With the IPL's return rapidly approaching, and having completed our separate batsmen and bowlers analysis over last month, it's time for us to wrap up our look back at the last decade of the IPL by declaring our team of the decade. We'll also compare this to Wisden's team of the decade, published at the end of last year.
Before we get into it, a quick reminder of who our top performers have been, according to our regression based player rankings model...
Batsmen:
Bowlers:
Openers:
Who gets our pick?
David Warner and Chris Gayle. A relatively easy pick based on the results, with no other openers making a serious dent in the rankings. Both have scored plenty of runs, are capable of some explosive batting, and are undeniably IPL legends.
Who did Wisden go for?
Wisden also went with Chris Gayle but actually went for Rohit Sharma instead of David Warner. We can't claim here to have identified any underlying reason why Warner should be ahead of Sharma - it's actually apparent simply by looking at the raw statistics. Warner has averaged significantly more (44 vs 32) - at a higher strike rate too. Wisden, to their credit, do acknowledge that their decision is one "that won’t meet universal approval", and that's certainly true here. It's worth pointing out, however, that Wisden have also considered Sharma's captaincy in their selection, something we have not considered.
Any other notable performers?
Not really. The closest we have in terms of other openers are the likes of de Kock, Dhawan and Rahane but these guys are all well outside our top ten. A few other batsmen we've chosen below might also make a claim here, but we've focused on those who are primarily known for opening.
Middle Order:
Who gets our pick?
AB de Villiers, Lokesh Rahul and Virat Kohli. All three have formidable batting statistics - averaging over 40 with strong strike rates. AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli can both firmly be declared IPL legends, with incredible longevity to go with their outrageous ability. Rahul hasn't been around quite as long, but the quality of his performances in the time he's had are as good as anyone's.
Who did Wisden go for?
AB de Villiers and Kohli both make it here as well, but they've gone for Suresh Raina instead of Rahul. From the perspective of our model, we can't really make a case for Raina at all - he averages just 33, albeit at a decent strike rate, and only just makes the top 20 batsmen.
Wisden do note that he tailed off in the latter part of the decade, which would undoubtedly have harmed his rating here. They have selected him on the strength of his earlier performances, and have also given extra weight to the fact that he was something of an early pioneer of the hyper aggressive style typified by the IPL. We can't argue with the logic but our model - which takes a purely statistical look at the decade as a whole - doesn't quite rank him amongst the best of the best.
Any other notable performers?
A handful of very good options here, but none were strong enough to give us much of a selection headache. JP Duminy, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson all stake a claim as innings 'anchors', and at the other end of the spectrum players like Pant and Lynn might offer something as explosive alternatives, but the players we have chosen ultimately excel across the board.
Wicket-Keeper:
Who gets our pick?
MS Dhoni. Whilst we haven't made any attempt to measure actual wicket-keeping performance, MS Dhoni's presence at the top of the batting rankings means he is a shoo-in here.
Who did Wisden go for?
Also MS Dhoni. There's very little to argue with here it seems.
Any other notable performers?
Not really. The other top keepers we could have picked - AB de Villiers and Lokesh Rahul - are already in the side for their batting, and there aren't any other keepers making much of a splash. Jos Buttler perhaps ranks as the 'best of the rest'.
All-Rounder
Who gets our pick?
Andre Russell. His frankly monstrous strike-rate of 186 is too great to be ignored, especially when he averages a not-too-shabby 33 as well. Not bad with the ball either - a slightly worrying economy of 8.9 offset by one of the best bowling strike rates makes him the standout pick.
Who did Wisden go for?
A somewhat curious pick in Ravindra Jadeja. He doesn't make an impact anywhere in our rankings, and falls below Russell in both disciplines, regardless of how the model is weighted. Wisden do note that he is an excellent fielder, however, which we haven't considered here, but even so we don't think there's a case for his selection over Andre Russell.
Any other notable performers?
South African Chris Morris came closest to beating out Andre Russell, and his more well-rounded game, both in batting and bowling, might earn him selection in certain circumstances. Unlike Russell, however, he doesn't especially excel at one facet of the game, and hadn't quite done enough batting to earn a ranking, but he's certainly been an impressive performer.
Seam Bowlers
Who gets our pick?
Lasith Malinga and Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Who did Wisden go for?
Since we have a seamer as our all-rounder, and Wisden have a spinner, they have an extra specialist seamer in their lineup. As well as both of the above, they have selected Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah was just hovering outside our top ten, and there's no doubt he's a worthy addition to any IPL XI, but if we did have a third specialist seamer we would have looked at a few other options...
Any other notable performers?
It was a bit of a surprise to see Mitchell McClenaghan's name so high in our rankings, but he has been extremely dangerous with the ball, and it was a very close call between he and Kumar. Similarly we have Sandeep Sharma and Ashish Nehra, who have both proved deadly over the years, with Dale Steyn's and Hardik Pandya's economy also providing food for thought.
Spin Bowlers
Who gets our pick?
Imran Tahir and Rashid Khan. Both feature at top spot in our rankings - Tahir when we focus on wicket taking and with a balanced weight, and Khan when we place more emphasis on economy. Whilst neither could necessarily be classed IPL veterans, the performances they have delivered during their time in the competition have been seriously impressive.
Who did Wisden go for?
As Wisden's all-rounder is a spinner in Jadeja, they've only gone with a single specialist spinner in the name of Sunil Narine. It's easy to see why, he's long been a consistent performer in the IPL and our model agrees that he has been excellent bowler, especially when it comes to keeping the runs down.
His longevity is probably a factor in why he's beaten out Khan and Tahir in Wisden's XI. Our system has a minimum qualification, but once a player has met the requirements we don't consider longevity a factor in determining a player's overall ability ratings - which sees Khan and Tahir come out on top. Wisden also note that Narine has been something of a revelation with the bat in recent years - something we have not considered as we are focused purely on bowling ability.
Any other notable performers?
YS Chahal is the standout here, and was probably the toughest player of all to leave out of our final XI, instead opting for Rashid Khan. Chahal seems to have it all - a better strike rate than Khan, and a better economy than Tahir, he features in the top 4 in every column of our bowler rankings. The only other player of note would be Ravichandran Ashwin, although he comes in relatively low in our rankings.
And there we have it, our IPL team of the decade. See below for the full run-down, and how it compares to Wisden's XI:
With the next edition of the IPL around the corner, it will be exciting to see whether these players can continue the excellent performances they delivered throughout the last decade.
Thanks for reading!
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