South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen and Kagiso Rabada have been named in ESPNcricinfo’s IPL 2026 Team of the Tournament, with the two Proteas players among the competition’s most decorated individual performers across the full season.
Klaasen’s inclusion recognises one of the finest middle-order batting campaigns in T20 tournament history. The Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper-batter scored 624 runs at an average of 48.00 and a strike rate of 160.00, crossing 30 in 11 of his 15 innings while batting outside the top three.
No middle-order batter in any T20 tournament has ever scored 600-plus runs from that position. His most destructive displays included 65 not out off 30 balls against Mumbai Indians chasing 244, and a decisive takedown of CSK’s spin attack at Chepauk in a crunch fixture.
Rabada’s place is equally well-earned. The Purple Cap winner finished with 29 wickets from 17 matches at an average of 21.58, but the headline figure is his 20 powerplay wickets – a new IPL record for a single season, surpassing Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s tally of 17.
Rabada outshone every other new-ball bowler in the competition with a wicket every 13 balls, claimed five three-wicket hauls and joins Bhuvneshwar, Dwayne Bravo and Harshal Patel as the only bowlers with multiple Purple Caps.
ESPNcricinfo’s IPL 2026 Team of the Tournament 🚨 pic.twitter.com/azH3gWK8hD
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 1, 2026
The full XI is led by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Virat Kohli at the top, with Ishan Kishan as wicketkeeper and Rajat Patidar as captain.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, Krunal Pandya and Sunil Narine provide the all-round balance, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer and Sakib Hussain complete the bowling attack alongside Rabada.
Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
