The Indian Premier League (IPL) is back with Season-14. So, here is a list of what this season has in store for you, so that you don’t miss anything, except being in the stadium itself, and enjoy some awesome cricket in “the new normal”.
Players to watch out for this season:
Shahrukh Khan: No, he isn’t the mega Bollywood star you are thinking about. He is a batsman from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu who has been bought by Punjab Kings (formerly Kings 11 Punjab) for ₹ 5.25 crores while he was having a base price of ₹ 20 Lakhs only.
Riley Meredith: A right-arm fast bowler from Australia who can bowl at a speed of 150kmph- Riley Meredith, has been bought by Punjab Kings for a whooping ₹ 8 crores. The reason why this player with a base price of ₹ 40 lakhs was bought by the Preity Zinta led franchise is because of his exceptional bowling performance in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) seasons in the past. He can prove to be a match-winner for Kings this season.
Mohammed Azharuddeen: Another young Indian talent who will feature for the first time in the IPL. A wicketkeeper-batsman from Kerala, Azharuddeen made headlines when he hit a 37 ball hundred versus Mumbai, in the last edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a domestic tournament in India. He has been on the radar of different IPL franchises since then and finally, cricket lovers may get to see him playing for RCB who has bought him at his base price of ₹ 20 Lakhs.
Liam Livingstone: He bats for England in international cricket and has been bought by Shilpa Shetty- Raj Kundra owned Rajasthan Royals for ₹ 75 Lakhs at his base price. Considering his performance in BBL during recent times, many cricket enthusiasts would consider this to be a steal deal, but this could go in any direction for the Franchise since Livingstone hasn’t been able to contribute much from his bat while playing for England in T20Is. Well, whether he performs at par with the BBL or not will be an interesting thing to watch for the fans.
Chetan Sakariya: Once again bought by Rajasthan Royals for ₹1.20 crores, Chetan was the player for which there was a slight bidding war between RCB and RR, last season. Both of the franchises wanted this medium-pacer from Saurashtra, because of what he delivered in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the last season. Apart from IPL, the young fellow is also under the scanner for Team India selections and IPL will be a good platform for him to showcase all he has.
What’s different this time?
- Just like last year, every match will be held inside a bio-bubble to keep players, support staff and everyone else involved in the league for safety purposes from COVID-19 infection. Some players have already tested positive for the virus and have been in quarantine as per the guidelines established by SOP by BCCI.
- The big hitter from Australia- Glenn Maxwell will be seen playing alongside ABD and Virat this time since he has been bought by RCB in auctions. Fans are already excited to see him playing with Virat and for RCB, and hope that he will play a crucial role in taking RCB towards the trophy.
- Well, you may like it or not but VIVO is back as the title sponsor for IPL-2021 after it was removed last season due an ongoing boycott movement in the backdrop of Indo-China tensions at the border and Galwan Valley incident.
- South African all-rounder Chris Morris is applauded as the most expensive player in the history of the IPL after he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 16.25 crore, this season. The player had a base price of ₹ 75 Lakhs only.
- Krishnappa Gowtham, Bangalore based player is the most expensive Indian player this season after he was bought by Chennai Super Kings for ₹ 9.25 crores. He had a base price of ₹ 20 lakhs, and now he is the costliest uncapped Indian player of all time.
- This time there will be no home advantage for any of the teams since BCCI has decided to keep the venues neutral, meaning out of the two teams playing a match, none will be having the home advantage as the match will be scheduled in a 3rd venue. For instance, the opening match between RCB and MI will be played in Chennai on 9th April 2021.
