In the video, these legends of the game discuss the most destructive batsmen, the most lethal death bowlers, the smartest mystery spinners, and the most agile fielders.

Who in your opinion fits the bill in the above mentioned categories? Do your choices match those of Pietersen and the rest?

Rest assured, KP, Chopra, Bishop, VD Dussen, and Ngidi have taken the same names that we all have on our minds.

With the IPL underway, you will definitely catch some of these T20 legends in action.

Betway's IPL betting odds have Mumbai Indians as the favorites to win the title. No surprise there given the franchise has won more IPL titles than any other team in the league's history.

But I tell you what - any one of the names, mentioned in the video above, can take the match away from any team single handedly on their day.

And if that day is the Final, then we can all expect a new IPL champion this season!

The world's premier T20 competition, the IPL, will be starting its 13th season in a month's time.

When the 6-week extravaganza gets underway, all cricket around the world will come to a standstill and all eyes will be on the world's best players competing for the ultimate T20 crown.

Like last year, 8 teams will take part in IPL 2020, which starts on 27 March 2020 and goes on till the middle of May.

Six teams have won the previous 12 editions of the IPL with Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai Indians winning it 4 times. Chennai Super Kings, who missed out two seasons, have won the IPL three times; while Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders have won it twice.

The other three editions have been won by Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

LEADING BATSMEN
T20 is a batsman's game and the IPL has seen some scintillating knocks over the past decade and a bit.

The first ever match played in IPL history, in 2008, witnessed a Brendan McCullum classic as he butchered the Royal Challengers Bangalore's attack amassing an unbeaten 158 that included 13 sixes and 10 fours.

That remained the highest score ever made in the IPL till Chris Gayle smashed his way to an unbeaten 175 in 2013. Gayle's knock comprised 17 sixes and 13 fours.


Chris Gayle is among the leading run scorers as well in the IPL, but it is no surprise as to who tops that list.

None other than the King himself, Virat Kohli!

Kohli is only one of two batsmen who have piled on over 5,000 runs in the IPL. The other being Suresh Raina.

There are only 8 other batsmen who have over 4,000 runs in the IPL.


There is another batting accolade that Chris Gayle has the honor of holding - the most number of sixes hit in the IPL.

Gayle is right there at the top with 326 sixes and he has a lead of over a 100 sixes over the next batsman on the list!

More than a 100 sixes than anyone else playing this T20 league!

What a legend this Chris Gayle is.


Gayle's name also makes the list when you look at batsmen who have scored the most runs in one season of IPL; however like the list of batsman with most runs in the history of the IPL, Kohli leads this list too.

He knocked a legendary 973 runs in IPL 2016!


Take a look at today match predictions and decide for yourself on who you will be placing your money on. Chris Gayle is a T20 superstar and a cricket legend. He is a key man to have in your team in T20 cricket. Any team that has Gayle in it will always be a favorite on the day.

Also take a look at this video for match predictions.


LEADING BOWLERS
It is a batsman's game no doubt but bowlers who can check the run flow are worth their weight in gold! Not many bowlers escape the onslaught of T20 batsmen, but there are a few who have been quite successful in this format.

Spinners are among the top wicket takers in the IPL, but there is one pacer who has out done all of them and that is Lasith Malinga.


Malinga has been a T20 superstar with the ball, not only for his IPL franchise for his country too. Mumbai Indians are fortunate to have him in the ranks and he has been a key component of their 4 IPL wins, the most by any team in the IPL.

I would say that the Mumbai Indians will start IPL 2020 as favorites. They are the defending champions and have won 4 of the past 7 IPL Trophies.

The ICC World Cup 2019 is 8 days away! It is every cricketers dream to not only represent their team at a World Cup, but to be a part of a World Cup winning team. For some, the dream comes true; but for many it remains just that... a dream.

This World Cup will be the last for a number of cricketers. Here is a look at those who will most likely be taking part in their last ever World Cup.



