less than that on planning what could be improved upon for the future. Hammering away at problems that are already in the past is counter-productive. With the next IPL only months away, too many changes are probably also not a smart move for these lower-ranked teams. Maybe some well-informed changes in strategy, team cohesion and attitude, but not too many changes in personnel.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F56c567870e30ac6afbf8e5211affba7cfa27fd64.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">The other big reflection will be how to manage players&#39; well-being in repeated security bio-bubbles. This IPL was the first bio-bubble experience for all but the England and Australian players. And already players from both these two nations are saying that the back to back bio-bubbles was really challenging. By the time the next IPL rolls around, many players would be moving into their third, fourth or maybe even fifth bio-bubble inside of a year. Anyone who spends this amount of time in isolation will struggle, some mildly and some quite concerningly. The few who don&rsquo;t struggle will be those introverts for whom cricket is the sole priority in their life. The majority who value family, friends, and something of a life away from cricket will really need to receive some smart caring from the respective cricketing authorities.AB de Villiers ended his international career because elements within South African cricket didn&rsquo;t understand that when a player is physically, mentally and/or emotionally tired, they need to be given time off, games off and even series off. Many at the time questioned who AB De Villiers thought he was to request time off international cricket. As a result of not having this level of consideration, he ended his international career possibly earlier than he otherwise might have. Everyone was a loser as a result, except maybe his immediate family.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Ff7bfea23c1b3672f12f92f302d65669f968fdc40.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">When a fast bowler nears the end of their career, one view is that they only have only x-number of balls left in the competitive arena, especially where Test cricket is concerned. Authorities can &lsquo;push&rsquo; that player to bowl his finite number of balls in consecutive games, which almost always includes some dead-rubber games or series. Or they can allow the player intermittent rest to recharge their batteries and attend to the chronic injuries they will inevitably be carrying, whilst simultaneously blooding their incumbent in a clever continuity-planning exercise. Until recently, not all cricketing authorities had this foresight.The ongoing bio-bubble situation invites this approach, in fact, it will demand it from the respective cricket authorities. Over and above this, an additional challenge will be to players who are needing a break from the energy-sapping bio-bubble life, but who are worried about losing their place in the team should they take that break. They will have a tough decision to make, to risking losing their place through burnout-related under-performance, versus owning up to needing a break and thus offering up their place in the team. I get the sense we are in for some really interesting times with regards player well-being, resting them, and the resulting selection policies.Another outside scenario for handling bio-bubbles going forwards is the possibility that the world wakes up from its dramatic over-reaction to the 50-year flu, and courageous (and dare I say smart) leadership relegates bio-bubbles to being a relic of the past.*All images courtesy BCCI, AFP

Paddy Upton writes about the challenges Mumbai Indians will now have to face having won their fifth IPL title and life in a bio-secure bubble 

