IPL T20 2021 review

Indian Premiere League is the biggest cricketing league in the world. It is the biggest cricketing tournament based on viewership. Best talent from across the world participate in it and fans wait for this extravaganza anxiously. But this year's IPL was different. It was conducted in two phases, one in India and the other in UAE. It wasn't planned that way but eventually settled like that. It has been a remarkable achievement to finish this year's IPL despite the cloud of COVID looming over it.

All eight teams fought tooth and nail to win the elusive IPL trophy but only one succeeded. It was a spectacle of great cricket, heartbreaks, glory and signoffs. Let’s look back and see how the 2021 season of IPL panned out for the different teams and how would they like to move forward.

 

Chennai Super Kings:

CSK led by their charismatic captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the Indian Premier league for the fourth time this year. This is a great achievement considering their performance last year where they could not qualify for the playoffs for the first time in the history of the tournament. Captain MSD had said last year that they need to bounce back and the champion team bounced back in style, winning the final against Kolkata knight riders in Dubai international stadium.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not have asked for a better comeback for CSK. They ended up in the top two in the points table beating Delhi Capitals in the qualifier to go directly into the finals. Many considered this to be the last time MSD would be seen playing and we are hoping for India's greatest white ball cricket captain to end on a high note. From that perspective the tournament could not have gone any better for them. Whether MSD returns as a player or in the role of a mentor for the Chennai franchise in the future remains to be seen.

If the team retains MSD in the next auction, he will be a part of the team for the next three seasons which sounds unrealistic considering he is forty and is not playing any cricket outside of the IPL which is evident in his form with the bat. But his captaincy skills are the best in the league. It remains to be seen if the franchise retains MSD or he himself takes a call to move away from the playing squad and takes up a role in the team management.

CSK had an amazing run in this year's IPL, thanks to their opening batsmen. Faf du Plessis seems to be reverse ageing and getting better with age. He is amongst the top run scorers in the tournament ending just two runs short of Ruturaj Gaikwad who is his opening partner in CSK. Ruturaj Gaikwad ended his best IPL with an orange cap, top scoring in the tournament with 635 runs.

CSK's middle order looked scratchy including MSD. Only Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu occasionally chipped in with a few runs and Robin Uthappa played a couple of good knocks in the playoffs and final. But it was sufficient to propel them to win the championship this year.

CSK is the oldest team in terms of the average age of their players. They are also called the Dad's army of the IPL. Last year upon not qualifying for the playoffs, it was a point of criticism and everybody pointed towards their players and said they need to be changed. Most of their players only play the IPL while they have retired from international cricket and don't play for their respective countries anymore. But they prove everybody wrong. They simply tweaked a few things and brought Ruturaj Gaikwad into their playing eleven which proved to be a masterstroke.

Considering their squad has just won the IPL this season, it would be interesting to see if they make wholesale changes in their squad and bring in more young players or again pick the older players in the auction for their future.

 

Kolkata Knight Riders:

KKR had the most topsy turvy yet inspiring run this year. They ended up as runners up in IPL 2021 having lost the finals to Chennai Super Kings in Dubai.

KKR started off with a win in this tournament but went on to lose majority of their matches in the India leg. In fact, they only won two matches and lost five in the initial part of their tournament before the IPL got suspended due to COVID bubble breach.

In hindsight, it seems the break helped them. They regrouped, strategized and went on to win five of their next seven games to qualify for the playoffs in UAE defeating the top teams in the league. In playoffs they knocked teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals to reach the finals.

This is the first time KKR reached the finals of the IPL after 2014, when they won the championship. It is no mean feat considering their position in the first half of the tournament. Even Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the post-match presentation said KKR has achieved something remarkable and they deserved to win this tournament for their incredible journey in the second half.

KKR's story this year is straight out of an inspirational movie. Down in dumps, but rose like phoenix to claim the prize. Venkatesh Iyer was the find of the tournament. He was introduced in the second leg of the IPL after a dismal first half of KKR. He went on to be the top scorer for KKR in the second half giving them great starts in the powerplay while bowling his seam up deliveries when needed. He is an all-round package and team India has asked for his services in the T20 world cup as a backup. This is not only good news for KKR but Indian cricket as well.

