Toss: India won the toss and chose to field first.
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, UAE
Umpires: Marais Erasmus & Rod Tucker
What Actually Happened
Winner: India won by 8 wickets
Scores: Scotland 85/10India 89/2
Player of the Match:Ravindra Jadeja 3/15
Best Figures
Ravindra Jadeja (4-0-15-3)
Mark Watt (2-0-20-1)
Most Runs
George Munsey 24 (19)
KL Rahul 50 (19)
Moments of The Day: Collective Bowling Performance, Rahul-Rohit Show Key To Strong Indian Victory
Bumrah started by bowling Kyle Coetzer and Scotland never recovered. The pacers, Bumrah & Shami, had combined figures of 6.4-1-25-5.
Ravindra Jadeja in the middle broke the back of the Scottish batting. Bowled straight and quick and choked the batting. LBW, B, LWB. Classic Jadeja.
The rest was done by India’s opening pair. In order to get ahead of Afghanistan & NZ’s NRR, India needed to chase 89 runs within 43 ball (7.1 overs). As it turns out, India finished it in 39 balls (6.3 overs), thanks to KL Rahul’s 18-ball 50.
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: Scotland Keep On Drowning
After winning 3 in 3 in the qualifying stage, Scotland has looked a class below in the Super 12s. Now the fourth loss in a row, they will want to finish on a high…Except heir last game is against group toppers Pakistan.
T20 World Cup Points Table, Most Runs, Wickets, Catches, Dismissals
No need to go elsewhere for thePoints Table, Highest Run Scorer, Highest Wicket Taker, Most Catches, and Most Dismissals. We will keep updating it in every article!
Image Courtesy: Graphic (original work), Kyle Coetzer – Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images, Mahmudullah – Photo by Mike Hewitt-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
Toss: Afghanistan won the toss and chose to field first.
Venue: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Umpires: Paul Reiffel & Richard Kettleborough
What Actually Happened
Winner: Pakistan won by 45 runs
Scores: India 210/2Afghanistan144/7
Player of the Match:Rohit Sharma 74 (47)
Best Figures
Gulbadin Naib (4-0-39-1)
Mohammad Shami (4-0-32-3), R Ashwin (4-0-14-2)
Most Runs
Rohit Sharma 74 (47)
Karim Janat 42* (22)
Moments of The Day: Rahul-Rohit & India’s Positive Intent
KL Rahul & Rohit Sharma set the tone for India. Hitting 5 sixes and 14 fours between them, they carried India to 140 in about 14 overs. Strong platform meant India could promote Rishabh Pant & Hardik Pandya ahead of Kohli. 27* (13) & 35* (13) was quite the finishing touch.
The bowling stories of the day were of Shami & Ashwin. I am happy for Shami, who had received a lot of social media hate after the game against Pakistan. Today he was India’s highest wicket taker and dented Afghanistan’s chase at the top. Ashwin playing his first T20I since 2016 showed why is still the best off-spinner in India. An economy of 3.5 with wickets of dangerous Najib & Gulbadin ensured India would win by a large margin.
At the end, Janat’s quickfire 42 (including a last ball six) and intelligent batting by Mohammad Nabi 35 (31) made sure NRR margin between the two countries was still far
Honorable Mention: Pandya’s difficult boundary catch to dismiss Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who was looking really good
If only they had restricted Pakistan earlier….
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: The Toss
Till this game, Afghanistan was winning the toss and choosing to bat first – Their template, bat first, score high, unleash the spinners. With Mujeeb’s injury & dew factor, Afghanistan went with bowling first and were never in the game. Without a target, Rashid’s guile (conceded 36) & Naveen-ul-Haq’s slower deliveries (conceded 59) were not potent.
Another broken dream was suggestions in social media that the match was fixed due Afghanistan’s lack of intensity. This sort of rhetoric just isn’t called for and is actually detrimental to the game.
T20 World Cup Points Table, Most Runs, Wickets, Catches, Dismissals
No need to go elsewhere for thePoints Table, Highest Run Scorer, Highest Wicket Taker, Most Catches, and Most Dismissals. We will keep updating it in every article!
