IPL 2021 Preview

With the IPL just one day away, there is a lot of buzz around the tournament and the highly anticipated clash between the defending champions and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Just like last year, I have way too much time on my hands and I am trying to predict the playing XI for all the teams this year.

As usual, the auction was a cause of excitement. A couple of big buys and new faces means that some teams have almost an entirely different squad. The stadiums included for this edition of the IPL include the ones at Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bangalore, with Hyderabad as a backup. As we know, the toss is as an important aspect of the game at Chepauk and the Arun Jaitley, where dew plays an important role. Pacers will play a very important role at the Motera. The Chinnaswamy, with its tiny boundaries and absolute road of a pitch, will forever aid batsmen. Fans can expect a fair contest between bat and ball (as fair as it gets in T20s) at both Eden and Wankhede. The neutral venue rule does not favour most teams as they are most comfortable playing at their home grounds in front of the home fanbase and on the familiar surface. But it might work in favour of RCB and DC as the former gets to play in larger stadiums and the latter can make the best use of their brilliant away record and poor home record. PBKS also might have an advantage because they will be playing five of their games at the Chinnaswamy, which will aid their batting prowess.

As international cricket has resumed all around the globe, some players may not be available throughout the tournament. Some South African players will miss the first match of the season because of their quarantine. Similarly, towards the end of the tournament, English and Kiwi test players may not be available either. So, I will be providing an ideal XI and another XI accommodating all the missing players.

That being said, let’s dive right in!

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Looking at CSK, the first thing that comes to mind is the uncertainty regarding the form of the older players. Dhoni and Rayudu had average seasons last year and it has been almost two years since Raina played a game. Thus, their batting seems to lack a lot of firepower. If they tackle this issue well, they have a good set of all-rounders and bowlers who are definitely capable of turning around the match in CSK’s favour. The team only have seven foreign options because Josh Hazlewood pulled out of the IPL. As CSK have key English players, there will be two XIs in this case.

I. Ideal XI

1. Ruturaj Gaikwad/Robin Uthappa

2. Faf du Plesis

3. Suresh Raina

4. Ambati Rayudu

5. M S Dhoni (C) (wk)

6. Moeen Ali

7. Ravindra Jadeja

8. Sam Curran

9. Dwayne Bravo

10. Shardul Thakur

11. Deepak Chahar

II. Final XI

1. Ruturaj Gaikwad/Robin Uthappa

2. Faf du Plesis

3. Suresh Raina

4. Ambati Rayudu

5. M S Dhoni (C) (wk)

6. Ravindra Jadeja

7. Mitchell Santner/Krishnappa Gowtham

8. Dwayne Bravo

9. Shardul Thakur

10. Deepak Chahar

11. Lungi Ngidi/Imran Tahir

Other members of the squad: N Jagadeesan, K M Asif, R Sai Kishore, Karn Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, Bhagath Verma, Hari Nishanth

DELHI CAPITALS

The other finalists of last year’s IPL, Delhi sure have a few things going right for them. Despite the prospect of another brilliant season, the team has taken hit after hit. With skipper Shreyas Iyer missing out and Axar Patel testing positive for Covid19, things surely seem a tad bit glum for DC. Moreover, the team needs to sort out their Indian pace bowling and figure out their best possible XI. Though Chris Woakes will be called back for the test series, he is not an irreplaceable member of the squad. As their pace bowling unit consists of South Africans, there will be two XIs listed.

I. Opening XI

1. Prithvi Shaw

2. Shikar Dhawan

3. Ajinkya Rahane

4. Steve Smith/Sam Billings

5. Rishabh Pant (C) (wk)

6. Marcus Stoinis

7. Tom Curran

8. Chris Woakes

9. R Ashwin

10. Amit Mishra

11. Ishant Sharma/Umesh Yadav

II. Ideal XI

1. Prithvi Shaw

2. Shikar Dhawan

3. Ajinkya Rahane

4. Rishabh Pant (C) (wk)

5. Marcus Stoinis

6. Sam Billings/Shimron Hetmyer

7. Axar Patel

8. R Ashwin

9. Kagiso Rabada

10. Anrich Nortje

11. Ishant Sharma/Umesh Yadav

Other members of the squad: Avesh Khan, Pravin Dubey, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, Manimaran Siddharth, Shimron Hetmyer

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Being one of the two teams that are captained by foreign players, KKR automatically have one foreign slot less. But they also have a lot of big names and might struggle with their bench strength. A couple of key problems for KKR include their inconsistent middle order and their Indian pace attack. They also require a solid batsman to support Gill and Rana at the top. Thus, it might be a bit of a problem to figure out their best XI, given that the form a couple of players is not known. But one huge positive is the fact that no foreign player, with the probable exception of Lockie Ferguson, will miss out on the tournament. So, only the ideal XIs needs to be given here.

