With the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League set to kick off on September 19, we asked our readers to name the overseas batsman they are most looking forward to at 2020 IPL.

We received a mix of the obvious and some not-so-obvious choices but there was one batsman who pretty much trumped all the others.

Joshua Phillipe is one batsman who wouldn’t feature in everyone’s list of the players they are looking forward to watching at the tournament but the Australian wicketkeeper-opener might take a few IPL fans by surprise. The 23-year-old was picked by the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the back of an explosive 2019 Big Bash League, where he scored 487 runs at a strike-rate of 129.86 for Sidney Sixers.

Understandably, David Warner was a popular choice. The Sunrisers Hyderabad opener has the most runs of all the overseas batsmen who have played in the IPL – 4706 in 126 matches at a strike-rate of 142.39. He finished the top run-getter of the 2019 IPL as well, scoring 692 runs in 12 matches.

Steve Smith‘s best season in the IPL came with Rising Pune Supergiant when he took the franchise to the final of 2017 IPL, scoring 472 runs in 15 matches. Rajasthan Royals will hope that the Australian batsman regains his 2017 form in the UAE.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Andre Russell has the highest strike-rate – 186.41 – in IPL history and naturally, fans want to see him dismantle bowling attacks for fun in the 2020 IPL.

AB de Villiers was the most popular choice and clearly the overseas batsman our readers are most looking forward to watching at IPL 2020. After Warner and Chris Gayle, de Villiers has the third-most runs for an overseas batsman in the tournament – 4395 runs in 154 matches.

Related tags:

Indian Premier LeagueSteve SmithAndre RussellGlobal T20 LeaguesDavid WarnerAb De Villiers