Image Courtesy: Graphic (original work), Kyle Coetzer – Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images, Mahmudullah – Photo by Mike Hewitt-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
Moments of The Day: Rayudu’s Hitting & Pollard’s Epic All-Round Show
Here are my moments of today:
Faf du Plessis-Moeen Ali’s consistency at the top drives CSK. After Ruturaj departed for 4, onus was on Faf-Moeen to repeat what they have done all-tournament, and they did not disappoint. Aggressive 108 partnership in 61 balls, with both amassing fifties set the tone for the carnage to follow.
Ambati Rayudu’s free-flowing nature gets CSK past 200. Rayudu’s career has perhaps been the greatest Broken Dream in recent Indian cricket. At an ODI overage of 47.05 with 3 centuries & 10 fifties, it is a shame he only played 55 ODIs and was dropped at the eve of the 2019 World Cup. 2004 India U-19 member, in-and-out of the international team, run-ins with the management, the Indian Cricket League stint—he has seen it all, but this innings was the most fluent I have ever seen him play. He had a really good IPL as an opener a couple of seasons back, and this 72* (27) in the middle order showed his versatility. 7 sixes, 4 fours, 102* (49) partnership where ‘finisher’ Jadeja ended with 22* (22). Brilliant.
Pollard can do no wrong. When Faf & Moeen were galloping along, Pollard was given the ball in the 11th over. He delivered right away with medium-pace dibbly-dobblies, taking back-to-back wickets of du Plessis & Suresh Raina. When Pollard came in to bat, Mumbai Indians still needed 138 in 62 balls. After getting an eye in, he was just 3 (5). In came Jadeja, Pollard smashed 3 sixes in 4 balls and never looked back.
Definitely one of the best IPL all-round shows of all-time.
Honorable Mention: Hardik Pandya’s cameo with back-to-back sixes brings MI closer; Sam Curran almost brings CSK back into the game with yorkers at the death; Quinton de Kock-Rohit Sharma set 71-run opening partnership for MI
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: Du Plessis Drops Catch, What?
There are two ways at looking at this game: 1. Brilliant game between the two best sides of the IPL that added another classic to its memories; 2. Good game, but CSK’s faults gave Pollard and co enough opportunity to bounce back. Here are chances CSK gave away.
Sam Curran has just delivered a 2-run/wicket over in the 17th and Chennai are back in it. Shardul Thakur gives up a couple of boundaries but CSK hold the upper-hand with 34 needed in 14. Thakur bowls, Pollard swipes, Faf runs in and drops it. Straight through his fingers.2 runs taken. Pollard still alive. The game changing moment.
Shardul Thakur & Lungi Ngidi’s expensive figures gives MI the advantage. Thakur finished with 4-0-56-1 while Ngidi ended with 4-0-62-0, including the full-toss filled last over.
Why did the field not come in with 2 needed in 1 ball?Usually in a close game, some time is taken and field is brought it before the last ball, but completely opposite in this case. Would not have mattered given how Pollard was batting, but this was just too easy for him.
Suresh Raina’s IPL is going downhill after the 54 in the opening game. He has scored 69 runs at 17.25 in the other 5 matches he had a bat.
IPL 2021 Points Table, Orange Cap, & Purple Cap Leaders
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Orange Cap, & Purple Cap. We will keep updating it in every article!
Shikhar Dhawan – 380 runs (PBKS, 8 matches)
Harshal Patel – 17 wickets (RCB, 7 matches)
Teams
Played
Won
Lost
Tied No-Result
Points
Net Run Rate
1. Delhi Capitals
8
6
2
0
12
+0.547
2. Chennai Super Kings
7
5
2
0
10
+1.263
3. Royal Challengers Bangalore
7
5
2
0
10
-0.171
4. Mumbai Indians
7
4
3
0
8
+ 0.062
5. Rajasthan Royals
7
3
4
0
6
-0.190
6. Punjab Kings
8
3
5
0
6
-0.368
7. Kolkata Knight Riders
7
2
5
0
4
-0.494
8. Sunrisers Hyderabad
7
1
6
0
2
-0.623
IPL 2021 Points Table
Also, if you have not yet read our IPL Previews, here is a list of all of them! Check them out and share ahead:
Moments of The Day: Several Starts for RR but Just Not Enough
Here are my moments of today:
Buttler-Jaiswal working well for RR: Although Buttler has not quite looked his usual self, he is still providing the runs. Jaiswal’s selection has been inspiring after the Manan Vohra experiment. Today he scored 32 (20) with 2 sixes & Buttler scored 41 (32) with 3 sixes to set the platform for RR. At the halfway stage, RR were 91/2.
