IPL 2021: 3 Teams Who Will Have An Advantage With Second Phase Being Shifted To The UAE

The BCCI has decided to conduct the remainder of the IPL 2021 in the UAE, where the entire IPL 2020 was held. 29 matches were played this season before the tournament came to a halt following an outbreak of the covid-19 in four different franchises. The rest of the 31 matches are set to be played in the UAE in September-October, ahead of the T20 World Cup, which is also likely to be shifted there.

A team like the Chennai Super Kings won’t be buzzed about the tournament shifting to its last season’s location as it is there they failed to qualify for the playoffs. On the other hand, a few teams wouldn’t mind, in fact, might be happy that the rest of the season will be played out in the UAE. Here, we look at three such franchises.

IPL 2021: 3 Teams Who Will Have An Advantage With Second Phase Being Shifted To The UAE:

Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians will be the happiest team for the remainder of IPL 2021 to be played out in the UAE, where they lifted their fifth title last season and were an indomitable force. The Rohit Sharma-led outfit topped the league stage and comfortably won both their playoff matches there.

Two key reasons that Mumbai have a massive gain in the UAE: flatter pitches for their finishers, and helpful conditions for pacers. Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, and Krunal Pandya had subdued outings in the Chennai leg of IPL 2021, and scored swiftly in Delhi, on a flat track. Similarly, better batting conditions will be on offer in UAE.

Another key and perhaps the biggest reason for their triumph was the new ball wickets that Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah snapped in the UAE, which they were unable to do in the Indian conditions. Boult has in fact levelled his death bowling game up as well as displayed in the first half of T20 league.

Delhi Capitals

Like Mumbai, the Delhi Capitals would too revel in the seam-friendly conditions of the UAE. Delhi will have plenty of things going for themselves when the season resumes. Apart from the form of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, and Shimron Hetmyer, the Capitals will welcome back Shreyas Iyer, who missed the first half of IPL 2021 due to injury.

Iyer’s return would mean that Steve Smith can be dropped from the eleven, which would make an overseas spot for paceman Anrich Nortje, who surprisingly hasn’t featured in a single game this season so far. Therefore the deadly Protea duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, who took 52 wickets combined last season, would be reunited.

The Capitals are currently at the top of the table with six wins in eight games; with the form on their side, they would be hoping to go one better this year than they did last year, in the same country.

Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings had a season of extreme highs and lows last year: they lost 6 of their first 7 matches, then went on a 5-match winning streak before losing the last two and crashing out. Their winning spree, however, showed their never-give-up and a collective character of the side.

This season too they are having middling returns with 3 wins in 8 matches. But when they go to the UAE, they are likely to be a better team. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal both were amongst the leading run-scorers, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran quite enjoyed themselves while batting in the UAE than they seemed to be doing in India in Indian Premier League 2021.

Their pacers Chris Jordan, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami were phenomenal in those conditions, and will now have better support from the likes of Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson; Ravi Bishnoi, who was one of the finds of last season, will find an adept partner in Harpreet Brar. The stars in aligned for Punjab to maybe have a re-run of their winning streak from last season this year.

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