IPL 2024 team of the season: KKR players dominate after victorious campaign

Shreyas Iyer's team bossed the tournament and eased past Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final

Kolkata Knight Riders' Venkatesh Iyer celebrates his team's eight-wicket victory in the Indian Premier League final against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 26, 2024. AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders' captain Shreyas Iyer, right, and Venkatesh Iyer celebrate tat the end of the match. AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders' captain Shreyas Iyer celebrates Mitchell Starc after winning against Sunrisers Hyderabad. AP

Kolkata Knight Riders' players celebrate their victory. AFP

Sunil Narine of Kolkata Knight Riders picked up the wicket of Hyderabad's Jaydev Unadkat during the final. Getty Images

Kolkata Knight Riders' players celebrate their win against Sunrisers Hyderabad. AFP

Pat Cummins, captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad on his way to a total of 24 off 19 balls. Getty Images

Aiden Markram of Sunrisers Hyderabad made 20 runs. Getty Images

Andre Russell of Kolkata Knight Riders celebrates the wicket of Aiden Markram. Getty Images

Kolkata Knight Riders' Andre Russell celebrates with teammate Mitchell Starc after taking the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Aiden Markram. AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders' Andre Russell celebrates with his team captain Shreyas Iyer after taking the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Abdul Samad. AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders' Venkatesh Iyer blasted 52 off 26 deliveries. AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders' wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz dives to make an unsuccessful attempt to run out Sunrisers Hyderabad's Abhishek Sharma. AP

Kolkata Knight Riders' Varun Chakravarthy, centre, celebrates with teammates Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rinku Singh after taking the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Shahbaz Ahmed. AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders' Vaibhav Arora, centre, celebrates with teammate Rahmanullah Gurbaz after taking the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Travis Head, left. AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders' Rahmanullah Gurbaz, right, and Venkatesh Iyer run between the wickets. AFP

Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Kolkata Knight Riders plays a shot on his way to making 39 runs off 32 balls. Getty Images

The 2024 Indian Premier League concluded with barely any drama as tournament leaders Kolkata Knight Riders stamped their authority over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a one-sided final in Chennai on Sunday to clinch their third title.

Kolkata and Hyderabad were the two most impressive teams in the tournament and deservedly made it to the final, where a superb start by Aussie spearhead Mitchell Starc and an all-round bowling effort set up a comfortable eight-wicket win.

With the two-month long IPL carnival now over, we take a look at the best players of the tournament.

IPL 2024 team of the season

Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)

By the far the most consistent batsman of the tournament, Kohli amassed 741 runs from 15 outings at an average of more than 60 and a strike rate of 155. He held RCB together after a horror start to the tournament and was mainly responsible for taking them to the play-offs.

Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Opening the innings provided a new avenue for the Caribbean star as he scored 488 runs at a strike rate of 180. On top of that, regained his mojo with the ball as he turned into a critical member of the bowling unit, picking up 17 wickets at almost 6.5 runs an over. Worth his weight in gold in T20 cricket.

Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals, wk)

Another season where he started brightly but started to fade towards the end. But there is no denying Samson’s ability with the bat, calm leadership skills and dependable glovework. Over 500 runs and a run to the play-offs is a very good return.

Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders, captain)

They say you should pick the team first and then a captain among it, but Iyer deserves to be in this list first simply because of the mental fortitude he has shown over the past few months after his reported fallout with the national team management and loss of a central contract. Despite all that, Iyer helped Kolkata dominate throughout the tournament and got the best out of every single player, for which he deserves a lot of the credit.

Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants)

The most dependable and devastating T20 batsman in the middle overs. Scored just one short of 500 runs at a strike rate of close to 180, despite playing his home matches on tricky surfaces in Lucknow, and showed how good he is. Had his home games been in Delhi or Kolkata, he would have scored plenty more.

Shivam Dube (Chennai Super Kings)

Dube is a spin destroying machine, with his game developed around that single aspect. Was tied down a bit by high-quality pace but his entry point in the middle overs was perfect for him and, on his day, can change the course of a match in a couple of overs. Arguably the hardest hitter in the game.

Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Promised to be fitter and stronger this tournament and delivered. Did admirably with the bat whenever he got a chance, striking at over 180, and was even better with the ball, picking up 19 wickets in 15 matches and bowling consistently. Kolkata treat Russell and Narine like royalty and we can now see why.

Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Not an established name in T20 cricket but still clinched a monster $2.5 million contract in the auction and was named Hyderabad captain after a stupendous season that included Test and ODI world titles. His captaincy was spot on, and so was his bowling as he snared 18 wickets at under 10 an over. Absolute must in any team, and format, any tournament just because of the value of each of his skill sets.

Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)

Horrible season for Mumbai but another outstanding one for Bumrah. Picked up 20 wickets in just 13 matches at an economy of under 6.5, which is almost unfathomable in a season filled with 250-plus scores under the impact sub rule. He is the greatest bowler T20 cricket has seen.

Kuldeep Yadav (Delhi Capitals)

The best wrist spinner of the tournament. Yadav has transformed his game in all formats and is one of the first names on the team sheet. This season, picked up 16 wickets in 11 games at under nine an over, which is superb for a wrist spinner. Can walk into any white ball team.

Varun Chakravarthy (Kolkata Knight Riders)

The best IPL season for the mystery spinner. Kolkata know how to look after talent and he repaid the trust many times over, picking up 21 wickets and maintained an economy of just eight.

Impact subs: Rajat Patidar, Abishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, Mitchell Starc, Jake Fraser-McGurk