Lack of Conversion stalls Rajasthan’s progress: RR’s scorecard reads 41, 32, 42, 35, yet nobody converted to a big one. Wickets at regular intervals and slow finishing lead RR to a par score of 171/4. Miller & Parag played 4 & 7 balls respectively, while Tewatia & Morris just sat in the dugout. That was the game.
Faith in Quinton de Kock Pays Off: With 47 runs in 4 previous games (including 2, 2, & 3), questions were rising on his place & Chris Lynn’s exclusion. He came back with a match-winning knock of 70*(50). Krunal Pandya with a handy contribution of 39* as well.
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: Dube’s Strike Rate Under the Scanner
Shivam Dube has played his part in IPL 2021, providing crucial partnerships & building partnerships at #4. Yet, his 35 (31) including 2 sixes hampered RR’s momentum. With Rassie van der Dussen set to join the Royals soon, Dube should be pushed down the order.
IPL 2021 Points Table, Orange Cap, & Purple Cap Leaders
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Orange Cap, & Purple Cap. We will keep updating it in every article!
KL Rahul – 331 runs (PBKS, 7 matches)
Harshal Patel – 17 wickets (RCB, 7 matches)
Teams
Played
Won
Lost
Tied No-Result
Points
Net Run Rate
1. Chennai Super Kings
6
5
1
0
10
+1.475
2. Delhi Capitals
7
5
2
0
10
+0.466
3. Royal Challengers Bangalore
7
5
2
0
10
-0.171
4. Mumbai Indians
6
3
3
0
6
+ 0.071
5. Punjab Kings
7
3
4
0
6
-0.264
6. Kolkata Knight Riders
7
2
5
0
4
-0.494
7. Rajasthan Royals
6
2
4
0
4
-0.69
8. Sunrisers Hyderabad
6
1
5
0
2
-0.264
IPL 2021 Points Table
Also, if you have not yet read our IPL Previews, here is a list of all of them! Check them out and share ahead:
Moments of The Day: Top Order, Spinners Make It Delhi’s Day (Barely)
The IPL is full of surprises and memorable moments. Here are my moments of today:
Prithvi Shaw‘s first six scoring shots included 5 fours and one six. All from the middle of the bat to give DC a start that they wanted in Chennai. At this ground, a quickfire 53 was the momentum that was the difference between the two sides.
The only other batsman that played a long innings was Kane Williamson. Having collapsed earlier with smaller targets, Kane Williamson showed his worth in this 160 run chase. Batted through the innings and got SRH close to victory. Well, at least to the Super Over.
Avesh Khan& Jagadeesha Suchith are the names on the long list of young Indian talent. Avesh Khan impressed yet again with 34/3 and is now second on the Purple Cap list (11 wickets) behind Harshal Patel. At the end of the innings, Axar Patel’s back-to-back wickets of Abhishek Sharma & Rashid Khan, it looked curtains for SRH. Williamson needed support and got a timely 14*(6) from Suchith. 2 fours and a pulled six off Kagiso Rabada.
The spin trio of Ashwin (4-0-27-0), Axar (4-0-26-2), and Mishra (4-0-31-1) finally played together, and they all delivered. The ball was turning square, and they were varying their pace and deliveries accordingly. May be the last time to see these three together this year.
Honorable Mentions: Rishabh Pant-Steven Smith 58 run partnership; Delhi’s Spin Trio
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: Why Didn’t Bairstow Play the Super Over?
Jonny Bairstow was on fire again with quickfire 38 (18) with 4 sixes and has been SRH’s most destructive & consistent batsman this season. Hence, it was surprising that he was not sent with Williamson in the Super Over. His expression on the sidelines went viral.