AUSTRALIA

Shaun Marsh
Despite making his debut in 2008, this will be Shaun Marsh's first ever World Cup; and most likely his last too considering he will be close to 40 by 2023. He has represented Australia in 70 odd ODIs in over a decade and has been in and out of the team due to indifferent form. He goes into the World Cup as part of the defending champions team.

He may not be a sure starter in Australia's first XI, but he would definitely be looking forward to making the most of this first, and probably last opportunity.

INDIA

MS Dhoni
Not only will this be Dhoni's last World Cup, at the age of 37, it may be the last we see of Dhoni as an international cricketer. He has had a distinguished career and is already a World Cup winner. This will be his 4th World Cup and from the lows of 2007 when he witnessed his house being stoned after India were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages to the highs of 2011 when he led India to its second World Cup win, Dhoni has seen it all.

He will definitely be looking to sign off from India's international duties by adding another World Cup to his long list of achievements.

NEW ZEALAND

Ross Taylor
Also playing his 4th World Cup, Taylor will be 39 by the time of the next World Cup. He was part of the team that lost the final at the previous World Cup in 2015 and being New Zealand's most experience player, he would want to make that right the last time he represents his team in a World Cup.

PAKISTAN

Shoaib Malik
He is one of the only two cricketers who made their ODI debut in the previous century and are still playing. The other being Chris Gayle.

Despite playing for Pakistan for two decades, Malik has played only 3 World Cup matches, in 2007. For someone who has been around for so long, this would have been his 5th World Cup, but it is only his 2nd and definitely his last. He may still continue to play T20s for Pakistan, but this will be the last time he represents Pakistan in ODIs.

He will be looking to call time on his ODI career with a World Cup win, which will complete his ICC triple having been part of Pakistan's teams that won the ICC World T20 and ICC Champions Trophy.

Mohammad Hafeez
Hafeez has served Pakistan for 16 years and this World Cup is likely his last international assignment. He has been a great servant for Pakistan and has represented them in two previous World Cups in 2007 and 2011. He was part of the squad in 2015 as well but had to miss the World Cup due to injury.

Hafeez played a vital role in Pakistan's Champions Trophy win in 2017 and he will be looking to do the same during his swansong appearance for Pakistan.

SOUTH AFRICA

Faf Du Plessis, JP Duminy, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir
At the ages of 34, 35, 36, 35, and 40 respectively, these 5 are unlikely to be part of South Africa's campaign in 2023. This also makes South Africa the team with the highest average age in this World Cup.

This quintet will try to achieve what none of their predecessors could. The likes of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, AB De Villiers and many more all left the game without a World Cup win. A dream that has remained elusive to South Africa, despite being one of the best, if not the best, ODI outfit during many a World Cup.

SRI LANKA

Lasith Malinga
He is at the tail end of his international career and this will surely be his last appearance for Sri Lanka in ODIs. This will be Malinga's 4th World Cup. He has represented Sri Lanka in two World Cup finals, in 2007 and 2011, both of which Sri Lanka lost. That will not be the memory he would want to go into retirement with.

WEST INDIES

Chris Gayle
The man, the universe boss, the legend! He is one of the greatest limited overs batsman of this era and at 39 this is the last time he will represent West Indies in international cricket. With this being his 5th World Cup, Gayle will be the most experienced World Cup cricketer over the next 6 weeks in the UK.

He has already made his intentions clear and he plans to retire from the game with a bang! We should expect no less from him given his recent form. He already has two World T20 wins under his belt and would love to end his international career with a World Cup win.


As all these stars bid adieu to the game at the end of World Cup 2019, there will be new stars that will emerge and make a name for themselves. Till that happens, here's hoping that all these cricketers can entertain us for one final time on the biggest cricketing stage there is.

The 11th season of the IPL is upon us and Cricinfo have come out with some Smart Stats that they are going to use to measure and analyze performances of batsmen and bowlers during this elite T20 league competition.

This all sounds quite interesting as it will shed some new light on how the players perform in T20 in different conditions.

But as this all unfolds in front of us, here's a look at the some basic stats from the past decade of IPL.

IPL Champions
The defending champions are Mumbai Indians who have also won the IPL title more times than any other team - thrice.


