Madhurima
MUMBAI: On the occasion of the 13th anniversary of VIVO IPL, MS Dhoni, the captain of Chennai Super Kings and his Mumbai Indians counterpart Rohit Sharma were declared joint Greatest of All Time (GOATs) captains of the IPL, whilst AB de Villiers emerged because the GOAT in the batsmen category and Lasith Malinga took away the title in the bowler's category. Shane Watson, one among CSKs vital cog in the wheel, won the battle among the all-rounders.
An expert jury from Stars Sports formed the list on Cricket Connected. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Team India captain Virat Kohli were voted the IPL's greatest Indian batsman for being the top scorer in the history of the tournament with 5412 runs in a total of 177 matches at a staggering average of 37.84.
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The jury was split right down the centre to make their pick on the best ever captain. While Dhoni shouldered the responsibility of taking the #YellowArmy to 10 playoffs out of the 11 seasons, Rohit proved to be the foremost successful captain pocketing 4 titles in 7 seasons for Mumba Indians. in the coach's category, the calm and composed Stephen Fleming (Chennai Super Kings) emerged the winner as he pipped Trevor Bayliss of KKR by a little margin.
GOAT Batsmen
‘Mr. 360 Degrees' AB de Villiers, one amongst RCB's batting mainstays, walked away with the recognition from among the batsmen. it had been a tricky choice because the shortlist comprised of players like Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, who are among the leading run-scorers.
GOAT Bowler
Among the bowlers, Mumbai Indians' pace machine Lasith Malinga, the leading wicket-taker of the IPL up to now with 170 scalps in 122 matches, was the near-unanimous GOAT bowler thanks to his consistency over the years and his success at MI's cauldron – the Wankhede Stadium.
GOAT All-rounder
Shane Watson, who fought valiantly for the Yellow Brigade in the 2019 IPL final with a bloodied knee, went past Dwayne Bravo and also the powerful Andre Russell primarily because of his consistency.
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About the Jury
The jury comprised of fifty members including former cricketers (20), senior sports journalists (10), statisticians & analysts (10), broadcasters (7) and anchors (3) and analysts who chose the best among the list of top 10 players in each category and an inventory of 5 players each in categories of Greatest Captain and Coach. A shortlist of three names based on the 50-member jury's votes were then deliberated upon by former KKR captain and two-time IPL champion Gautam Gambhir, former England captain and World T20-winning batsman Kevin Pietersen, ICC World Cup and IPL champion Ashish Nehra, 2007 ICC World T20-winning all-rounder Irfan Pathan and former New Zealand pacer and VIVO IPL commentator Danny Morrison, who picked the winners.