Shreyas Santosh Iyer

Winning is a relief, and sometimes a curse

All-rounders are rare. Good all-rounders are rarer. Even after 13 years of IPL, not every side have quality all-rounders in their mix and have to do with how Kings XI Punjab used Glenn Maxwell.There were a bunch of players who stood up in both facets of the game in IPL 2020. Let us look at who among them were the most impactful. Our analysis will entail the <a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/1667/indian-premier-league-2020/most-valuable-player">criclytics MVP points</a> that these players gathered throughout IPL 2020.Also, not all all-rounders are similar. Every all-rounder that the game has seen inclines to a particular facet of the game. Even among the greats, Jacques Kallis loved to bat while Andrew Flintoff was more potent a fast-bowler.Hence, to ensure an apple to apple comparison, we have divided the players as batting all-rounders and bowling all-rounders. &nbsp;Let us look at the first category.Batting All-Rounders in IPL 2020For a player to qualify as a batting all-rounder, the criteria we have put in place is a minimum of 200 runs with the bat and 15 overs with the ball. Moreover, the MVP batting points they should have accumulated through the course of the season should be more or comparable to MVP bowling points.With this in mind, here are cricket.com&rsquo;s top batting all-rounders in IPL 2020-<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F7e674f13dfe0848014ce60ba1004d8d1dce5b67b.jpg" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Up until the point when Rahul Tewatia hit Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, it was tough to believe that he will end up being one of the most valuable players this season. As it turned out, he was Rajasthan Royals&rsquo; best player in a match in as many as five games, twice earning a perfect 10 on the criclytics report card.He followed that memorable knock against KXIP with another match-winning cameo against SRH. With the ball, in seven of the 14 games, he finished with a spell that had an economy of under seven. With 1008 MVP points, he is not just the best batting all-rounder in IPL 2020 but also the third most valuable player overall.Failing to make an impact on dry pitches in India, Marcus Stoinis has been a traveller in IPL. With Delhi Capitals, he emerged as an unlikely hero with bat and ball. He started with a bang in Capitals&rsquo; first game but his performance tapered a bit around the halfway mark. However, he bounced back in the second half and scored 352 runs in IPL 2020 at a strike-rate of 148.5, the highest for the Capitals. In addition to this, he possessed a golden arm that produced wickets whenever given the ball. He ended up being DC&rsquo;s best player on the night on five occasions.No other player had a strike-rate better than Kieron Pollard&rsquo;s 191.4 in IPL 2020. In an outfit like Mumbai Indians, Pollard gets infrequent opportunities to bat. But whenever he went out, he made an unsurmountable difference on most occasions. In a side that lacks a sixth bowling option, Pollard chipped in whenever dew limited the impact of their spinners. He was MI&rsquo;s best player in three matches.Though Ravindra Jadeja did not make as much impact with the ball as he usually does, he made it up with his returns with the bat. In IPL 2020, he averaged 46.4 and had a strike-rate of 171.8, both his best in a season by a big margin. He was CSK&rsquo;s best player on two occasions.To wrap up the best five is Ben Stokes. Though it took him a while to get into the groove, but once he did, it resulted in probably the best innings in IPL 2020 &ndash; a splendid 107* against MI. He followed it up with a match-winning half-century against KXIP. In that must-win game, he also delivered with a helpful spell of 2/32.Bowling All-Rounders in IPL 2020This is a more common breed than the previous one. &nbsp;The criteria followed for a player to be considered a bowling all-rounder is a minimum 100 runs with the bat and 30 overs with the ball.&nbsp;Here are cricket.com&rsquo;s best bowling all-rounders in IPL 2020-<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fa6180b14ded344e6072269c961f783d144479363.jpg" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Jofra Archer is the MVP of IPL 2020, let alone being the best bowling all-rounder. In the Powerplay, Archer bowled at an unparalleled economy of 4.3. Overall, he took 20 wickets at an economy of 6.6 and a record of 16.7 balls per wicket.&nbsp;Archer achieved extra MVP points due to his 113 runs that came in just 63 balls. Archer ended up being RR&rsquo;s MVP on the night as many as five times, twice earning a perfect 10.After starting the tournament with a couple of expensive spells, Pat Cummins found his mojo while bowling with the new ball. He bowled 67.3% of his overs in the Powerplay at an economy of 6.6. Cummins was the second-highest wicket-taker for KKR with 12 wickets.With the bat, Cummins was KKR&rsquo;s sixth-highest run-getter with 146 runs that came at a strike-rate of 128.1. He ended up scoring more runs than their pre-tournament MVPs &ndash; Andre Russell and Sunil Narine.Making a name for himself among the veterans, the most delightful aspect of Sam Curran&rsquo;s performance this season was his flexibility.&nbsp;Curran swung the ball upfront and executed his yorkers at the death. He batted at the top of the order when needed and was always lethal in the last few overs. He was CSK&rsquo;s highest wicket-taker with 13 dismissals against his name. Moreover, he scored a crucial 186 runs in the tournament while batting at different positions.He ended up being CSK&rsquo;s MVP on the night as many as five times. Also, he is among the only three players to earn a perfect 10 on the report-card three times. Marcus Stoinis and Jasprit Bumrah are the other two.&nbsp;Despite the presence of other big names, Washington Sundar finished as RCB&rsquo;s MVP in IPL 2020 as per criclytics. Among bowlers with a minimum of five overs this season, only Rashid had a better economy than Sundar&rsquo;s 6 runs per over. 42% of these overs were in the Powerplay. &nbsp;He ended up being RCB&rsquo;s best player in three matches.&nbsp;Apart from his economical spell and eight wickets, Sundar&rsquo;s batting helped him earn extra MVP points. With 111 runs, he was RCB&rsquo;s sixth-highest run-getter this year.With an economy of 6.4, Axar Patel was among the most miser bowlers in IPL 2020. Add to that a crucial 117 runs lower down the order that included a match-winning cameo against CSK and you have your ideal bowling all-rounder. With 836 MVP points, he wraps up the list of top bowling all-rounders in IPL 2020.An honourable mention goes out to Jason Holder. Since he played only seven games, he was not able to accumulate enough runs to get into the list. He has 422 MVP points in IPL 2020. If he had played more games at the same rate, he would have found himself in the top-3 of bowling all-rounders in IPL 2020.

