Sunrisers Hyderabad
@ Auction:
Sunrisers Hyderabad, a team that qualified for playoffs in previous 5 consecutive IPL’s, were one of the few franchises who sat pretty relaxed at the auction table for the 2021 season.
They bolstered their squad with mere 3 additions to the team. Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Jagadeesha Suchith were the players bought at auction table who added even more strength to their already balanced squad.
Season in Brief:
Sunrisers managed to win only 3 games out of 14 and were placed at the bottom of the table for the first time in the IPL history. This was a team whose chief anchors for the years have been David Warner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan; but neither of them could perform consistently or produce a match winning contribution this season. They went as far as dropping David Warner from captaincy mid-tournament but that clearly didn’t pan out well for both the team and the Orange Army supporters.
What went wrong:
Manish Pandey’s non-performance has to be one of the biggest disappointments for the franchise, who invested heavily in the promising Indian.
Bhuvneshwar’s return to cricket after a long break owing to injury meant that the medium pacer wasn’t at his best straight away.
Apart from Abhisekh Sharma, none of the youngsters (Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad) could bail SRH out when the seniors were failing.
Also, dropping a captain mid-season rarely helps any team in such a competitive tournament.
Contenders for retention:
Kane Williamson/David Warner and Rashid Khan.
Considering how much amount is to be shelled in the retention policy, they might as well like to start a-fresh by not retaining any of the players.
Rajasthan Royals
@ Auction:
Rajasthan Royals were in the news for making the highest bid in the history of Indian Premier League as they bought Chris Morris from South Africa at a whopping amount of 16.25 crores.
Another purchase that made noise for the Royals was when they got a young left arm medium-pacer from Saurashtra, Chetan Sakariya, who astonishingly received a bid above 100 lakhs in his debut IPL.
Other notable buys were - Mustafizur Rahman, Shivam Dube and Liam Livingstone.
Season in brief:
Finishing at number 7 just above SRH in the points table, Rajasthan Royals blew hot and cold throughout the IPL 2021. By the end of the league phase, they had only 5 victories to their name, but RR managed to defeat 3 of the top 4 qualifying teams – DC, CSK and KKR.
Captain Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler both scored a century each for the team whereas, the new addition, Chetan Sakariya, looked promising with his slower ones in his first IPL season.
They scored 220+ twice this season and also chased down 190 against Chennai Super Kings with 15 balls to spare.
Also, Rajasthan Royals are the winner of ‘Fair Play Award’ for IPL 2021.
What went wrong:
Rajasthan’s was a team that was built around their Captain and 3 premier Englishmen – Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes; and when a team misses out on the players that are core of the team, it ultimately losses the balance of its structure.
Such was the story of RR this season. They lost Jofra Archer because of injury even before the tournament began. Then they missed on Ben Stokes services after their 1st game. And when the tournament restarted in September, they were without Jos Buttler.
Their ace in the auction – Chris Morris, nowhere near justified his tag of all-rounder that RR hoped for. Liam Livingstone was another disappointment for them who just couldn’t get going in the opportunities he got. Also, Rajasthan never got the consistency going in the tournament winning only few games here and there.
Contenders for retention:
None.
The Royals, much like Sunrisers would like to start afresh in the big auction coming ahead.
Punjab Kings
@Auction:
Punjab Kings were another team besides RR to make huge buys at the auction table. They spent 22 Crores for two Australian pacers Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith (14 & 8 crores each). Another Australian that made his way into the PBKS team was the batting allrounder Mosies Henriques.
They also won the bid for the Indian domestic sensation - Shahrukh Khan who was bought in for 5.25 crores, along with drafting the no.1 T20 batsman at that point – Dawid Malan.
Season in brief:
Punjab Kings began the tournament by posting 221 runs against RR in a closely contested match which they won by 4 runs. After that, they struggled in the points table during the initial India leg games. They won only 3 out of their 8 games to start with.
