‘A standout captain’

Sachin Tendulkar; Virat Kohli and GT skipper Hardik Pandya with the IPL trophy on Sunday. Pic/BCCI; IPL

India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has omitted the likes of Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketer Virat Kohli and Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma from his list of the Best Playing XI from the just-concluded IPL season.

While Gujarat Titans, led by all-rounder Hardik Pandya, went on to lift the trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday night defeating Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets, the Rohit Sharma-led MI had the worst season this year, finishing 10th and last.

Tendulkar said his list was based purely on the performance of this IPL season and had nothing to do with previous editions. And, in this edition of the IPL, both Rohit and Kohli performed miserably, even though the latter's side made it to the playoffs stage.

"It's got nothing to do with players' reputation or their past performances. It is purely based on their performances this season and what they have been able to achieve this season," Tendulkar said on his YouTube channel.

Tendulkar's team, led by Hardik Pandya, has the likes of charismatic England batter Jos Buttler - who scored a whopping 863 runs for the Royals, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, David Miller, Liam Livingstone, Dinesh Karthik, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal.

"Hardik was the standout captain this season. He was clear in his mind, proactive. I always say that don't regret, celebrate. If you are able to celebrate, it means the captain is outsmarting the opposition and that is what Hardik did," opined the legend.

Tendulkar said that he would pick a left-right combination at the top of the batting order, and that Buttler and Dhawan were the best this season.

Tendulkar's IPL-15 XI:
J Buttler, S Dhawan, KL Rahul, Hardik (captain), D Miller, L Livingstone, D Karthik, Rashid, M Shami, J Bumrah, Y Chahal

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