Here is an analysis into the best batting and bowling all-rounders in IPL 2020

Samuel Matthew Curran

Rahul Tewatia

Axar Rajeshbhai Patel

Washington Sundar

Benjamin Andrew Stokes

Kieron Adrian Pollard

Marcus Peter Stoinis

Jason Omar Holder

Most valuable all-rounders in IPL 2020

I have often seen that the first person tone is reserved in cricket articles for well-known figures &mdash; an ex-cricketer, or a commentator. Having spent 72 days in a bio-secure bubble to cover IPL 2020 as a Hawk-Eye analyst, and having undergone ten completely free-of-cost COVID19 tests, my sense of self-importance is at an all-time high and I have ventured into the first person territory.There is the element of I-know-it-all that starts creeping in after having worked a few years in the industry. But funnily enough, every time you think you have got the patterns sorted out, the match-ups, the tactics to make AB de Villiers surrender even before facing a ball, the game does manage to humble you in more ways than one. It forces you to relook, recalibrate and reform your opinions. Here are a few of those thoughts from IPL 2020, presented in two parts.&nbsp;<a href="https://cricket.com/news/ipl-2020-and-its-head-scratchers-part-ii-1605522209697" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read Part 2 of the article, here.</a>Indian captains, their scoring rates and the different side of Shikhar Dhawan:As the T20 game seems to be developing towards the idea of batsmen going hard, pushing the scoring rate, the Indian regulars have gone the other way. Be it Virat Kohli (S/R 121.3), Rohit Sharma (127.7), Shreyas Iyer (123.3), Rishabh Pant (114) or KL Rahul, the gold standard (forgive the advertising hangover) of Indian T20 batting (who knocked around at a rate of only 129.3 this season). The funny caveat here is that four of these five are captains of their respective franchises.Amidst all this, I had given up hopes on Shikhar Dhawan, the T20 opener, who repeatedly proved me and my fantasy team wrong as he scored at a monstrous rate (relative to his Indian mates) of 144.7, easily his best in any IPL season. He showed he had that additional gear which as a naturally aggressive batsman he had shown signs of without really breaking the frontier in T20s.It is distinctly evident from the fact that it took him 265 innings to score his first T20 century despite playing as an opener. He found that experience so great, he promptly went on to score another one in his very next innings, thus becoming the first batsman to score back-to-back centuries in the IPL. I liked this version of Dhawan, who doesn&rsquo;t muck around with the bat in the middle overs so much that I finally decided to pick him in my team before the knockout stages. The only parting thought about that call is - Life can be cruel.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fac625f01e894040483e5d7f806eb31246df8bb4f.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Fun Fact: Dhawan&rsquo;s worst season in the IPL (in terms of strike rate) after being an India regular came in 2014, the only edition in which he was the captain of his side. The learning here is don&rsquo;t make your best Indian batsman the captain of the team. The moment he thinks, he is the most important batsman of the side, the &lsquo;anchor&rsquo; weighs him down.The curious case of Mohammed ShamiIt has been well established by now that Shami is a class act in the red-ball format. In fact, amongst first-change bowlers, he is the best pacer in the history of Test cricket (in terms of balls/wicket). When it comes to ODIs, Shami has been a consistent wicket-taker, his strike rate being the third-best in ODI history after Mitchell Starc and Mustafizur Rahman (amongst pacers with minimum 100 wickets). If you add the perception bias of Shami landing yorkers at will, he seems like a straight shoo-in as an Indian pacer in an IPL team, right?&nbsp;Well, let&rsquo;s just park that thought. The truth is, since the start of the IPL to the end of the 2019 edition, only one Indian pacer had a bowling average worse than him: Ajit Agarkar. Similarly, only one Indian pacer fared worse in terms of economy rate: Hardik Pandya. If you are the kind of person who relies on numbers, the conclusion was simple, Shami is probably the worst Indian pacer to have played in the IPL. I am not one for superstitions and definitely not part of the brigade that attributes anything unusual happening around the world to the year 2020. From what I saw this year from Shami, you can say that I am a convert.Shami picked up 20 wickets, the second-highest for any Indian pacer. Apart from that, he delivered a crushing Super Over to the duo of Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma, managing to defend 5 runs. In the first 35 IPL games of his career, Shami picked up 21 wickets, in his next 28, he has picked up 39.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F68a75fe2b033e36482028fe704b0163a16db6702.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">No doubt, Shami was assisted by the decks at Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which suited his style of new ball bowling. But credit should be given where due. It should not, however, be assumed by any means that he is a complete T20 bowler. His Super Over super-heroics is only going to add to the perception bias that he is a great death bowler but a closer look and you will see that he went for 11.7 runs an over during the death overs&mdash; the worst for any Indian pacer and the second-worst overall (after Tom Curran) in the tournament. Though he did pick up 11 wickets in the back five of an innings, if you have Shami in your team, he needs to bowl out the majority of his overs before the end stretch. That is where he can influence games more.

