IPL 2022: Kevin Pietersen picks best XI of the tournament, no place for Dinesh Karthik and Rashid Khan

Former England swashbuckling batter Kevin Pietersen picked his best XI of the tournament but surprisingly there was no place for Dinesh Karthik and Rashid Khan.

Pietersen selected Jos Buttler and Quinton de Kock as the two openers of his team. Buttler ended the season as the MVP after scoring 863 runs in 17 matches for runners-up Rajasthan Royals.

Quinton de Kock also gave good starts to Lucknow Super Giants and he scored 508 runs in 15 matches at an average of 36.29 and a strike rate of 148.97. Pietersen backed Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul to bat at number three. Rahul had another impressive season in the IPL as he scored 616 runs in 15 matches.

Former England captain picked Hardik Pandya to bat at number four. Pandya scored 487 runs in 15 matches at an average of 44.27 and a strike rate of 131.26. The cricketer-turned-commentator selected Liam Livingstone to bat at number five. Livingstone scored 437 runs for PBKS at a blistering strike rate of 182.08 for PBKS.

Pietersen picked David Miller, who scored 481 runs in the season, to bat at number six. Rahul Tewatia, who provided the finishing touches for Gujarat Titans, also makes the cut into Pietersen’s team of the tournament. The left-hander scored 217 runs in 12 innings at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 147.61.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal are two spinners in Pietersen’s team. Ashwin took 12 wickets in 17 matches whereas Chahal bagged the Purple Cap as he scalped a total of 27 wickets. Umran Malik and Josh Hazlewood are the two fast bowlers in the team.

Malik scalped 22 wickets in 14 matches for SRH whereas Hazlewood snared 20 wickets in 12 matches for RCB.

KEVIN PIETERSEN’S IPL 2022 XI: Jos Buttler, Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, R Ashwin, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Josh Hazlewood.