In pictures: The IPL team of the season

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Jasprit Bumrah, Sunil Narine and Virat Kohli are all included in the team of the season for IPL 2024. This special XI can contain a maximum of four overseas players besides having no more than three players from a single franchise. Like all our weekly XIs this season, there is also an Impact Player completing our lineup

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Travis Head (SRH): With three appearances in our team of the week, Head has arguably been the IPL’s most scintillating batter this season. Picking up from where left off in the World Cup final, Head’s love affair with Indian pitches has seen him pile up 567 runs at a strike rate of 192.20, with a hundred against RCB to go with four fifties. His 64 fours and 32 sixes have lit up the tournament, with his contributions during SRH’s totals of 287 and 277 against RCB and MI, respectively, set to go down in IPL folklore

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Sunil Narine (KKR): One of the masterstrokes of this IPL has been the return of Narine as opener, where he has scored 482 runs at a strike rate of 179.85. Not bad for a pinch-hitter! With three team of the week appearances, Narine’s bowling has actually played second fiddle to his hitting this year, even though he has picked up 16 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 6.90. A memorable 109 against RR was Narine’s undoubted highlight of the season, when a packed Eden Gardens stood up to salute one of their all-time favourites

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Virat Kohli (RCB): While not quite the Superman from 2016, Kohli has nonetheless enjoyed a prolific campaign, his second-best IPL season in terms of runs, with three team of the week selections. With 741 runs at an average of 61.75, he is the favourite to win another Orange Cap. For all the talk about his strike rate, Kohli has scored at 154.69 in 15 innings, not slow by any T20 definition. During RCB’s dream run of six out of six wins en route to the playoffs, Kohli was indispensable, not just with his bat but also with his arm in the field, which has produced memorable run outs all season long

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Sanju Samson (RR): Standing up when his team needed him the most, the RR captain has led from the front with an average of 53.10, scoring 531 runs with a highest score of 86 before a controversial dismissal against DC. Samson was yet another player that made it into our team of the week thrice, amassing 48 boundaries and 24 sixes as part of his five half-centuries. Alongside his batting, Samson the skipper has also looked sharp, marshalling his troops with admirable composure throughout

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Riyan Parag (RR): This was always going to be a make or break season for the 22-year-old, but Parag has proved his critics wrong with a mixture of nonchalance and brutal hitting. Far more mature in tricky situations, Parag has outperformed every other RR batter to score 573 runs this term, while striking at almost 150. His best knock of 84 not out against DC was also one of the most watchable innings of this IPL, which helped him secure one of his three entries into our team of the week

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Nicholas Pooran (LSG): The only man from LSG to make our team of the season, the West Indian hit more sixes than fours this season, falling one short of an aggregate of 500 runs. His three swashbuckling fifties were a treat to watch and his overall strike rate of 178.21 often bailed LSG out when their top order got stuck. With one appearance in our team of the week, Pooran finished the campaign on a high and will look to be retained by Lucknow ahead of next year’s mega auction

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Andre Russell (KKR): Pound for pound, he still remains the IPL’s greatest match-winner with both bat and ball, as evident from being picked twice in our best weekly XI. Starting with a bang, Russell let his muscles do the talking with a powerful 64 not out in KKR’s first game of the season against SRH. Overall, Russell has 222 runs to his tally, slamming 20 fours and 16 sixes at a staggering strike rate of 185. Three of Russell’s 16 wickets came against RCB in a match-turning spell at Eden, further underlining his status as the man with the golden arm for the Knights

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Kuldeep Yadav (DC): While he may have played just 11 games this year, Kuldeep was one of the hardest spinners to face this season, particularly at the Kotla. His 16 wickets came at the expense of 8.65 runs per over, with a headline performance of four for 55 against SRH. Even though he only made it into our team of the week on one occasion, Kuldeep’s wicket-taking form is a good sign for India ahead of the T20 World Cup

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Harshal Patel (PBKS): Set to win his second Purple Cap, Harshal swung back into form this season with his variations at the death proving pivotal yet again. His 24 wickets from 14 games came at an economy rate close to 10, with his best figures of three for 15 against GT in contention for one of the spells of the tournament

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Jasprit Bumrah (MI): After what is probably their worst-ever IPL campaign, the MI management need to go back to the drawing board. But one man has stood tall for the five-time champions with a record four entries in our team of the week. With 20 wickets to his name, Bumrah has been devastating at the start as well as at the death, and remains the most reliable bowler in the format. His 149 dot balls are also the highest in this IPL, with a dot ball execution rate close to one every two balls

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Varun Chakravarthy (KKR): The most bankable spinner this season, Chakravarthy’s score of wickets have seen him make our weekly XI twice. By the standards of hitting this year, his economy rate of 8.18 is outstanding. His spell of three for 16 against DC was arguably the finest of his KKR career, something he will look to trump during the final on a Chennai track that should prove conducive for his style of spin

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Impact Player: Abhishek Sharma (SRH): With 482 runs to his name at a blistering strike rate of 207.75, Abhishek may feel hard done by to not be going to the T20 World Cup this summer. Nobody has hit more sixes than Sharma, who hit 42 and whose only appearance in our team of the week was also as an impact player. While he may not have notched up the big century he richly deserves, Abhishek has been a breakthrough talent this year, following in the footsteps of Yashasvi Jaiswal from 2023. To further boost his stock, big-hitting Abhishek came good with the ball, picking two priceless wickets in the second qualifier against RR