Mohammad Kaif picks his IPL 2022 best Playing XI; Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya misses out

Mohammad Kaif is a former Indian cricketer who competed in Tests and One-Day Internationals. On the strength of his accomplishments at the Under-19 level, where he captained the India national under-19 cricket team to victory in the Under-19 World Cup in 2000, he was called up to the national squad. Mohammad Kaif picked his best 11 of IPL 2022 which features six Indians and five overseas cricketers.

KL Rahul of the Lucknow Super Giants  has been selected captain of the dream team, which also includes SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) batsman Rahul Tripathi and Rajasthan Royals leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Dinesh Karthik of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Hardik Pandya of the Gujarat Titans have both been left out of Kaif's best IPL XI for the current season.

In a Sportskeeda video, Kaif shared his best playing XI for IPL 2022. He picked Jos Buttler to open which is a no brainer as he was in terrific form this season. He picked Lokesh Rahul as his partner due to his consistency in IPL scoring 500-600 runs almost every season. He said that, “The first name in my team is Jos Buttler. He has been in excellent form and is also the Orange Cap holder. He has a lot of international experience and will keep wickets as well in the playing XI”.

Mohammad Kaif pens down his IPL 2022 best XI 🏏#IPL #ipl2022 pic.twitter.com/yQ4LUvYC2m

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) May 26, 2022

Because of his ability to score consistently, IPL legend David Warner is ranked third in the IPL team. The No. 4 and No. 5 slots, respectively, are occupied by SRH's outstanding middle-order hitter Rahul Tripathi and PBKS' six-hitting prodigy Liam Livingstone. He said Livingstone is a utility player and he picked the power hitter Andre Russel at no 6 in his team. 

Moving on to the bowlers, Kaif went with RR's Yuzvendra Chahal and GT's Rashid Khan, both leg-spinners. This time, Rashid Khan has performed admirably with the bat for Gujarat. As the tournament continued, he also found his rhythm with the ball. His economy is amazing, and catching him is quite difficult. In the fast bowling category, Kaif has chosen 'X factor' Umran Malik for his raw pace and wicket-taking abilities, as well as Jasprit Bumrah for his outstanding second-half performance.