The batting strike-rate debate was in full bloom this season at the IPL while Mohammed Shami turned a new corner 

IPL 2020 & its head-scratchers – Part I

It has been a scintillating season of cricket in IPL. One can assess it by the fact that the difference between the number two team and the last team on the table was only four points. In fact, the team which finished last was in contention for a Playoff spot until their last league game. It was an unbelievable ride and that is reflected in the XI of the year which consists of some surprising inclusions and exclusions. Here is Cricket.com&rsquo;s IPL XI of the Year powered by Criclytics: :Shikhar DhawanShikhar Dhawan started his season on a slow note. Following a run out for a duck in the first game with pedestrian scores in the thirties, it took him the seventh match to score his first fifty of the season, which came in a losing cause. But it was a tale of two halves for the Delhi southpaw.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fd4857942ab93d11ebe9f3377c4adce694de43bf3.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200"><a href="https://www.cricket.com/match-score/197721/summary/dc-vs-csk-match-34-indian-premier-league-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dhawan recorded his first T20 hundred in the ninth game</a> and became the first batsman to score consecutive hundreds in the tournament&rsquo;s history. His rejuvenated form came at the right time for Delhi Capitals as returns from other batsmen diminished. October 14 onwards, he was the highest run-scorer by a distance (417 runs, ie, 87 ahead of the next best) despite three ducks. During this period, he showcased a masterclass on boundary-hitting during the middle-phase accumulating 189 runs at a strike-rate of 158.8 (something to note for Virat Kohli).&nbsp;Overall, Dhawan accrued 618 runs in the season, his best in a season. Moreover, the strike-rate was up at 144.7 - again his best in a season, playing a massive role in DC&rsquo;s maiden final appearance.&nbsp;Mayank AgarwalYou must be thinking where is KL Rahul. He is the Orange Cap holder with 670 runs at an average of 55.8 while fulfilling the role of a wicket-keeper and a captain. However, at a strike-rate of 129.3, did his runs made the kind of impact Kings XI Punjab must have hoped for from their premier batsman? The answer is debatable.Mayank Agarwal, Rahul&rsquo;s opening partner, amassed 424 runs at 38.6. But striking at 156.5, the second-best amongst the 21 batsmen to notch up over 400 runs in the season, he had more impactful performances for KXIP. Mayank&rsquo;s tally could have been higher had he not been the risk-taker in his partnership with Rahul. Whenever his opening stand with Rahul went beyond the Powerplay, it was Mayank who took the mantle of going for runs (strike-rate of 174.4 between overs 7 to 15) while Rahul attempted to bat through.&nbsp;Mayank was the more complete batsman this season tackling every facet of a T20 innings with intent (Rahul&rsquo;s strike-rate against spin this season was only 94.4 compared to Mayank&rsquo;s 177) which makes him more worthy of a spot in the IPL XI of the year.Suryakumar YadavThe highest run-scorer this season at number three (480), Suryakumar Yadav was the most impressive uncapped player this season. His display of maturity with the correct conflation of caution and aggression bewildered people about why he has not played for India yet.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F726c0d06bfa4333a94aee630592673d1d9d2cf7c.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Surya scored his runs striking at an impressive 145. His numbers against pace display an average of 45.5 alongside a strike-rate of 152.5. He dominated spin by averaging 69 at 136.2. Batting first, he averaged 38.4 while batting second, the number rose to 43.3, striking in excess of 140 in both cases. There was no scenario in which he didn&rsquo;t excel. He may not be good enough for the Indian cricket team yet, but Surya remains unrivalled for the number three spot in IPL XI of the Year.