My IPL Team of the 2021 Season:
1. Ruturaj Gaikwad
2. Faf Du Plessis
3. Venkatesh Iyer
4. KL Rahul (WK)
5. Glenn Maxwell
6. Sunil Narine
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Jason Holder
9. Varun Chakravarthy
10. Harshal Patel
11. Avesh Khan
Ruturaj and Faf were the 2 openers which CSK used throughout the past IPL season. Ruturaj ended the season as the Orange Cap holder with 635 runs. Faf was right behind him at 633 runs. The thing about this opening combination was that one of them always fired. If Ruturaj didn’t score, then Faf did. If Faf didn’t score, then Ruturaj did. We saw this all throughout the season.
Venkatesh Iyer played just 10 games this season, but he was excellent. He gave KKR excellent starts in the powerplay and actually got the Powerplayer of the Season Award. With the ball, I feel that he was underused by KKR. He only got the odd over each game, and he bowled that over really well.
Rahul ended the season with 626 runs, just 9 runs less than the the leading run scorer. He averaged 62.6 and had a SR of 138.8 which are excellent numbers.
At 5, I have Glenn Maxwell who was excellent with the bat. He scored 6 fifties and helped RCB to many wins on their road to the playoffs. Though he didn’t have a great season with the ball, Maxwell is also a spin bowling option in the side.
Another spin bowling all rounder in the side is Narine. Though Narine’s numbers aren’t the best in this IPL, he has made a big impact for KKR.
Ravindra Jadeja was another player who made it to my 2021 IPL team of the Season. Though he didn’t have a ton of runs or wickets, he’s a dependable player who can score quickly and also rebuild the innings if needed.
Holder was an underrated player this season. He performed well in the 8 games he played to pick up 16 wickets and make 85 runs. I think his perfromance was really overshadowed by all the drama going on in the SRH team with the constant chopping and changing as well as the dropping of Warner from the XI.
Chakravarthy got 18 wickets in 17 games and really spun a web around the opposition. He ended with the most wickets for a spinner in this season of the IPL. The impact he had for KKR was huge as he helped the side into the playoffs.
Harshal Patel was the standout bowler this season with 32 wickets in just 15 games. He became only the 2nd uncapped player to get the MVP award as he finished with the record joint most number of wickets in an IPL season ever. He tied with DJ Bravo who had achieved this feat a few years ago. Harshal’s slower balls and variations made him a key factor for RCB in the death overs.
Avesh Khan is another young Indian pace bowler who did well. He took 24 wickets in 14 games and was at number 2 on the list of leading wicket takers.
Overall, I think that in this IPL, a lot of young Indian players stood up and performed well. Ruturaj, Iyer, Chakravarthy, Harshal, and Avesh all did really well and made it into my IPL XI of the season. Gill, Shaw, and Shardul are 3 more young Indian players who couldn’t find a place in my side, but still did really well in this IPL.