The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League came to an end this week. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 6 runs in the final on Tuesday (June 3) to win their maiden IPL title.
At the end of the league stage, PBKS had finished at the top of the points table, followed by RCB, Gujarat Titans (GT), and Mumbai Indians (MI). RCB qualified for the final with a win over PBKS in the first qualifier,r while MI beat GT in the Eliminator before losing to PBKS in the second qualifier.
With IPL 2025 done and dusted, former India opener Aakash Chopra has picked his Best XI of the tournament. In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, the former cricketer-turned-commentator picked the star-studded team.
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Aakash Chopra began by picking GT's Sai Sudharsan. The left-handed batsman impressed one and all with his consistency and finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer. In 15 games, he scored 759 runs with the help of a century and 6 fifties.
"Firstly, I have kept Sai Sudharsan in my team. He is the Orange Cap holder and has played very well. His batting has been clean. At the end of the tournament, he had so many trophies. It seems the guy is a trophy king. He didn't win only the IPL trophy this year, but he did everything else and a bit more," said Aakash Chopra.
For Sudharsan's opening partner, Aakash Chopra picked Virat Kohli, who finally ended his long wait for the maiden IPL trophy. Kohli led the charge with the bat for RCB once again and finished the tournament as their highest run-scorer.
"Virat Kohli will be there alongside him in my team. Virat Kohli's performance was also very good the entire year. He scored fifties in most of the games away from home, and the team won whenever he scored a fifty. He played an important role. You also saw gears in his batting this year," said Chopra.
Only one Pandya can come, and that's Krunal Pandya - Aakash Chopra
For the wicketkeeper-batsman's slot, Chopra picked GT's Jos Buttler ahead of Sunrisers Hyderabad star Heinrich Klaasen or RCB's Jitesh Sharma. For the middle-order, the former cricketer picked Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, and Dewald Brevis. He also named Iyer as the captain of his side.
Iyer scored 604 runs and led PBKS to the final. On the other hand, Suryakumar was adjudged the Player of the Tournament after scoring 717 runs. Brevis was signed up by Chennai Super Kings as an injury replacement and hit the ground running, scoring 225 runs in just 6 matches.
Chopra picked just one all-rounder in the team - Krunal Pandya. The southpaw was adjudged the Player of the Match in the final for his stunning bowling display. Overall, Pandya picked up three Player of the Match awards in IPL 2025.
"Only one Pandya can come, and that's Krunal Pandya. He is a bona fide IPL legend, whether you believe it or not. He is the only player who has two Player of the Match performances in IPL finals. He has three Player of the Match performances in RCB's winning campaign," said Chopra.
For the bowling department, Chopra picked three pacers - Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, and Prasidh Krishna - and one spinner in the form of Noor Ahmad. He concluded by picking Mitchell Marsh, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, and Harpreet Brar as his four impact players.
Aakash Chopra's Team of the tournament:
Sai Sudharsan, Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Noor Ahmad, Josh Hazlewood, Prasidh Krishna
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