&nbsp;Ishan KishanKishan was initially not in Mumbai Indians&rsquo; plans. It was a niggle to Saurabh Tiwary that gave Kishan a chance and he fetched it with both hands, scripting MI&rsquo;s return in a daunting run chase <a href="https://www.cricket.com/match-score/197697/summary/rcb-vs-mi-match-10-indian-premier-league-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">with a knock of 99</a>. From there on, Kishan became the highest run-scorer of the season for MI, smashing 516 runs at 57.3. His strike-rate, 145.8 is the highest amongst the top eight run-scorers in the season?.&nbsp;He had a small hitch in between when he fell for a golden duck to a rash shot. But Kishan showed maturity lifting himself to three half-centuries in last seven matches. Two of them came as an opener as the youngster showed signs of turning into a complete T20 player.&nbsp;AB de Villiers (wk) (c)There were instances when AB de Villiers gave the feeling of batting on a different pitch from the rest of his RCB teammates. <a href="https://www.cricket.com/match-score/197715/summary/rcb-vs-kkr-match-28-indian-premier-league-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">In Match 28</a>, he was miles ahead of any other batsman on either side. He scored 73 not out striking at 221 while no other batsman to have scored at least 20 could touch the strike-rate of 140.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fa2ac90d43b22d6ff68b7ba2c22137f84197297bb.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">This was de Villiers&rsquo; legacy this season. Used primarily as the finisher, he won RCB three games with the bat. Amongst the batsmen to score 100 runs in the slog overs, he was the highest run-scorer (258) with the second-highest batting strike-rate (222.4).&nbsp;Being the only player to keep wickets in this XI, he is the wicket-keeper of this side. Being the most experienced in the XI, he is also the captain. No designated captain in IPL 2020 has made it to this piece and the focus lies on picking the best players first (after all we are not picking England&rsquo;s Test team).Marcus StoinisStoinis has piped Kieron Pollard to earn one of the two all-rounder&rsquo;s spots in the XI. Except Dhawan, he was the only DC batsman who showed consistent form at the back end of the tournament. In 17 games this season, Stoinis topped the <a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/198674/dc-vs-srh-qualifier-2-indian-premier-league-2020/report-card" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Criclytics report card</a> for DC in a record five games with his all-round contribution - thrice finishing with 10 out of 10.&nbsp;The Hulk rescued DC on many occasions. With a strike-rate of 148.5 - the highest by a DC batsman this season - he instilled the impetus into the innings irrespective of the batting position. With the ball, he kept chipping in with his golden arm - snaffling big wickets of Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson in Qualifier 2. This was Stoinis&rsquo; first grand season in IPL and it has placed him straight into the team of the year.&nbsp;Rahul TewatiaIn a squad heavily dependent on superstars, Rajasthan Royals found a new guy in Tewatia to persist with for their future endeavours. His five sixes in an over to Sheldon Cottrell paved the way for the biggest run-chase in IPL history - <a href="https://www.cricket.com/match-score/197696/summary/rr-vs-kxip-match-9-indian-premier-league-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">RR chasing KXIP&rsquo;s 223 at Sharjah</a>. It did not stop there. Tewatia showed he can battle it out against high-class spinners as well. He racked up three consecutive boundaries against Rashid Khan when the required rate was 12 and won the game from a situation of a lost cause.With the ball, he was the joint second-highest wicket-taker for RR. But his economy was much better than the senior leg-spinner in the squad (7.1 in comparison to Shreyas Gopal&rsquo;s 8.5). Overall, Tewatia was the third <a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/1667/indian-premier-league-2020/most-valuable-player" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Most Valuable Player</a> in the tournament according to Criclytics with 1,008 points.