Team-wise Player list:
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (capt), Ambati Rayudu, C Hari Nishanth, Cheteshwar Pujara, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Harisankar Reddy, Imran Tahir, Josh Hazlewood, K Bhagath Varma, K Gowtham, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Narayan Jagadeesan, R Sai Kishore, Ravindra Jadeja, Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Suresh Raina
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Chris Woakes, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Lalit Yadav, Lukman Meriwala, Manimaran Siddharth, Marcus Stoinis, Praveen Dubey, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Ripal Patel, Rishabh Pant, Sam Billings, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Steven Smith, Tom Curran, Umesh Yadav, Vishnu Vinod
Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (capt), Andre Russell, Ben Cutting, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Pat Cummins, Pawan Negi, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravathi, Venkatesh Iyer
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt), Adam Milne, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, James Neesham, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Yudhvir Singh Charak
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (capt), Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Dawid Malan, Deepak Hooda, Fabian Allen, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Jalaj Saxena, Jhye Richardson, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Moises Henriques, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Riley Meredith, Sarfaraz Khan, Saurabh Kumar, Shahrukh Khan, Utkarsh Singh
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (capt), Akash Singh, Andrew Tye, Anuj Rawat, Ben Stokes, Chetan Sakariya, Chris Morris, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Kartik Tyagi, KC Cariappa, Kuldip Yadav, Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Royal Challengers: Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Adam Zampa, Daniel Christian, Daniel Sams, Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell, Harshal Patel, Joshua Philippe, Kane Richardson, KS Bharat, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Pavan Deshpande, Rajat Patidar, Sachin Baby, Shahbaz Ahmed, Suyash Prabhudessai, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (capt), Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Jason Holder, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Kedar Jadhav, Khaleel Ahmed, Manish Pandey, Mitchell Marsh, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Priyam Garg, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Virat Singh, Wriddhiman Saha
Schedule of Matches:
The league will start on 9th April 2021 and the first match is going to be between Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore captained by Virat. Schedule for further matches of the league:
April 9, Friday, 07:30 PM: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai
April 10, Saturday, 07:30 PM: Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals in Mumbai
April 11, Sunday, 2021, 07:30 PM: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai
April 12, Monday, 07:30 PM: Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings in Mumbai
April 13, Tuesday, 07:30 PM: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians in Chennai
April 14, 2021, Wednesday, 07:30 PM: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai
April 15, 2021, Thursday, 07:30 PM: Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals in Mumbai
April 16, 2021, Friday, 07:30 PM: Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai
April 17, 2021, Saturday, 07:30 PM: Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai
April 18, 2021, Sunday, 03:30 PM: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai
April 18, 2021, Sunday, 07:30 PM: Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings in Mumbai
April 19, 2021, Monday, 07:30 PM: Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai
April 20, 2021, Tuesday, 07:30 PM: Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians in Chennai
April 21, 2021, Wednesday, 03:30 PM: Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai
April 21, 2021, Wednesday, 07:30 PM: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai
April 22, 2021, Thursday, 07:30 PM: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai
April 23, 2021, Friday, 07:30 PM: Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians in Chennai
April 24, 2021, Saturday, 07:30 PM: Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai
April 25, 2021, Sunday, 03:30 PM: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai
April 25, 2021, Sunday, 07:30 PM: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals in Mumbai
April 26, 2021, Monday, 07:30 PM: Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad
April 27, 2021, Tuesday, 07:30 PM: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ahmedabad
April 28, 2021 Wednesday, 07:30 PM Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Delhi
April 29, 2021, Thursday, 03:30 PM: Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals in Delhi
April 29, 2021, Thursday, 07:30 PM: Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad
April 30, 2021, Friday, 07:30 PM: Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ahmedabad
May 1, 2021, Saturday, 07:30 PM: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings in Delhi
May 2, 2021, Sunday, 03:30 PM: Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Delhi
May 2, 2021, Sunday, 07:30 PM: Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad
May 3, 2021, Monday, 07:30 PM: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ahmedabad
May 4, 2021, Tuesday, 07:30 PM: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians in Delhi
May 5, 2021, Wednesday, 07:30 PM: Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings in Delhi
May 6, 2021, Thursday, 07:30 PM: Royal Challengers vs Bangalore Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad
May 7, 2021, Friday, 07:30 PM: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings in Delhi
May 8, 2021, Saturday, 03:30 PM: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad
May 8, 2021, Saturday, 07:30 PM: Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians in Delhi
May 9, 2021, Sunday, 03:30 PM: Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings in Bangalore
May 9, 2021, Sunday, 07:30 PM: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Kolkata
May 10, 2021, Monday, 07:30 PM: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore
May 11, 2021, Tuesday, 07:30 PM: Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals in Kolkata
May 12, 2021, Wednesday, 07:30 PM: Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore
May 13, 2021, Thursday, 03:30 PM: Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings in Bangalore
May 13, 2021, Thursday, 07:30 PM: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals in Kolkata
May 14, 2021, Friday, 07:30 PM: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals in Kolkata
May 15, 2021, Saturday, 07:30 Pm Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings in Bangalore
May 16, 2021, Sunday, 03:30 PM: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata
May 16, 2021, Sunday, 07:30 PM: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians in Bangalore
May 17, 2021, Monday, 07:30 PM: Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Kolkata
May 18, 2021, Tuesday, 7:30 PM: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals in Bangalore
May 19, 2021, Wednesday, 07:30 PM: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings in Bangalore
May 20, 2021, Thursday, 07:30 PM: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians in Kolkata
May 21, 2021, Friday, 03:30 PM: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bangalore
May 21, 2021, Friday, 07:30 PM: Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata
May 22, 2021, Saturday, 07:30 PM: Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals in Bangalore
May 23, 2021, Sunday, 03:30 PM: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals in Kolkata
May 23, 2021, Sunday, 07:30 PM: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata
May 25, 2021, Tuesday, 07:30 PM: Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad
May 26, 2021, Wednesday, 07:30 PM: Eliminator in Ahmedabad
May 28, 2021, Friday, 07:30 PM Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad
May 30, Sunday, 07:30 PM: Final in Ahmedabad
