IPL 21 UAE preview

September 19, 2021September 19, 2021 SPORTSNASHA

One day to go to for the Second Phase the Indian Premier League : IPL 2021 UAE Leg Preview

IPL truly sounds like a festival for many cricket crazy fans across India and l its popularity is just being up surging right through its inception in 2008. Not only the Indian players but the overseas players like Pollard, Gayle, AB , DJ Bravo, Malinga, Russell, Warner have been household names for the Indian cricket fans. The second half of this cash-rich tournament will certainly commence with a blast with the two most successful franchises in the tournament’s history facing off , this MI-CSK encounter will be a game to remember. While the UAE leg commences on 19th September, we bring you all the things you need to know before we enter into this amazing tournament .

Delhi Capitals
The runners up of IPL 2020 who have been mostly consistent these last couple of years are sitting on the top of the tree with overly impressive performance of their openers in Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw. Their original skipper Shreyas Iyer will be back in that middle order which was only a weak spot in the Capitals setup. Rishab Pant has got a nod ahead to lead this side in the second half by the management rubbishing any speculations further. Awesh Khan has been a revelation for the Delhi side who has bowled brilliantly at the death and has been the 2nd highest wicket taker in the tournament. The reunion of the South African duo of Ngidi and Rabada will be another positive in the pace bowling department with Ashwin and Axar fashioning the bowling all-rounders responsibilities.

Probable Xl :
Dhawan,Shaw, Iyer, Hetmeyer, Pant (c&wk),Stoinis,Axar Patel,Ashwin, Rabada, Nortje, Awesh Khan

Chennai Super Kings :
The most consistent franchise in the history of the IPL, CSK has come a long way under their supreme captain MS Dhoni. The last year’s flaws were quickly arrested and CSK have paved their way back into the top four this season around. They’re one of the very few teams having all their players available for the UAE leg. Faf Du Plessis alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad have been the modus operandi as far as CSKs batting is concerned along with their favored number 3, Moeen Ali who has been amazing with the bat scoring some crucial knocks strengthening the top order furthermore. Ravindra Jadeja has provided CSK with some proper finishes alongside Ambati Rayudu. The bowlers will be a key to CSKs journey with matches being played on some slower tracks, the spinners can make the most out of it . The form of their pacers at the death will be a key as we saw how Pollard snatched up a victory for Mumbai Indians crushing the CSK quicks all over.

Probable Xl:
Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj, Moeen, Raina, Rayudu, Dhoni (c&wk), Jadeja,Sam Curran, Shardul/Hazlewood/Tahir, Deepak Chahar,Ngidi

Royal Challengers Bangalore
Comprising of a huge fan base alongside huge names is what the Bold Army’s known for. Another thing though is their title winning draught. Traditionally RCB tend to lose too many games at the first half of the season which keeps them at bay with all do or die matches in the final half . But this year around they’ve broken this trend winning as many as 5 of their 7 matches. The Virat Kohli led side has mostly all bases covered with Paddikal starring at the top, the ‘Big Show’ (Maxwell) blasting through in the middle overs and finally AB finishing things off in style . Such has been the batting prowess for the Bangalore based franchise. The batting line-up is set to be added with the extreme carnage of Singapore player Tim David who recently showed how dangerous he can be at the death smashing bowlers all over the park in the runner up journey of his CPL franchise Saint Lucia Kings. The spinning mantle is set to be handled by Yuzi Chahal with Wanindu Hasaranga who has impressed largely with his all-round skills. The latter came in as like to like replacement for Adam Zampa who along with Kane Richardson and Daniel Sams are set to miss the UAE leg.

Probable Xl:
Paddikal, Virat ©, Patidar, Maxwell, AB de Villiers(wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Hasaranga, Jamieson, Siraj, Harshal, Chahal

Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians means Rohit, Bumrah, Hardik, Pollard and loads of trophies. That is the kind of influence the Mumbai based franchise has created amongst the minds of the IPL fans and rightly so they’re the only franchise to win 5 IPL titles. The defending champions are one of the only two sides who have not even lost a player to the second leg. The Mumbai Indians sit on the 4th position winning 4 of their 7 games. While the top order has fired for the men in blue, the finishing touch which has been their core strength over the years has pulled them back on occasions in the first half of the competition. The power play bowling which fetched them 28 wickets in 16 matches last year has only managed 2 wickets in 7 matches this year what has been a substantial dip. The spinners on the other hand have been excellent for the franchise with Rahul Chahar bowling exceptionally well in those power-play overs which in all favor earned him a maiden T20 World Cup call as well.

