No wonder why team wants to have at least 2 all-rounders in their team who can score runs with the bat and when there is a ball in hand, they can also bowl some difficult overs in the middle.
Although there are many great all-rounders in the IPL, there are only a few names among them who have been able to maintain their dominance for a long time.
As you have seen, while commenting on Star Sports nowadays, veteran commentators also answer the questions of the fans and fans get a chance to ask them their favorite questions.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, during the match between Delhi and Kolkata yesterday, a fan asked veteran bowler Irfan Pathan a great question while sitting in the commentary box. The question was, who has been the best all-rounder of the IPL so far?
Irfan Pathan said, “Yes, there are many all-rounders, if you consider the wicketkeeper as such an all-rounder, then Dhoni will come on top, but if you count someone with batting and bowling, then I consider Andre Russell very high because he has been a great match-winner.”
“Look, you have got all-rounders, you have got a lot of all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja is playing, Hardik Pandya as well. Kieron Pollard is a very underrated all-rounder because he did not have that pace but did his job well.”
Jacques Kallis is the greatest all-rounder of the last two centuries, but when he came to play in the IPL, he was in the last few years of his career, remember not even playing IPL, so Irfan Pathan continued his talk and said, “Jacques Kallis’s long career is not the same as you talk about career. He is the best all-rounder in international cricket.”
“But if we talk about the numbers here, then according to me, Andre Russell comes at top.”
According to Irfan Pathan, the best all-rounder in the IPL has been Andre Russell, who does not bowl much anymore, only bowls one or two overs but he has good speed, bouncers do well and we have all seen his exploits in batting. He has won matches for KKR many times from such a situation from where victory seemed a bit impossible.