Following them, with two title wins each, are Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings, who return to the IPL after serving the two year ban.

The other three seasons have witnessed Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers, and Sunrisers Hyderabad win the IPL.

Who will win IPL 2018? Various quarters suggest that this will be the most competitive IPL till date and no one team is being marked as favorite.

We will be talking about this in IPL 2020 as well when the league enters its third decade.

The IPL today is the largest T20 league in the world and its title probably the most coveted T20 title that 8 teams will be vying for starting today!

IPL's Top Batsmen
Five batsmen have scored more than 4,000 runs in IPL with Suresh Raina at the top of the list with 4,540 runs at an average of 34.1 and a strike rate of 139.1.

The others with more than 4,000 runs are Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, and David Warner.

Among all batsmen who have scored over 1,000 runs, only Chris Gayle and David Warner average above 40, with Chris Gayle's 41.2 being the highest average.

Chris Gayle also holds the record for most number of centuries (5), most sixes (265), and highest individual score of 175* in the IPL.

Gayle also holds the record for the fastest ever 100 scored in the IPL when he smashed one of just 30 deliveries, which is also the fastest 100 scored in all T20 cricket.

Gayle is a T20 phenomenon and for a decade he has been performing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, however this season he will turn out for Kings XI Punjab.


The highest strike rate in the IPL for all batsmen with more than 1,000 runs is Glenn Maxwell's (164.4) followed by Virender Sehwag's 155.4.

The fastest 50 record is held by Yusuf Pathan and Sunil Narine, both of whom reached their 50 in just 15 deliveries.

Gayle's fastest 50 is off 17 deliveries, which is the third fastest in IPL history.

IPL's Top Bowlers
Lasith Malinga is the leading wicket taker in IPL with 154 wickets at an average of 19.01 and a strike rate of 16.6.

Malinga is miles ahead of other bowlers with a clear lead of 20 wickets over Amit Mishra who is second on the list with 134 wickets. He is followed by Harbajhan Singh (127), Piyush Chawla (126), and Dwayne Bravo (122).

Malinga's average is the best average among all bowlers with at least 40 wickets in the IPL. While Sunil Narine holds the record for the best economy rate (6.32) among all bowlers who have bowled at least 100 overs in the IPL.


The best bowling figures in the IPL belong to Sohail Tanvir whose 6-14 in the first season for the Rajasthan Royals remains the record even 10 years after.

Adam Zampa is the only other bowler to pick up a 6 wicket haul in the IPL with his 6-19 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.


These batsmen and bowlers will be in action once again as season 11 of the IPL gets underway. It will be interesting to follow them and all the other talented cricketers that this league displays, especially with the new Smart Stats.

Let the games begin!

PAKISTAN'S UNIQUE FEAT

On Tuesday Pakistan became the only team to feature in the semi finals of all four World Twenty20 tournaments that have taken place thus far.

Pakistan were also the only team to have featured in the semi final line up of the three previous World T20 tournaments.

And they remain the only team to have played two World T20 Finals; however they could be joined by Australia or Sri Lanka if either of them qualify for the finals.

That record is impeccable.

On Thursday, when Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the 1st Semi Final of the World T20 2012, it will be the 4th consecutive World T20 semi final that Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal will play. While it will be the 3rd World T20 semi final for Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Saeed Ajmal, and Umar Gul.

That is one experienced line up.

If it were not for a Michael Hussey juggernaut in 2010, Pakistan would have played a 3rd straight World T20 final, but it was an unbelievable and an unfortunate day in St. Lucia for the Pakistanis as Hussey produced a whirlwind and shattered Pakistan's hopes.

HISTORICAL ADVANTAGE WITH PAKISTAN

This time, the Greens are up against Sri Lanka, who started this World T20 as one of the favorites. Playing the Sri Lankans on their home ground is never easy, but I believe Pakistan has it in them to go all the way.

Historically, Pakistan has done well against the Sri Lankans, winning 6 out of the 9 T20 internationals that the teams have played against each other.

Out of the three matches they have played in World T20 tournaments, Pakistan have won 2 (including the final of the World T20 2009) and Sri Lanka 1.