Probable Xl:
Rohit©, De Kock(wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Krunal, Pollard, Hardik, Rahul Chahar, Bumrah, Boult, Coulter-Nile/Milne/Jansen

Rajasthan Royals
There have been 2 contrasts as far as the performance of the teams in tournament is concerned. The top four and the bottom four. The top four have been consistent and impressive for most of the part of the tournament while the bottom four have had a flurry of issues. Rajasthan Royals being the one of them, lost almost all their overseas players who kept backing out throughout the course of the first leg due to the rising second wave Covid cases in India. This time around the RR have made enough additions to boost their campaign. Liam Livingstone will be exciting to watch considering his recent form in the hundred, he’ll be the player to watch out for. Sanju Samson was their key at the top and Chris Morris with the ball. He’s the second highest wicket taker in the tournament picking up crucial wickets at regular intervals .He swung his bat too in the death to prove his value as the most expensive player of the season. The spin problems for RR too are a matter of concern with the spinners managing to pick just 3 wickets in the 7 games they’ve played. Tabraiz Shamsi, the ICC #1 T20 Bowler coming in can hopefully solve this problem as he is well accumulated with taking wickets at regular intervals.

Probable Xl:
Samson(c&wk), Jaiswal, Livingstone, Parag, Shivam Dube, Tewatia , Glenn Philips, Gopal, Sakariya/Unadkat, Shamsi, Mustafizur/Thomas

Punjab Kings
The Kings who changed their name up ahead of the season haven’t really changed their fortunes so far sitting at number 6 with only 3 wins on their names out of 8 matches. They picked up some heavy weight Aussie players in the auction for a large sum only to face disappointment from both, Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson who didn’t at all click in that first leg . Well that is said and done , they’re even now unavailable for the season citing fitness issues, so PBKS will bank on the their newest signing Nathan Ellis along with Shami , Arshdeep and Chris Jordan in the pace bowling department. They’ve also added England star Adil Rashid to further strengthen their spin bowling with Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin. Their batting on the other hand is also strong with one of Kl Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Chris Gayle batting with some heart at the top. The middle order hasn’t clicked yet and hence to strengthen their middle order further Aiden Markram has been added for Dawid Malan who pulled out of the second phase.

Probable Xl:
Kl Rahul(c&wk), Mayank, Gayle, Mandeep/Prabhsimran, Pooran, Hooda, Fabian Allen/ Adil Rashid, Bishnoi, Shami, Arshdeep, Ellis

Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR is another very popular franchise with Shahrukh Khan’s fan base and some star-studded players at their disposal. This season has been a season of chops and changes though for KKR as no one other than Shubman Gill has batted at their original position. Narine was the frontrunner opening with Gill but after a couple of disappointing performances, Tripathi who was batting in the lower middle order was suddenly the opener. Hence such continuous changes in plans have gashed the Morgan led franchise with just 2 wins in 7 games. The form of Morgan on the other hand is another concern for them, should he fire in the middle order along with Dinesh Kartik and Nitish Rana and Russell and Shakib finishing it off, KKR are definitely on as far as their batting is concerned with Gill and Tripathi contributing at the top. The bowling though will have a huge void to fill in Pat Cummins who had pulled out of the second leg. His replacement Tim Southee could be a subtly well option considering his new ball bowling but he has been an expensive customer at the death as far as his bowling in IPL is concerned. Their spin bowling will be boosted with the likes of Varun Chakravarty and Sunil Narine along with pace bowling options of Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Lockie Ferguson.

Sunrisers Hyderabad
David Warner is the first name that comes to your mind when you think about this South based franchise. He has been a household name along the streets of Hyderabad captaining the side for so many years and winning their only title too in 2016. This was a rare off-season for the ex-skipper as that made him step down from captaincy and even sit out of the team. Kane Williamson their new skipper will have to apply quick bandages to SRH concerns as they’ve come to a point where they’ve only managed to win one game among 7. They may soon come to a no turning back point if quick damage control isn’t done. They’ve also faced a huge blow in missing Jonny Bairstow who’s another English player pulling out of the UAE leg. Jason Roy is a valuable addition, who could partner up with Warner and Williamson for some valuable contributions at the top. Manish Pandey has been a serious issue who drained his side facing too many deliveries in the middle phase and scoring at just a run a ball. Rashid Khan their spinning wizard will be back to his lethal ways along with Nadeem to form a spinning web. Their pace department consists of the knuckle bowl specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar, yorker snorket Natarajan, new ball bowler Sandeep Sharma and bowling all-rounder Jason Holder.

Probable Xl:
Warner, Saha(wk), Williamson©, Pandey, Garg ,Kedar, Holder/Roy , Rashid, Nadeem/Sandeep , Bhuvneshwar, Natarajan