IPL 2021: Team Wise List Of Players Who Might Miss The UAE Leg Of The Tournament

With the BCCI announcing the second phase of IPL 2021 is set to move to the UAE, several franchises are in a fix. Even though the BCCI has the power to make any overseas players available, it looks unlikely that their respective cricketing boards will give the cricketers the NOC. Hence, the franchises are nervous about their chances in the UAE leg of the competition. The franchises that will most be affected are the ones dependent hugely on their overseas contingent.

With the England Cricket Board (ECB) strongly refusing their players to compete in the lucrative T20 league, 13-14 players are likely to miss out. Bangladesh players are also unlikely to receive the NOC, while the availability of Australians have yet to undergo discussion. While the BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla has asserted that IPL 2021 will go ahead regardless of who is available, the unavailability of overseas cricketers would surely affect the viewership.

We take a look at all IPL teams and the players likely to be unavailable for them in the remainder of the season:

Chennai Super Kings:

Chennai Super Kings were one of the most consistent teams in the first leg of IPL 2021. After a poor outing in 2020, Chennai Super Kings bounced back incredibly to finish the first phase of the tournament in the second spot. Even though their opening clash against the Delhi Capitals resulted in a loss, they bounced back to register five victories on the trot.

Other than the Capitals, only Mumbai Indians got the better of them. However, their overseas players like Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, and Faf Du Plessis were significantly responsible for their dominant run this year. Ali, who played at number three, not only performed well with the bat, but also with the ball. His England teammate, Sam Curran, also impressed with his all-round abilities. Hence, their likeliness to miss the UAE leg will affect their chances.

Chennai Super Kings squad: MS Dhoni (c), Moeen Ali, KM Asif, Jason Behrendorff, Bhagath Verma, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Sam Curran, Faf Du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Krishnappa Gowtham, C Nishaanth, Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, Narayanan Jagadeesan, Lungi Ngidi, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Harishankar Reddy, R Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Robin Uthappa.

Players likely to miss the UAE leg: Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Santer.

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Kolkata Knight Riders:

Kolkata Knight Riders were the second-most underperforming franchise as they registered only two wins out of seven matches. Kolkata Knight Riders’ promising batting line-up kept struggling to fire after the first game, with the captain also proving a liability. Eoin Morgan just could not get going in this year’s tournament, managing only 92 runs in seven games at 15.33, with a strike rate of 112.20.

With Eoin Morgan likely to miss the UAE leg, Kolkata Knight Riders could go back to Dinesh Karthik to do the captaincy. It could be a blessing in disguise for the franchise as he looked out of sorts with the bat, subsequently affecting his captaincy too. While Pat Cummins’ skipping the second phase are down to rumours as of now, the 27-year old could miss it as he is one of the crucial players for Australia.

Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Vaibhav Arora, Pat Cummins, Ben Cutting, Lockie Ferguson, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Harbhajan Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Sunil Narine, Karun Nair, Pawan Negi, Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sandeep Warrier, Tim Seifert, Shakib Al Hasan, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh.

Players likely to miss the UAE leg: Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Shakib Al Hasan, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Seifert.

Delhi Capitals:

Delhi Capitals finished the first leg of IPL 2021 as the top-ranked team, suffering two losses and registering six victories. Rishabh Pant, who took charge in Shreyas Iyer’s absence, did an outstanding job in leading his troops and endured only two narrow defeats. The IPL 2020 finalists are likely to receive a boost in the form of Iyer, who could return for the UAE leg if deemed fit.

But the Capitals could also be without some of their overseas players, more specifically the Englishmen in it. Yet, if Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje make themselves available, they will not feel the absence of those unavailable. The outfit could still look strong than their rivals and fancy their chances of lifting their maiden IPL trophy.

Delhi Capitals squad: Rishabh Pant (c), Avesh Khan, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Shikhar Dhawan, Praveen Dubey, Shimron Hetmyer, Aniruddha Joshi, Lukman Meriwala, Amit Mishra, Shams Mulani, Anrich Nortje, Ripal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Prithvi Shaw, Maniraman Siddharth, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Vishnu Vinod, Chris Woakes, Lalit Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel.

