We are halfway through the IPL now, so I thought it the right time to pick my team of 2009 so far.
It’s not been an easy decision, with the amount of talent on show, but I have followed the format of the tournament by being restricted to four overseas players and having to select four Indian players under the age of 23.
Some of you might agree with my team, while there are those who will feel I have made mistakes, but here goes and let’s hope it sparks a bit of debate.
Matthew Hayden (Chennai)
Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai)
Suresh Raina (Chennai)
AB de Villiers (Delhi)
Ravi Jadeja (Rajasthan)
MS Dhoni (Chennai)
Shane Warne (Rajasthan)
Praveen Kumar (Bangalore)
Pragyan Ojha (Deccan)
Lasith Malinga (Mumbai)
RP Singh (Deccan)
It was not an easy decision, but the likes of Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina have been awesome with the bat for Chennai and Sachin Tendulkar virtually picks himself at the top of the order.
Lasith ‘the slinger’ Malinga has impressed me greatly, he’s so difficult to play with his round-arm action. RP Singh has been a key player with the ball for Deccan and Pragyan Ojha is a spinner of great potential and fits in well being Under-23.
Praveen Kumar may come as a surprise to some, but he is a skiddy sort of bowler and bowls a tight line so is very hard to score off.
AB de Villiers impresses me every time I see him and not only is he a fantastic batsman, his fielding is as good as anyone in the game.
MS Dhoni has not been in the greatest form so far, but he looked good in Chennai’s last game and his ability with the gloves makes him my selection and for leadership skills alone, Shane Warne gets in.