With IPL 2023 season reaching its end, fans were treated to some extraordinary cricket throughout the season as Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings, the two teams who opened the tournament in the inaugural match are set to clash in the final as well. The marquee fixture will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 28, Sunday, with GT gunning to defend their IPL crown against MS Dhoni’s CSK who will be hoping to win a record-equalling fifth title.
There were some special performances this season from players such as Rinku Singh who will be remembered for his five sixes, Yashasvi Jaiswal who was a consistent run-getter for Rajasthan Royals, and Shubman Gill, the Gujarat Titans batter has played a key role in his side’s run up into their second consecutive IPL final.
However, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was recently asked to draw up a list of the top five batsmen from the IPL 2023 season, and the veteran decided not to include Shubman, neither was there any place for Virat Kohli.
Instead, Sehwag opted for two uncapped players, and just one overseas pick, with most of them being middle-order batters and not openers.
“Mere 5 Pandavas. Cricket’s Pandav. My pick for five batters in the IPL. I have not picked many openers because they get a lot of opportunities. The first batter who comes to my mind in Rinku Singh,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
“I don’t think you would ask me the reason. Because it has never happened that a batter has won the team a match by hitting five straight sixes. Only Rinku Singh has done it,” he added.
“The second middle-order batter is Shivam Dube. He has hit 33 sixes, his strike-rate is over 160. Last few seasons have not been special but this year he came with a clear-cut mindset that he has to come and hit sixes,” stated the former Indian opener further.
He was also full of praise for Jaiswal who took the entire league by storm by smashing plenty of runs, while Sehwag also included Mumbai Indians ace Suryakumar Yadav in his list.
“The third is a brilliant opener. I have to take his name because his brilliant batting has forced me to pick him up. Yashasvi Jaiswal. Then comes SKY. I am taking Suryakumar Yadav’s name because he was not in form. In international cricket he was getting zeroes. In IPL also he was not doing well at the start, but then he started doing well,” added the 44-year-old added.
“Last, I can pick anybody by doing a toss because there are so many. But I will pick another middle-order batter and his name is Heinrich Klaasen. The team he was playing for (SRH), he was batting for them in the middle order, he made the most number runs. His ability to hit against spin and pace is rarely seen in a foreign player,” he concluded.
Fair to say that it was a tough job choosing players from a host of superstars who lit up the league this season but Sehwag backed four Indian players, and two of them were uncapped which is always a nice thing.
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