Players likely to miss the UAE leg: Sam Billings, Chris Woakes, Tom Curran, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis.

Mumbai Indians:

While Mumbai Indians started the tournament as one of the favourites, they haven’t looked like the team to beat this year. The defending and the five-time champions struggled with their batting in most matches as their much-vaunted bowling unit pulled off a couple of wins. But on the back of a couple of wins at the end, Mumbai ended the first leg of IPL 2021 on the fourth spot.

While the competition returning to the UAE is a significant boost to players like Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Quinton de Kock, they could find themselves without their overseas players. The likes of Trent Boult and James Neesham could miss it, but they have reasonable replacements already. Thus, they could still be tough to beat.

Mumbai Indians squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar.

Players likely to miss the UAE leg: Trent Boult, James Neesham, Adam Milne.

Rajasthan Royals:

Rajasthan Royals had a mixed bag in the first leg of IPL 2021, finishing fifth in the points table. While Sanju Samson, Rajasthan’s new captain, was promising, he was not good enough to inject some consistency in the side. With only three victories in seven games, the Royals need to lift their performance; however, it will not be easy in the UAE.

Rajasthan Royals are one of the few franchises which is massively reliant on their overseas contingent. With Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Liam Livingstone, and Mushtafizur Rahman likely to miss the UAE leg, it would be far from easy to deliver some compelling performances. Hence, they are likely to struggle and once again finish the competition in the lower half.

Rajasthan Royals squad: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh, Gerald Coetzee.

Players likely to miss the UAE leg: Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Liam Livingstone, Andrew Tye, Mustafizur Rahman.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Royal Challengers Bangalore must have believed the current year was theirs to break the drought of winning an IPL trophy; however, the COVID-19 outbreak hit them hard. Having finished third in the first leg of IPL 2021, Virat Kohli’s men still have a chance to lift the coveted crown in the UAE as they performed well in the venue last year.

However, they will have to deal with the loss of overseas players too and significant ones. While the batting line-up revolves around Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, the bowlers, who combated the opposition well this year, could skip the remaining IPL 2021 fixtures fixtures. Hence, the franchise could go through some hiccups and not end up at the summit.

Royal Challengers Bangalore squad: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Finn Allen, Shahbaz Ahmed and Pavan Deshpande, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat.

Players likely to miss the UAE leg: Finn Allen, Kyle Jamieson, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

Punjab Kings:

Punjab Kings was yet another franchise, whose campaign was marred with inconsistencies. Punjab Kings’ batting struggled throughout the campaign barring KL Rahul, leaving the youngster Sharukh Khan to do the rescuing job in most of the games. But KL Rahul, who missed their match due to appendicitis surgery, should return for the UAE leg to lead the side.

However, like most franchises, Punjab has to deal with the loss of overseas players too. The owners would indeed feel disappointed by Jhye Richardson’s and Riley Meredith’s performances – both of who fetched massive amounts, but could not do anything extraordinary. Hence, their loss would not impact them much as much as England players skipping the leg will.

Punjab Kings squad: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar.

Players likely to miss the UAE leg: Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Moises Henriques, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith.

SunRisers Hyderabad:

SunRisers Hyderabad was the most underperforming franchise of IPL 2021 as they conjured only one victory out of seven matches. The Orange Army’s much-vaunted bowling unit leaked runs heavily, while their middle-order cost them at least a couple of wins when they should have got home comfortably. As a result, they are languishing at the bottom of the table.

With David Warner struggling with the bat and making some questionable moves on the field, SunRisers turned to Kane Williamson to lead the side. But his stint restarted with a 55-run loss against the Rajasthan Royals. While the 2016 IPL champions performed well in the UAE in IPL 2020, their task is likely to get more challenging as the players responsible for their success are likely to miss it.

SunRisers Hyderabad squad: Kane Williamson (c), Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Jonny Bairstow, Basil Thampi, Priyam Garg, Shreevats Goswami, Jason Holder, Kedar Jadhav, Siddharth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Shahbaz Nadeem, T Natarajan, Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan, Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha, Sandeep Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Virat Singh, David Warner.

Players likely to miss the UAE leg: Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, David Warner.

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