Such has been a season of mixed bag for PBKS where on one hand they managed to score 4 times above 175 while on other hand they couldn’t get past 135 in their completed 20 overs on 5 occasions.
They were still in contention for playoffs until their final game in the league, but unfortunately finished at number 6 in points table with one win less below KKR and MI.
What went wrong:
Neither of the big buys in the auction made an impact that could give them either a victory or the balance required for the squad.
They were heavily dependent on their top order in most of the games which has also been a similar story for the past 3 years.
Their team was structured in such a way where even Chirs Gayle being in the squad couldn’t get much opportunities of playing in the eleven.
Contenders for retention:
KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Mohammad Shami have been the standout players for them in these recent years.
Apart from the three Internationals, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh and Harpreet Brar have impressed in the league.
But given their results for the past three years, they would be one another team who would like to restart fresh by not retaining any.
Mumbai Indians
@Auction:
The defending champions were one of the most balanced sides going into the mini-auction. They bolstered their squad by adding Nathan Coulter-Nile from Australia at 5 crores and two players from New Zealand – James Neesham and Adam Milne.
A 20-year Marco Jansen – lanky bowler from South Africa was their one usual surprise buy at the auction table whereas leg spinner Piyush Chawla was picked at 2.40 crores along with Arjun Tendulkar at a base price.
Season in brief:
They usually don’t begin good and they proved the same on both the occasions when the tournament started in India as well as in UAE.
Even then, the ‘5 Times Champions’ managed to come as their own at mid-tournament when they defeated Chennai Super Kings in a high scoring thriller of the last ball. This is where they picked the momentum in the league only for the tournament to take a surprising halt owing to Covid outbreak.
Mumbai Indians just couldn’t get back that momentum as their batsmen failed to give a collective performance in most of the games. Points table wise, they were still in the contention for making it to playoffs until the last match of the league where they narrowly missed out to KKR owing to an inferior net run rate. They finished at 5th position with 7 wins and as many losses.
What went wrong:
No single player could be pointed out as a reason for MI’s poor show this season as the team failed collectively. Only 1 batsman features in the top 15 for most runs scored this season.
Also, Hardik’s back injury meant they missed out on his service with the ball, and the other all-rounder, Krunal Pandya had a pretty ordinary season throughout.
Contenders for retention:
Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah will definitely be the players retained without any question.
Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan will be ones in contention depending upon the retention policy.
As far as foreigners are concerned, Kieron Pollard is the only one who will definitely be looked by the franchise as a prime retention option.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
@Auction:
The highlight of the auctions was the bidding war between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore for Australia’s Glenn Maxwell. After an intense battle between the two franchises, Maxwell finally made his way into the Bangalore setup at an astounding bid of 14.25 crores.
Another player who grabbed big bucks at RCB was New Zealand’s Kyle Jemieson who went for 15 crores, and Dan Christian was bought in to fill the all-rounders spot at nearly 5 crores.
In a story prior to auctions, Harshal Patel was traded into the team from Delhi Capitals whereas, Shrikar Bharat, Mohammed Azharuddeen and Rajat Patidar were other notable buys who were bought at base price.
Season in brief:
Virat’s men were on a roll in this year’s IPL as they won 5 of their initial 6 games. Then they lost 3 back-to-back games before again winning 3 on the trot. RCB eventually won 9 of their 14 league games. They missed out on the top 2 spot in the table narrowly owing to CSK’s superior net run rate and had to contend for the 3rd spot even after managing 18 points.
Glenn Maxwell split Virat and Ab de Villers perfectly at no. 4 and gave RCB the much-required balance this season. He was their top run getter scoring 513 runs at a healthy strike rate of 144.10. Devdutta Padikkal smashed a century for them and he along with Virat at the top provided decent starts this season.
Going into the playoffs, RCB once again failed where it mattered the most as they lost against KKR in the Eliminator. In what seemed that could be RCB’s winning year, the same problems repeated itself and the Royal Challengers bowed out managing a 4th position this year.