&nbsp;Jofra ArcherThis was the first season when the Most Valuable Player came from a team that held the wooden spoon. In a side filled with some of the best international stars, Archer carried RR with economical spells and wickets in every game.In the Powerplay, Archer bowled at an unparalleled economy of 4.3. Overall, he took 20 wickets at an economy of 6.6 and a record of 16.7 balls per wicket. The rest of the pacers combined took 21 wickets at an economy of 10.5 and 35.2 balls per wicket. In addition, Archer scored 113 runs at a strike-rate of 179.4, the second-highest in the tournament. On Criclytics, Archer accumulated 1,126 points, the most in the season and is an automatic entry into the XI of the year.&nbsp;Rashid KhanTo lessen his impact, opposition batsmen tried to play him out but even those tactics did not stop Rashid Khan from being the most impactful spinner of the season. He picked 20 wickets at an economy of 5.4 runs per over, the best in the season irrespective of the minimum number of overs. Eight times in 16 games, his economy was less than 6.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fe414efa62f29840592e164dcec18d37297647354.jpg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">His twin spells against DC were the highlights of the tournament. The first one, 3/14 while defending 162 in Match 11 was the best spell in IPL 2020 in terms of <a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/197698/dc-vs-srh-match-11-indian-premier-league-2020/report-card" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">impact</a>. Later, his spell of 3/7 against the same opposition in a must-win game in <a href="https://www.cricket.com/match-score/197734/summary/srh-vs-dc-match-47-indian-premier-league-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Match 47</a> was the most economical this season. With 1,005 MVP points, he was the <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/most-valuable-player-of-each-side-part-1-1605189727032" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">most valuable player for SRH</a> in IPL 2020.&nbsp;Mohammed ShamiShami has been playing IPL for a while but it is this season when critics can say he has finally cracked the code in T20s. Though his numbers were only marginally better than last year (20 wickets compared to 19 last season while bettering his economy by 0.1), it was his execution of yorkers which made Shami special.He laid impact in every phase of the game for KXIP. Starting with a fiery new-ball spell against DC, it was his impeccable <a href="https://www.cricket.com/match-score/197723/summary/mi-vs-kxip-match-36-indian-premier-league-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Super Over against MI</a> consisting of six yorkers that made people take notice of Shami 2.0 in T20 cricket.&nbsp;Jasprit BumrahHe did not win the Purple Cap but Jasprit Bumrah was arguably the best bowler of the season. He is the only player to gather over 1,000 points on Criclytics MVP table on the back of his bowling alone. After starting the tournament on a moderate note, Bumrah found his mojo after an exceptional Super Over against RCB in MI&rsquo;s third game. His performance went north ever since.Bumrah had the second-best economy in the Powerplay and the death overs amongst bowlers who bowled more than 10 overs in the two phases each. He had two four-wicket hauls and three three-wicket hauls in the season while going at under 6 runs per over in six out of the 15 games he played.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Fdd9e46ee86bbf41ed6c7b1d195bfbd78822cba64.jpg" data-code="200">Player image credits: IPLT20.comProbably for the first time, the IPL XI of the Year is populated with three uncapped cricketers. It could have been four as T Natarajan came really close. David Warner, Kieron Pollard and Yuzvendra Chahal are other honourable mentions. Surprisingly, neither the Orange Cap nor the Purple Cap holder (Kagiso Rabada) has made it to the list but it only underlines the quality over quantity premise.&nbsp;