BOTH TEAMS PRETTY EVEN IN THIS WORLD T20

Both, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have looked very strong during this World T20, however I feel that Pakistan has been the more dominant team out of the two.

Pakistan completely outplayed New Zealand and Bangladesh during the Group stages, and dominated Australia in their last Super 8 game. They stuttered against South Africa, but came back strongly to win that game narrowly. They have had only 1 bad game in the entire tournament and that was against India where they looked meek and out of sorts.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, remained unbeaten in the Super 8 stage beating England, West Indies, and New Zealand on their way to the semi finals. While they dominated the West Indies and England, they tied against New Zealand and won in the super over. They annihilated Zimbabwe in the opening match of the World T20 and only lost a shortened 7-over sprint to South Africa in the group stages.

Besides the historical advantage that Pakistan holds, there is very little to choose between the two teams as far as this tournament is concerned.

TOP 3 THE KEY TO BOTH TEAMS' BATTING

As far as the batting is concerned, Pakistan's top 3 of Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Nazir, and Nasir Jamshed are their leading run scorers in this tournament. The top order has traditionally been a worry for Pakistan, but in this tournament it is their top 3 who have done the bulk of the scoring.

Even the middle order comprising of the Akmal brothers, Shoaib Malik, and now Abdul Razzaq looks solid. Razzaq showed some touch during Pakistan's last Super 8 game against Australia, and if he can fire with the bat in the closing overs, it will provide Pakistan with the much needed fire power lower down, which has been missing due to Afridi's bad form with the bat.

For Sri Lanka as well, it is their top 3 of Jayawardene, Dilshan, & Sangakkara who are their leading run scorers in this World T20. Even though their middle order remains largely untested, the likes of Matthews, Thirimanne, Mendis, and the hard hitting Perera can be very dangerous on their day.

BOTH TEAMS HAVE A FORMIDABLE ATTACK

Sri Lanka has two match winning bowlers in their ranks in Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis, both of whom are among the leading wicket takers in this World T20. Mendis had a rare off day in the last Super 8 game against England and Pakistan has traditionally played him well, but he still poses a threat, while Malinga is the sort of bowler who can turn a  match on its head within an over.

For Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal is the key, who is also among the leading wicket takers in this tournament. Even though they possess another two top quality match winning bowlers in Afridi and Umar Gul, both of them have been off color in this World T20. While Afridi has still managed to remain relatively economical, Gul has gone for over 10 runs an over.

Gul did seem to come back to some sort of rhythm in Pakistan's last game against Australia, but he is still far away from being the dangerous death bowler he once was in T20s.

The rise of Raza Hasan though is a positive sign for Pakistan. The 20 year old did what no other bowler has managed to do in this entire tournament - he tamed the man beast Shane Watson and finally ended his run scoring spree.


What has been remarkable about Raza is that he has opened the bowling for Pakistan in all their three Super 8 games against the batting power houses of Australia, South Africa, and India, and has managed an economy rate of only 4.36 in 11 overs, which is the best economy in this World T20 for any one who has bowled more than 5 overs.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL

Even though Sri Lanka have the home advantage, Pakistan were based in Colombo for their Super 8 games and are well accustomed to the conditions. There is no doubt that both teams are going to attack with spin, and it will possibly come down to which team plays the other's spin better.

It is going to be a cracker of a match. Even though I am stopping short of calling out a sure shot winner, I do believe that the winner of this semi final will lift the trophy on Sunday.

With all One Day International obligations for the year 2011 over now, it is a good time to take a look back at the year that was and how the teams and players fared in ODIs during the year.

A total of 146 ODIs were played during the year, a number that is significantly inflated due to the ICC World Cup. But that high number also means that we got to see various remarkable performances from the likes of Virender Sehwag, Shane Watson, Mohammad Hafeez, Lasith Malinga, and Shahid Afridi to name a few.

Both Sehwag and Watson played some massive ODI innings this year.

Sehwag's world record 219 against the West Indies was not the only time Sehwag got brutal on an attack this year; he started the year with a knock of 175 against Bangladesh in the World Cup. Sehwag only finished against the West Indies what he had started against Bangladesh.