1. Shubman Gill

2. Nitish Rana

3. Karun Nair/Rahul Tripathi

4. Shakib al Hasan/Sunil Narine

5. Eoin Morgan (C)

6. Dinesh Karthik (wk)

7. Andre Russell

8. Pat Cummins/Lockie Ferguson

9. Shivam Mavi/Kamlesh Nagarkoti

10. Varun Chakravarthy

11. Prasidh Krishna

1. Shubman Gill

2. Nitish Rana

3. Karun Nair/Rahul Tripathi

4. Eoin Morgan (C)

5. Dinesh Karthik (wk)

6. Andre Russell

7. Pat Cummins

8. Lockie Ferguson

9. Varun Chakravarthy

10. Prasidh Krishna/Shivam Mavi

11. Kuldeep Yadav

Other members of the squad: Tim Seifert, Ben Cutting, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Harbhajan Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan Negi

MUMBAI INDIANS

The most successful franchise of the IPL will be the side to beat this year. Formidable top and middle order, explosive all-rounders and world class pacers are all features of this brilliant side. If one really has to nit-pick, you could say that the spin department is not really the best. Otherwise, MI are a champion side. They didn’t do much at the auction this year as their XI was pretty much set. It is highly unlikely that other members of the squad get a chance in this edition. But given that they will be missing some of their players both at the start and end of the tournament, three XIs are in order.

I. Opening XI

1. Rohit Sharma (C)

2. Chris Lynn

3. Suryakumar Yadav

4. Ishan Kishan (wk)

5. Kieron Pollard

6. Hardik Pandya

7. Krunal Pandya/Piyush Chawla

8. Nathan Coulter-Nile/Adam Milne

9. Rahul Chahar

10. Trent Boult

11. Jasprit Bumrah

II. Ideal XI

1. Rohit Sharma (C)

2. Quinton de Kock (wk)

3. Suryakumar Yadav

4. Ishan Kishan

5. Kieron Pollard

6. Hardik Pandya

7. Krunal Pandya/Piyush Chawla

8. Nathan Coulter-Nile/Adam Milne

9. Rahul Chahar

10. Trent Boult

11. Jasprit Bumrah

III. Final XI

1. Rohit Sharma (C)

2. Quinton de Kock (wk)

3. Suryakumar Yadav

4. Ishan Kishan

5. Kieron Pollard

6. Hardik Pandya

7. Krunal Pandya/Piyush Chawla

8. Nathan Coulter-Nile

9. Adam Milne/Marco Jansen

10. Rahul Chahar

11. Jasprit Bumrah

Other members of the squad: Saurabh Tiwary, Jayant Yadav, Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Anmolpreet Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, James Neesham, Yudhvir Singh, Arjun Tendulkar

PUNAB KINGS

A team that often comes very close to qualifying for the play-offs but one that hardly ever makes it, Punjab Kings/PBKS, underwent a revamp this year, changing its logo and team name. It was also the team that had the maximum purse in this year’s auction and thus, its pretty obvious that they tried to change many aspects of the team including their middle order and pace bowling. They are another team that might struggle with the bench strength unless their players flop. They do not have any foreigner who might be called back for national duties and so, only the ideal XIs are required here.

1. K L Rahul (C) (wk)

2. Mayank Agarwal

3. Chris Gayle/Dawid Malan*

4. Nicholas Pooran*

5. Mandeep Singh/Sarfaraz Khan^

6. Shahrukh Khan/Deepak Hooda^

7. Chris Jordan/Moises Henriques

8. Jhye Richardson/Riley Meredith

9. Murugan Ashwin

10. Ravi Bishnoi

11. Mohammed Shami

1. K L Rahul (C) (wk)

2. Chris Gayle

3. Mayank Agarwal

4. Nicholas Pooran/Dawid Malan

5. Mandeep Singh/Sarfaraz Khan^

6. Shahrukh Khan/Deepak Hooda^

7. Fabien Allen

8. Chris Jordan/Moises Henriques

9. Jhye Richardson/Riley Meredith

10. Murugan Ashwin/Ravi Bishnoi

11. Mohammed Shami

Other members of the squad: Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Saurabh Kumar

* any two of these three will work

^ any two of these four will work

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

A team that has had a rather poor track record after their first season, Rajasthan Royals is another team that tried to revamp their setup. They let go of their old captain and have appointed the young Indian wicketkeeper, Sanju Samson, as their skipper. RR had problems almost everywhere due to inconsistent batting performances and no support to their lead pacer, Jofra Archer. They will hope that their new acquisitions will help them negate their setbacks this year. A team filled with Englishmen and a couple of South Africans, RR definitely need to have three XIs so that they can continue to play without the Poms.