Here is an XI acknowledging the best performers in IPL 2020

Mohammed Shami Ahmed

IPL XI of the Year, 2020

Note &ndash; The ratings are based on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/1667/indian-premier-league-2020/most-valuable-player" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">criclytics</a>&nbsp;player ratings in IPL 2020 Mumbai IndiansJasprit Bumrah Total MVP Points &ndash; 1,041 Number of matches as MI&rsquo;s MVP - 4Among the assembly line of adept hitters in Mumbai Indians, the player whose performance had a direct impact on their results was Jasprit Bumrah. In the entire tournament, MI lost only three games in the regular 40 overs of play. In two of these, Bumrah went for an economy 9.5 or above. He did not play the third.<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F6ac12f07d5502b66710d7427968b5a3d452f56a2.jpg" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">Missing the Purple Cap due to playing lesser games, Bumrah ended up with the second-highest (27) wickets at an economy of 6.7. After starting the tournament on a moderate note, Bumrah found his mojo after an exceptional Super Over against Bangalore in MI&rsquo;s third game. His performance went north ever since.His contemporaries had their preferences like Jofra Archer was lethal in the Powerplay and Kagiso Rabada preferred bowling at the death. Bumrah was unfazed by these technicalities and was impactful whenever he came out to bowl.Ending with 1041 points, Bumrah is #2 on the MVP list for IPL 2020. He is also among only three players to score a perfect 10 on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/197700/kxip-vs-mi-match-13-indian-premier-league-2020/report-card" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">report card&nbsp;</a>in three matches.Delhi CapitalsKagiso Rabada Total MVP Points &ndash; 970 Number of matches as DC&rsquo;s MVP &ndash; 3It is tough to look past a player with 30 wickets in the tournament. Rabada&rsquo;s tally of wickets is the second-highest in an IPL season after Dwayne Bravo who took 32 wickets in 2013. However, IPL was a 9-team event then and Bravo played one game more than Rabada&rsquo;s 17.Rabada took 20 wickets at the death at 7.1 balls per wicket, a record unmatched by any other pacer with a minimum of 10 overs in this phase. Rabada went wicketless in only three out of 17 games. DC lost all those games.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2Ffd71c44c67a32da66dd1d43f262b3bdb1f1c1969.jpg" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200"> However, Rabada can consider himself lucky. Had Marcus Stoinis been a little more consistent, he could have tripped from the top spot. Stoinis ends IPL 2020 as Delhi second most valuable player with 952 points. Due to a dip in the middle of the season, he could not outclass Rabada. But, he is among the three players along with Bumrah and Sam Curran to earn a <a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/198672/mi-vs-dc-qualifier-1-indian-premier-league-2020/report-card" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">perfect</a> 10 score in three games. Stoinis also ended up as DC&rsquo;s best player in a match as many as five times.Sunrisers HyderabadRashid Khan Total MVP Points &ndash; 1005 Number of matches as SRH&rsquo;s MVP &ndash; 4The MVP for Sunrisers is not tough to pick. While their batsmen took a while to find their groove, one man was consistent throughout.&nbsp;There is no bowler tougher to attack than Rashid Khan. His twin spells against DC were the highlights of the tournament. The first one, 3/14 while defending 162 in Match 11 was the best spell in IPL 2020 in terms of match <a href="https://www.cricket.com/criclytics/197698/dc-vs-srh-match-11-indian-premier-league-2020/report-card" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">impact</a>. Later, his spell of 3/7 against the same opposition in a must-win game in Match 47 was the most economical this season.Overall, no other bowler, irrespective of the minimum number of overs, has a better economy rate in IPL 2020 than Rashid&rsquo;s 5.4. For a bowler who completed his quota in all 16 games, this is an exceptional feat.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/image.cricket.com/temp%2F3d3a627a26c0db285527f5c7a08d7027c0df4b8e.jpg" style="width: 900px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-code="200">He has 20 wickets to his name that came at 19.2 balls per wicket. Only Jason Holder was more frequent in the SRH squad with 12 balls per wicket, but he played in only the last seven games.&nbsp;With 1,005 MVP points, he was the most valuable player for SRH in IPL 2020. In four matches, he was the top-scorer for SRH on the criclytics report card. The next best SRH player this season after Rashid was their captain, David Warner, with 800 points.Royal Challengers BangaloreWashington Sundar Total MVP Points &ndash; 877 Number of matches as RCB&rsquo;s MVP &ndash; 3Washington Sundar will not be the first name in the minds of most people while thinking about RCB&rsquo;s biggest asset. While Virat Kohli had an average season they have other guns that fired. AB de Villiers strike-rate in the death overs is unrivalled while Yuzvendra Chahal was the leading wicket-taker among spinners. It was also a memorable debut season for Devdutt Padikkal.Yet, it was Sundar who finished as RCB&rsquo;s MVP in IPL 2020 as per criclytics. Among bowlers with a minimum of five overs this season, only Rashid had a better economy than Sundar&rsquo;s 6 runs per over. 42% of these overs were in the Powerplay. &nbsp;He ended up being RCB&rsquo;s best player in three matches. Chahal and de Villiers who follow him in the ratings for RCB did the same in two games each.Apart from his economical spell and eight wickets, Sundar&rsquo;s batting helped him earn extra MVP points. With 111 runs, he was RCB&rsquo;s sixth-highest run-getter this year.<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/most-valuable-players-of-ipl-2020-1605265474781" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here to read Part 2</a>