KKR's top order scored bulk of their runs in this tournament. They were the shining light and as the skipper put it, the cornerstone of their campaign this year. While the top order was on fire, the middle order let them down on many occasions, especially the finals. After a great opening partnership of more than ninety runs for the opening wicket, the middle order failed to capitalize on this amazing start and KKR could not chase CSK'S score of one hundred ninety two, losing the game by twenty seven runs.

Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan had a below par tournament where they failed to contribute with the bat. Eoin Morgan was specially out of form scoring multiple ducks and was unable to buy a run. While his captaincy was top notch but his individual contribution with the bat let the team down. Andre Russell tore his hamstring during the tournament midway and was unable to play important matches leaving the team relying on Shakib Al Hasan who was good with the ball but wasn't able to contribute much with the bat. Kolkata's middle order collapse was the biggest reason for them losing the final.

KKR won most of their matches on the back of a really good bowling attack. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy spun the opposition in their mystery spin and none of the teams could score freely against them, especially in the UAE. Lockie Ferguson bowled really well and the absence of Pat Cummins was a blessing in disguise. Lockie along with Shivam Mavi were able to take wickets while the spinners were choking the batsmen. It was a perfect bowling effort from the KKR team this season.

It will be interesting to see how the team looks like after the auction and how many players the franchise is able to retain for the future. Whatever may be the retention policy but KKR would be really proud of their young players who stood up while their more experienced middle order players failed.

 

Delhi Capitals:

DC on paper was the most balanced side in this year's IPL. They have covered all bases with good fast bowlers, good Indian batsmen, world class spinners etc. Captaining the side was Rishabh Pant who took over from Shreyas Iyer after he dislocated his shoulder and was out of the side. DC chose to persist with Rishabh Pant as skipper even after the return of Shreyas Iyer.

Delhi were the table toppers along with Chennai Super Kings in this year’s IPL. They played like the best side till the time they reached the playoffs. Unfortunately, they crashed out of playoffs after losing to CSK in the first eliminator and then lost to KKR in their second playoff chance. The only thing lacking in the DC side was an experienced captain who can make good decisions under pressure. They lost close matches in playoffs due to some decisions that were off the charts, according to some.

Overall, they should be satisfied with their campaign but not getting over the line in crunch moments is something they should be careful about. It is going to be a challenge for them to keep their amazing squad going forward due to the big auction round the corner but given a chance they would certainly like to retain as many in their current squad as possible.

It would be interesting to see who would they persist as their captain going forward? Would they let Rishabh Pant stay on as captain or they return the captaincy to Shreyas Iyer who was their original captain before his injury. They would like to build their team around the captain they choose. Current squad was constructed around Shreyas Iyer, it would be interesting to see their retention before the auction.

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

The story of RCB was a better team than their earlier avatars. The difference though were not the usual suspects but a couple of players who they added in their squad through trade and auction.

This year we saw a different RCB. They were playing under the captaincy of Virat Kohli for the last time as he announced his stepping down from the role of captain after this season. The announcement came midway after a few days of him relinquishing Indian T20 team's captaincy.  This surely was an end of an era for RCB.

Players like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are synonymous with RCB. Over the years they have been the pillars of the franchise, but this year they did not contribute much with the bat. ABD in particular was nowhere near to his earlier performances for RCB. Virat Kohli tried but could not sustain his strike rate after the powerplay overs and slowed down considerably. But they had an unusual savior, somebody who is not considered to be the one to rely on.

Glenn Maxwell had an amazing year for RCB. He ended up as the top scorer for the team which everyone thought was a rare feat. Maxwell has been a part of IPL for the longest time. Everybody knows about his style and flamboyant batting when he plays for Australia and other leagues around the world, but somehow, he never performs in IPL after going for an astonishing amount in every auction. So, when his performance came for RCB this season, many were surprised. Harshal Patel was the pick of the bowlers this season for RCB. He tied for the maximum wickets in an IPL season by any bowler with Dwayne Bravo by taking thirty-two wickets in this season. He along with Maxwell and Yuzvendra Chahal were the architects of RCBs resurgence this season.

They did very well and qualified for the playoffs but lost to KKR in the eliminator. With this came the end of Virat Kohli era as the RCB skipper. He would have liked to win a trophy in his almost a decade at the franchise but it wasn't to be. He could not win an IPL trophy; this would be his Achilles heel. It would be interesting to see who does RCB choose as their captain before the next season. Do they find somebody from the existing setup or go for somebody from outside to fill the position? Also, it would be interesting to see if ABD has played his last IPL or he will continue to play for RCB in the future.