I. Opening XI

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal/Manan Vohra

2. Jos Buttler

3. Sanju Samson (C) (wk)

4. Ben Stokes

5. Shivam Dube

6. Riyan Parag

7. Rahul Tewatia

8. Chris Morris

9. Shreyas Gopal

10. Andrew Tye/Mustafizur Rahman

11. Kartik Tyagi

II. Ideal XI

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal/Manan Vohra

2. Jos Buttler

3. Sanju Samson (C) (wk)

4. Ben Stokes

5. Shivam Dube

6. Riyan Parag

7. Rahul Tewatia

8. Chris Morris

9. Jofra Archer

10. Shreyas Gopal

11. Kartik Tyagi

III. Final XI

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal/Manan Vohra

2. Liam Livingstone

3. Sanju Samson (C) (wk)

4. David Miller

5. Shivam Dube

6. Riyan Parag

7. Rahul Tewatia

8. Chris Morris

9. Shreyas Gopal

10. Andrew Tye/Mustafizur Rahman

11. Kartik Tyagi

Other members of the squad: Jaydev Unadkat, Mahipal Lomror, Mayank Markande, Anuj Rawat, Chetan Sakariya, K C Cariappa, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

The team that made the headlines of the auctions for their big foreign buys is the team that will be the epitome of hit-or-miss this season. On paper, RCB have a good set of players. Their top order seems to be more formidable this year but as usual, they still have major issues with their bowling and team balance. However, if they manage to pull up their socks, they are a fantastic team that might finally be on the road to victory. With the exception of Kyle Jamieson, RCB do not have any players who will be called back to play for their national side. Thus, only the ideal XIs are required.

1. Devdutt Padikkal

2. Virat Kohli (C)

3. Mohammed Azharuddeen/Rajat Patidar (wk)

4. A B de Villiers

5. Glenn Maxwell

6. Daniel Christian

7. Washington Sundar/Shahbaz Ahamad

8. Kyle Jamieson

9. Navdeep Saini

10. Mohammed Siraj

11. Yuzvendra Chahal

1. Devdutt Padikkal

2. Virat Kohli (C)

3. Mohammed Azharuddeen/Rajat Patidar (wk)

4. A B de Villiers

5. Glenn Maxwell

6. Washington Sundar

7. Shahbaz Ahmed

8. Daniel Sams

9. Kane Richardson

10. Mohammed Siraj

11. Yuzvendra Chahal

Other members of the squad: Finn Allen, Adam Zampa, Pavan Deshpande, Sachin Baby, Suyash Prabhudessai, Srikar Bharat

SUNRISERS HYDERABA

The second team which is being captained by a foreigner, SRH too have one foreign slot less. Coupled with the fact that they have top order batsmen aplenty, they might also end up struggling with their bench strength. Their other weakness is the instability of their middle order. But looking at the positives, SRH arguably has the best bowling line up in the entire league. Batsmen from the opposition will definitely have their work cut out right from the powerplay until the death. Given that SRH has one Brit and one Kiwi, who may be called back to the test side, three XIs will be provided.

I. Ideal XI

1. David Warner (C)

2. Johnny Bairstow

3. Wriddhiman Saha (wk)

4. Manish Pandey

5. Kedar Jadhav/Vijay Shankar

6. Abdul Samad

7. Jason Holder/Mohammad Nabi

8. Rashid Khan

9. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

10. Sandeep Sharma

11. T Natarajan

1. David Warner (C)

2. Wriddhiman Saha (wk)

3. Kane Williamson

4. Manish Pandey

5. Kedar Jadhav/Vijay Shankar

6. Abdul Samad

7. Jason Holder/Mohammad Nabi

8. Rashid Khan

9. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

10. Sandeep Sharma

11. T Natarajan

II. Final XI

1. David Warner (C)

2. Jason Roy

3. Wriddhiman Saha (wk)

4. Manish Pandey

5. Kedar Jadhav/Vijay Shankar

6. Abdul Samad

7. Jason Holder/ Mohammad Nabi

8. Rashid Khan

9. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

10. Sandeep Sharma

11. T Natarajan

Other members of the squad: Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Khaleel Ahmed, Basil Thampi, Virat Singh, Jagadeesha Suchith, Mujeeb Ur Rahman