Here is a look at the most valuable player of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2020

IPL 2020: Most Valuable Player of each side – Part 1

Being the capital city of India, it was expected that Delhi would be one of the most successful teams in the Indian T20 League. They have failed to live up to that billing and right now are under immense pressure to step up with the goods. Delhi was one of the eight founding teams of the Indian T20 League. They are owned jointly by the GMR and JSW groups in India. The Delhi-based franchise as of 2020 is being led by youngster Shreyas Iyer who is making a name for himself in the international arena as well. They have one of the best mentors in the form of Ricky Ponting and with his winning mentality, Delhi would be looking to claim their maiden Indian T20 League title.
 
In the inaugural season of the Indian T20 League, Delhi started off well as they reached the knockout stages of the tournament. Led by the flamboyant and rampant Indian batsman Virender Sehwag, the team embodied his personality on the field as they played without any fear. With star players like AB de Villiers, Gautam Gambhir, Tilakaratne Dilshan and Glenn McGrath in their ranks, they were looking destined to win the title in the inaugural season. However, in the semi-final against Rajasthan, Delhi collapsed dramatically and got knocked out of the tournament. In the 2009 edition, Delhi was captained by Indian southpaw Gautam Gambhir. They performed brilliantly to top the table that year. However, they failed to perform in the semifinals yet again and bowed out.
 
After good performances in the first two editions of the Indian T20 League, the performances from Delhi dropped dramatically. In 2010 and 2011, they were knocked out in the group stage itself. In 2011, Delhi finished last in the group stages and morale was at an all-time low. To boost their chances of returning to the top, Delhi bought players like Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene and Ross Taylor. The Delhi-based outfit made a solid comeback as they again topped the group stages in 2012. This time around though, Delhi lost both their 1st and 2nd qualifying matches, against Kolkata and Chennai respectively, and again they were knocked out just before reaching the summit of the showpiece event.
 
What followed after 2012 was a horror show for Delhi. From 2013 to 2018, Delhi were knocked out in the group stages itself. It was a period of sorrow for the Delhi fans as they saw their team become the whipping boys of the Indian T20 League. Just when teams like Kolkata and Mumbai were starting to take shape, it was Delhi who had started to deteriorate. In 2013 and 2014, Delhi finished last on the points table. In 2015, the scene was not pretty as well with Delhi finishing just one spot above the last team on the points table. In 2016 and 2017, Delhi finished their group stage campaign on 6th spot and in 2018, they again plummeted to the foot of the table. The fans turned their back on the team and voiced their discontent with the performances.
 
After years of turmoil, Delhi revamped their squad in search of some consistency ahead of the 2019 edition of the Indian T20 League. Delhi traded their former player and India opener Shikhar Dhawan from Hyderabad. They retained a core of Indian players with the likes of skipper Shreyas Iyer, wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and young Indian prodigy Prithvi Shaw among some of the famous names. The roster of international players included the likes of Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Kagiso Rabada and young Nepalese spinner Sandeep Lamichhane. Delhi also appointed Sourav Ganguly as their advisor and this completed the revamp of the squad. With a new-look team in 2019, Delhi charged into the top 4 spots of the Indian T20 League. This time around, they won their 1st qualifier against Hyderabad. However, they again fell just one step behind of reaching their first finals as Chennai defeated them.
 
In the 2020 auctions, Delhi made some smart buys with players like added Jason Roy, Chris Woakes, Shimron Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis added to the roster. The Capital franchise will finally be hoping to break their duck and continue with the group of talented players that they have collected for the foreseeable future.