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IPL 2021 was halfway through and teams had changed cities for the business end of the tournament but that lead to several multiple cases in team bio bubbles and with immediate effect IPL was called off and was indefinitely postponed. It’s resume time now for IPL in UAE and fans have been welcomed to the stadiums with limited seating capacity, its a clash of champions to re-start the tournament as CSK and MI meet on 19th of September in Dubai.
Qualification chances and replacements of the bottom four; Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Rajasthan Royals : Rajasthan are currently seeded 5th in the points table; having played 7 games RR have bagged 3 win and do remain in contention for a top four finish. Rajasthan see as many as 4 changes with a few names still unavailable; Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and Andrew Tye aren’t featuring in the 2nd leg. Rajasthan have roped in Glenn Phillips, Evin Lewis, Oshane Thomas and Tabraiz Shamsi. Rajasthan with Jos Buttler’s unavailability wouldn’t mind Evin Lewis; a like to like change. Tabraiz Shamsi comes in as an extra spin option and could be really useful with the nature of pitches in UAE being slow and dry. Oshane Thomas is roped in but a game will be doubtful as Mustafizur is having excellent international series and will come in with good confidence and momentum. Glenn Phillips a good replacement; can bat anywhere in top 6.
Punjab Kings : Punjab are positioned 6th in points table; having played 8 games PBKS have bagged 3 wins. Unavailability of David Malan, Riley Medrith and Jhye Richardson see Punjab Kings rope in Aiden Markram, Nathan Ellis and Adil Rashid. Aiden Markram the batter has looked in good touch lately but Aiden Markram the bowler has looked brilliant and is what Punjab will need, Makram despite being a part-timer has looked effective. Adil Rashid too is in the squad, he’s a frontline spinner strengthening the Punjab spin attack. Nathan Ellis has looked promising lately; had a brilliant international debut and has been with Hurricanes in the BBL performing good consistently. Jhye and Medrith both unavailable will see Ellis in action straightway and maybe couldn’t have had a better swap.
Kolkata Knight Riders : Kolkata are placed 7th in points table; having played 7 games KKR have bagged 2 wins, the qualification road for Kolkata Knight Riders is a hard one and a top 4 finish isn’t very much on cards. Just a change for Kolkata Knight Riders, Tim Southee is roped in with Pat Cummins unavailability. Tim Southee and Pat Cummins swap is like to like, both manage cameos with the bat and ball upfront with the new ball and then at the death overs. Kolkata failed massively in the 1st leg and will look for a better finish in UAE.
Sunrisers Hyderabad : Sunrisers are placed last in points table; having played 7 games SRH managed a win and are out of contention for a top 4 finish. Just a change for Hyderabad; Jonny Bairstow’s pulled out of of the 2nd leg and that saw Hyderabad rope in Sherfane Rutherford. SRH will miss Jonny Bairstow the opener, Sherfane if gets a game he’ll play in the middle order; he’s an aggresive hitter and if has a good season SRH will finish good in rankings. SRH failed to finish games and accelerate and had a horror season during the 1st leg that was played in India.
In the next : table toppers; Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.
Bureau of sports 