 

Mumbai Indians:

Mumbai Indians have been a champion team winning the IPL championship for five times. They were the hot favorites to win the championship the third time in a row at the start of this season.

Mumbai Indians have historically been slow starters. They have a record of losing games in the initial stages of the tournament. This time around the slow starters found themselves in muddy waters. Losing games and finding their middle order woefully out of form throughout the tournament.

The pitches they played were not suitable for their style of play. They are used to playing in Wankhede in Mumbai which is a paradise for batting but since this time around there were no home games, they had to start from Chennai and Delhi. While they were coming to terms with those pitches in India, IPL had to stop and moved to UAE after a long break due to COVID bubble breach. This made them start all over again and their slow starters style again hurt them.

They eventually settled at number five in the points table with fourteen points tied with KKR due to a low run rate. This kept them away from qualifying for the playoffs.

 

Punjab Kings:

Punjab Kings have been true to its character and found itself with a below par IPL season. They have found ways of losing games consistently that they should have won. Despite getting great opening partnerships they were unable to kick on in the middle and end overs underachieving as a team. Consistent changes in the playing eleven and lack of stability also led to a below par performance.

The only saving grace with the bat has been their captain KL Rahul. He scored more than six hundred runs this season and was a prominent contender for the highest run scorer this tournament. He was actually holding the orange cap till the time Punjab Kings were in the tournament, later Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis overtook him in the final. Mayank Aggarwal along with KL Rahul were able to give the team great starts this season. Mayank was the second highest run scorer for PBKS this season.

The team saw Chris Gayle choosing to leave the team midway due to bubble fatigue. While some say he wasn't happy to be dropped from the playing eleven on his birthday. Aiden Markram also played some handy innings with the bat along with Shahrukh Khan in the middle order but nothing substantial to propel them into playoffs.

Punjab Kings finished sixth on the points table with twelve points. They would want to rejig their team in the next auction coming this year as there are reports of even their captain KL Rahul looking to move to a different franchise.

 

Rajasthan Royals:

RR was plagued by the absence of their international talent in the second leg of the IPL in UAE. Their English players missed out due to injury or personal matters, notably Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler. They found replacement for missing players from CPL in Caribbean and the Hundred in UK. Liam Livingston and Evin Lewis to name a few.

Sanju Samson performed consistently with the bat this season as the skipper of Rajasthan Royals. He was the top scorer for RR this season but was unable to push his side through to the playoffs. Yashasvi Jaiswal has shown promise in the opening slot with his aggressive batting style in the powerplay and will be a force to reckon with going forward. The team showed glimpse of excellence in some games but was inconsistent at best.

Rajasthan had a decent bowling attack but it lacked variety. They had three left arm medium pace bowlers in their playing eleven most days, this made them predictable and teams could plan against them. Chetan Sakariya is the find for the season for them as far as bowling resources go.

RR ended their campaign at number seven on the points table just above Sunrisers Hyderabad this season. They will be looking to revamp the team with a strong Indian core in the upcoming auction as this is the template for success in the toughest twenty league.

 

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Sunrisers had the worst season for them in the history of this franchise. They just could not get going in either phase of this season's IPL.

Sunrisers always relied heavily on their opening pair to score bulk of their runs, David Warner in particular had been a run machine for the franchise. In fact, he had been the best overseas batsman in the history of IPL. This also helped his captaincy and he has led Sunrisers into playoffs several times and won the tournament in 2016 as well.

David Warner had a horrible season this time around. His lack of form with the bat led to him being dropped from the team and captaincy. He just looked out of sorts. His opening partner Jonny Bairstow who was in good form in the earlier part of the season chose to not be a part of the team in the second leg of the IPL in UAE. His absence made matters worse for the team and further weakened their batting.

These developments led to an uneasy atmosphere in the dressing room and the team morale was at an all-time low. Kane Williamson was made the captain of the team midway through the tournament but losses continued. The fans of SRH did not take the sacking of David Warner lightly and expressed their anguish on social media. Warner was asked to stay in the hotel room and not turn up at the stadium with the squad, according to news reports. This further led to fans boycotting the SRH franchise in anger.

SRH would like to forget about this season ASAP and look to balance their side in the upcoming auction. They would need to have a strong Indian core to succeed in this competition going forward.