Harshal Patel had a sensational IPL becoming the joint highest wicket-taker along with Dwyane Bravo in any season. He scalped 32 wickets and also grabbed the Purple Cap.
What went wrong:
Nothing – besides the game that mattered. 18 points in the league stage tells that they had a pretty good journey before the playoffs. They just couldn’t give the similar performance against a charged Kolkata Knight Riders in the knockout.
Contenders for retention:
Virat Kohli is undoubtedly the first retention choice.
RCB have a pool of Indian players they might look at as a retention option – Yuzvendra Chahal, M Siraj, Harshal Patel, Devdutt Padikkal and Shrikar Bharat.
In foreign category, they have two dynamites in Ab de Villers and Glenn Maxwell to ponder upon.
Delhi Capitals
@Auction:
Another side that was pretty balanced going into the auctions and were only required to pick up the back-up options. They managed to pick Steve Smith, Sam Billings and Tom Curran.
The notable Indian players who joined DC were Umesh Yadav and Ripal Patel.
Season in brief:
Delhi Capitals continued on their beautiful run in the IPL, carrying on form right from the previous 2 seasons. They won as many as 10 games in the league stage and finished as the table toppers. Prithvi Shaw-Shikhar Dhawan with the bat and Avesh Khan-Anrich Nortje with the ball were their top performers.
DC however lost the Qualifier 1 to CSK, but being in the top 2 meant they had another chance to make it to back-to-back finals. Somehow the Capitals followed the script similar to RCB as they again failed to perform when it mattered the most and eventually lost the Qualifier 2 as well to remain as the 3rd best team this season.
What went wrong:
DC missed the services of Marcus Stoinis the all-rounder, a player who provided the right balance to an otherwise settled team. Kagiso Rabada also had an average season this time around considering the standards he sets in the world cricket.
Some of the crucial decisions were at scrutiny in the Qualifier 1 whereas, they just failed to hold on their nerves against some of the most successful teams in the history of the IPL playoffs.
Contenders for retention:
Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravi Ashwin are the Indians to remain in contention for retention.
Either of Anrich Nortje or Kagiso Rabada might hold his spot in this DC setup.
Kolkata Knight Riders
@Auction:
KKR grabbed 8 players in-all at the auction and 7 of them were bought at base price. Shakib al Hasan returned to team after few years with SRH and Harbhajan was picked for his third IPL team after MI and CSK.
Another notable purchase for the team were Ben Cutting, Karun Nair and Venkatesh Iyer.
Season in brief:
KKR had a horrifying start to the 2021 IPL as they won only 2 games out of 7 in the first leg of this season in India. There team had every resource required but they couldn’t figure out a way to play in a manner that suited their balance until then.
The second leg in UAE saw a different KKR as they almost found the right mojo and they surprised everyone by qualifying to the playoffs with winning 5 out of the remaining 7 games. Even though at number 4 in league stage, their net run rate was best among any teams in this season.
It was a massive comeback by KKR where they went on a roll as they won both the Eliminator and the 2nd Qualifier to lock horns with Chennai Super Kings in the final.
It was one game too much for the Knight Riders as they ran out of gas against the mighty Super Kings in the final battle and were proudly the Runner-ups of IPL 2021.
What went right:
Apart from their captain’s non-performance with the bat, KKR covered every area of concern after the first leg.
Brendon McCullum’s speech and the introduction of Venkatesh Iyer simply put the life back into KKR’s quest for supremacy this year.
The spin trio of Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Shakib al Hasan were a threat together on most of the occasions as their captain Eion Morgan utilized them very tactfully.
The Indian Domestic contingent with players like Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi and Shivam Mavi were the core performers for this group throughout.
Contention for retention:
Shubman Gill, Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Tripathi and Venkatesh Iyer are the ones in contention.
Sunil Narine has been their trusted foreign player since a decade and holds a great chance of retention.
