NEW DELHI: Former India and Chennai Super Kings batter Subramaniam Badrinath has shared what he believes is his best playing XI for the IPL 2026 league phase, and the most striking feature is the absence of two household names—Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Badrinath explained that his top-order plan begins with young opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, partnering with Shubman Gill at the forefront.
His squad-building approach also reflected the playoff picture from the start of the tournament. Badrinath assembled a team that leaned heavily on sides that finished in the top four—choosing nine players out of the 12 from those qualifying teams. The overall balance, he suggested, also matched the blueprint many IPL franchises follow: an emphasis on Indian batting options, with overseas talent used primarily to strengthen the bowling attack.
For the batting structure, he placed Sai Sudharsan at number three and named Heinrich Klaasen to take charge of the middle overs as the side’s main power-hitter. Rajat Patidar rounded out the group by earning a role as the finisher, with Badrinath pointing to Patidar’s strong strike rate and his ability to accelerate effectively even when the situation grows tense, despite Patidar not being among the leading run-scorers of the season.
The lower-order composition, in Badrinath’s view, was where the XI gained its flexibility. He went with Krunal Pandya and Sunil Narine as spin-bowling all-rounders, banking on their wicket-taking impact along with their capacity to maintain control through economical spells during the campaign.
One of the most unexpected decisions was leaving out Rashid Khan, despite the leg-spinner’s record of taking wickets. Badrinath’s reasoning was that he values economy rate and control more than raw wicket numbers alone—an approach that shaped several selections in his XI.
In pace bowling, Badrinath selected the tournament’s leading wicket-takers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer, and Kagiso Rabada. He also included an extra fast-bowling option, choosing either Prince Yadav or Kartik Tyagi, while Akeal Hosein was picked as the Impact Player to add another dimension to the team’s match-ups.
Subramaniam Badrinath IPL 2026 XII: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Heinrich Klaasen, Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, Sunil Narine, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer, Kagiso Rabada, Prince Yadav/Kartik Tyagi
