IPL 2021: 5 Batsmen Who Can Win Orange Cap After UAE Leg

The remaining 31 matches of the IPL 2021 are set to be conducted in the UAE in September-October. The tournament was suspended in early May following a covid-19 outbreak in four franchises.

Currently, as the tournament stands still, the Delhi Capitals are at the top of the table followed by the Chennai Super Kings. In the batting department, Shikhar Dhawan leads the tally while Harshal Patel does it in the bowling department.

The pitches there would be much better for batting than they were in Chennai and Ahmedabad in the first half of the IPL 2021. Hence, plenty of more runs will be on offer in the UAE considering the success several batters had last season.

IPL 2021: 5 Batsmen Who Can Win Orange Cap After UAE Leg

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan would be the front runner to grab the orange cap by the end of the IPL 2021. He missed out on it last season to Punjab Kings’ captain KL Rahul. This year, however, the left-hander is looking more settled, and, courtesy of sparkling starts from his opening partner Prithvi Shaw, Dhawan is clearer about his role.

The southpaw has so far scored 380 runs in 8 innings at an average of 54.28. His strike rate of 134.27 this year, down from 144.73 of last year, is more an indication of Shaw’s mind-blowing attacking spree where Dhawan is playing the second fiddle and takes on the charge after Shaw is dismissed.

Prithvi Shaw

Speaking about Prithvi Shaw, the diminutive opener is in a scintillating touch after a dismal 2020. He backed up his record-breaking Vijay Hazare Trophy with a thunderous first half of IPL 2021. The right-hander has smashed 308 runs at 38.50 striking at 166.48 – which is the highest strike rate among the top 10 run-scorers so far this season.

Shaw has the role of an aggressor, an out-and-out attacker, a demolisher of the opposition’s bowlers in the powerplay. At the same time, he would now be expected to take it to the next level: register his maiden IPL ton.

His average and strike rate this season is already daunting, but an increase in his scores, at the same rate, would put him in the list of the elite openers – which, frankly, India doesn’t have many of it.

KL Rahul

While KL Rahul continues to score big runs, the criticism following him has been with his strike rate for the last three seasons in the IPL. From a strike rate of 158.41 in 2018, it dipped to 135.39 and 129.34 in the next couple of seasons.

This year too, while he has scored 331 runs and is only behind Dhawan, his strike rate of 136.21 is again questionable. The justification for that has been the fragile Punjab middle-order, hence their skipper has to bat deep taking a relatively lesser amount of risks which he would have – and is no doubt able to – taken in a better batting line-up. Nonetheless, last year’s orange cap winner is in the race once again.

Faf du Plessis

One of the major reasons for the turnaround in CSK’s position in the points table is the opening partnerships from its openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Gaikwad has done well to fill the big boots of Shane Watson, du Plessis, in particular, has been a consistent and reliable batsman for the Super Kings over the years.

This season his average of 64.00 and strike rate of 145.45 for his 320 runs in 7 innings has been even better than his last season’s average of 40.81 and 140.75. CSK are likely to miss out on the services of in-form all-rounders Moeen Ali and Sam Curran in the second leg of the IPL 2021. Du Plessis would be needed to step up further to give more stability to the batting order, which has been dependent on the top-order for solid starts.

Rishabh Pant

A strike rate of 131.48 this season doesn’t do justice to Rishabh Pant’s talent and ability, both already proven. He has batted at that rate for 213 runs at 35.50. That average with that sort of strike rate indicates how Pant has gone about his batting so far in his debut captaincy season.

He has tried to bat through the innings holding the line-up – a ploy that failed in the last ball loss to the Royal Challengers Bangalore despite him remaining not out on 58.

However, now, Shreyas Iyer will most certainly return to the line-up after recovering from injury and would be the skipper again in the second phase of the season – it would be a massive surprise if he isn’t given the captaincy back despite DC leading the points table under Pant.

Hence, it would liberate Pant from all the extra pressure and responsibilities he was carrying, making him revel in his role as a marauder of the cricket ball, where he could attack the bowlers at any stage of the game, as he wishes.

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