Shane Watson, who is probably the only real threat to Sehwag's 219, also played two remarkable innings during the year. Watson started the year with a powerful unbeaten 161 in a successful chase against England in January this year. And if that wasn't enough, Watson took the hapless Bangladeshis for an unbelievable ride. He would have surely reached an ODI double century earlier than Sehwag had it not been for Australia reaching the target of 230. Watson scored 185 of those runs and remained unbeaten in a ruthless onslaught.

There were many bowling performances of note during the year as well, with three of them standing out over and above the rest.

Two of the three feats came within 6 days of each other during the Australia vs Sri Lanka ODI series in August this year. In the 1st ODI of the series, Mitchell Johnson destroyed Sri Lanka with figures of 6-31 to restrict them below 200. Those are the best figures achieved during 2011 in an ODI involving test playing countries.

Sri Lanka responded to that in the 3rd ODI of that series, where Lasith Malinga's 5-28 ensured that Australia remained far from their target of 286. It was a breathtaking performance from Malinga as he made inroads at the start of the innings, broke partnerships in the middle, and also cleaned up the tail.

The third and best bowling feat came from Shahid Afridi, whose 5-35 against Sri Lanka in Sharjah resulted in Sri Lanka sliding from 155-3 to 174 all out to lose the match by 26 runs! I have written so much about Afridi during the whole year that I don't have much else to say any more. The man is King!

Those were some of the individual performances to remember from 2011, but since cricket is a team game, I think its important to take notice of a team that has been on the rise throughout the year, and ended the year with the best record in ODIs amongst all teams.

That's right.. PAKISTAN!

Pakistan recorded the most number of ODI wins amongst all teams during the year and also ended the year with the best win percentage.

India might have been crowned World Champions during the year, and Australia might be the number 1 ranked ODI team according to the ICC Rankings, but ladies and gentlemen, it is Pakistan who has the best ODI record amongst all teams during 2011.

Take a bow boys in green.

Not only did they reach the semi finals of the World Cup this year, but Pakistan also won all their bilateral ODI series during 2011.

It is no surprise then that the Pakistan players dominate the highest runs and wickets lists for the year 2011. Two of their batsmen, Mohammad Hafeez and the captain Misbah Ul Haq, make the top run scorers list, while three of the bowlers, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, and Mohammad Hafeez are amongst the leading wicket takers in 2011.

Hafeez is among the 6 batsmen that cross 1,000 ODI runs during 2011, While Misbah is among the 5 batsmen with more than 20 ODI innings during the year that have an average above 50. Hafeez' coming of age as a solid opening batsman has been a key driver of Pakistan's success this year. While Misbah's cool and composed innings have led Pakistan to many victories during 2011.

On the bowling front, Pakistan has gone through a major transformation. With two of their leading pacers sitting in jail in England, and not many tearaways coming through the ranks like yesteryears, Pakistan has relied heavily on spin in recent times.

Reliance on spin is one thing, but a trio of spinners that dominate opposing batsmen in every game you play, is a luxury that only Pakistan has. Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, and Hafeez, all spinners if different varieties occupy spots 2, 4, and 6 in the leading wicket takers list for the year.

Saeed Ajmal tops the list for best bowling average and economy rate for bowlers with more than 30 wickets during the year as well. It is no surprise then that he has risen to number 1 in the ICC Rankings for ODI bowlers.

Hafeez' outstanding form for Pakistan has also translated into a rise in rankings and with the year coming to an end, he currently sits at number 2 in the ODI bowlers list, number 2 on the ODI Allrounders list, and number 4 in the T20 Allrounders list.

2011 has surely been Pakistan's year. They have played ODI series against New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and Ireland and won all of them.

Critics will say that they haven't played the top teams like Australia, South Africa, England, and India, but that doesn't matter, as Pakistan will play all of them next year.

What counts is that Pakistan has done better than all other teams in ODIs during 2011. And if it wasn't for 5 dropped catches and a Hawkeye error, Pakistan might have even won the World Cup!