Chennai Super Kings
@Auction:
One of the most settled sides in the IPL history were at the auctions to try and bring in the players to fill the gap that was noticed when they saw low of the league for the first time in the previous season where they finished 7th in the table.
They won the bidding war for Moeen Ali at 7 crores and also bought in K Gowtham for 9.25 crores, much to the surprise of everyone. The highlight of CSK’s pick was the moment when everyone present in the room applauded as CSK honoured Cheteshwar Pujara by picking him in the auction.
Prior to the auction, CSK made a trade where they obtained the services of Robin Uthappa.
Season in brief:
The Super Kings began this year’s season as if nothing wrong had happened with them as they were rightly onto the money getting to the winning ways. CSK won 5 of 7 in the India leg and thereafter won 4 back-to-back games in UAE before losing 3 on the trot by the end of the league phase.
9 victories ensured the top two spot for CSK as they finished just below Delhi Capitals in the points table.
Once into the playoffs, CSK as always were altogether a different team as they defeated the table toppers to directly enter the finals.
This is a team that has more often than not rose to the occasion. CSK rightfully put up a clinical performance in the finals to defeat KKR and lifted their 4th IPL Trophy.
What went right:
Everything – right from the auctions and the trade. They managed to stitch the balance in the team by having Moeen Ali and Robin Uthappa as a support and back up to Suresh Raina.
Young sensation Ruturaj Gaikwad along with underrated Faf du Plessis carried the ship of CSK throughout the tournament. Ravindra Jadeja was handy in all the 3 departments while Shardul Thakur was Dhoni’s go-to man this season.
Even though MS Dhoni had a woeful season with the bat, he performed at the time when his team required him the most in the Qualifier 1 and also led his troops brilliantly throughout the tournament.
Contention for retention:
Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar will be the players of Indian core who will be up for retention.
Faf du Plessis will certainly be another contender along with Dwayne Bravo or Sam Curran as their foreign options.
MS Dhoni will have the reigns in his own hands as far as CSK is concerned, while Suresh Raina may find it difficult for himself to hold onto the spot.
Some of the magical moments of IPL 2021:
- Kieron Pollard's mammoth effort against CSK to win the game on the last ball.
- Ravi Bishnoi’s spectacular catch to dismiss Sunil Narine.
- Ravindra Jadeja smashing Harshal Patel for 37 runs of his over.
- Kolkata Knight Riders almost messing the Qualifier 2 where the required equation went from 13 of 25 balls to 6 off 2 balls.
- Ruturaj Gaikwad hitting a six to score a century with 5 required off the final ball.
- Glenn Phillips of Rajasthan Royals showing his superhuman efforts in field in the game against Mumbai Indians.
Notables of IPL 2021:
- This was the season that clearly belonged to the Indian Domestic Contingent.
- Only 2 of top 15 runs scores were non-Indians.
- The top 5 wicket takers were all Indian pace bowlers. (Harshal, Avesh, Bumrah, Shardul and Shami)
- Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Tripathi, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Philips were among the best performers in the field.
Bouncer Avenue’s pick for IPL XI, 2021:
Ruturaj Gaikwad - 635 runs in 16 innings (Orange Cap holder)
KL Rahul (c & wk) - 626 runs in 13 innings
Faf du Plessis * - 633 runs in 16 innings
Glenn Maxwell * - 513 runs in 14 innings
Rahul Tripathi - 397 runs in 16 innings
Ravindra Jadeja - 227 runs in 12 innings with 9 not-outs and 13 wickets
Jason Holder * - 16 wickets in 8 matches
Sunil Narine * - 16 wickets at 6.44 economy rate
Harshal Patel - 32 wickets in 15 innings (Purple Cap holder)
Jasprit Bumrah - 21 wickets in 14 innings
Varun Chakravarthy - 18 wickets in 17 innings
12th Man: Avesh Khan - 24 wickets in 16 innings