MI Vs PBKS– IPL 2021 Match #17 Quick Review! Ravi Bishnoi & Mohammad Shami set up the chase, and KL Rahul-Mayank Agarwal-Chris Gayle carried Punjab home.
Moments of The Day: Good Team Selection Key to PBKS’ Win
The IPL is full of surprises and memorable moments. Here are my moments of today:
PBKS’ collective bowling performance the key to victory. The way Moises Henriques (3-0-12-0) & Deepak Hooda (3-0-12-1) began set the tone for Punjab’s disciplined bowling effort & got the 5th/6th bowler out of the way earlier. Bishnoi finally came back to the XI and delivered right away. Both Shami & Bishnoi had figures of 4-0-21-2.
KL Rahul & Mayank Agarwal– They delivered all throughout IPL 2020, but had been inconsistent in 2021, which lead to Punjab’s low scores of 106/8 and 120 recently. 53-run partnership today helped Punjab chase the tricky total. KL Rahul has received lots of criticism for “Strike rate is over-rated” comment, but today, slow-ish matured innings by KL & Gayle was exactly what Punjab needed. Strike rate is over-rated…in Chennai.
Rahul Chahar & Jayant Yadav – Mumbai took it close yet again due to the spinners. Chahar has been the best leg-spinner all IPL and was turning it square again. Figures of 4-0-19-1 (8 dot balls) & 4-0-20-0 (16 dot balls) for Chahar & Jayant respectively almost brought MI back in the game.
World T20 World Cup Spotlight: The Universe Boss Is Back
Chris Gayle was going through a lean phase with scores of 10, 11, & 15 with Dawid Malan looking over his shoulder. Despite a slow start today, he came back with 43* (35) with 2 sixes, in usual Gayle fashion on the 8th anniversary of his 175* against Pune Warriors. Mumbai Indians were choking oppositions at will in Chennai and run-a-ball with 3 overs to go was touch and go. Boult came in, & Gayle/Rahul finished it off with 14 balls to spare.
The 41-year-old Universe Boss should definitely be in the 23 men World T20 squad, shouldn’t he?
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: Mumbai’s Batting Is Losing Its Grip
159/9, 152/10, 150/5, 137/9, 131/6 – Things are going from bad to worse for the Mumbai Indians, despite winning 2 without a single convincing batting performance.
The form of Ishan Kishan & Quinton de Kock will be a worry, specially since Chris Lynn went back to the bench after his 49. Except one score of 40, de Kock has scored 2, 2, & 3 respectively. Kishan’s 1 (3), 12 (21) , 26 (28) do not look any better and the miserly 6 (17) was the reason Mumbai scored only 21 runs in the 6-over Powerplay today.
Rohit Sharma & Suryakumar Yadav have done better overall, but neither have converted to the big scores after being set. Rohit’s 63 (52) was better today since he stayed till the 18th over, with 19, 43, 32, 44 earlier. SKY, similarly, has scores of 31, 56, 10, 24, & 33.
With 4 games in the slow pitches of Delhi to follow, MI are in dire need to change strategy…or personnel.
IPL 2021 Points Table, Orange Cap, & Purple Cap Leaders
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Orange Cap, & Purple Cap. We will keep updating it in every article!
Shikhar Dhawan – 231 runs (DC, 4 matches)
Harshal Patel – 12 wickets (RCB, 4 matches)
Teams
Played
Won
Lost
Tied No-Result
Points
Net Run Rate
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore
4
4
0
0
8
+ 1.009
2. Chennai Super Kings
4
3
1
0
6
+1.142
3. Delhi Capitals
4
3
1
0
6
+0.426
4. Mumbai Indians
5
2
3
0
4
-0.032
5. Punjab Kings
5
2
3
0
4
-0.428
6. Sunrisers Hyderabad
4
1
3
0
2
-0.228
7. Kolkata Knight Riders
4
1
3
0
2
-0.7
8. Rajasthan Royals
4
1
3
0
2
-1.011
IPL 2021 Points Table
Tomorrow’s Preview
The bottom of the table clash: KKR Vs RR. Purple Vs Pink. Who you do think will win this one?
Also, if you have not yet read our IPL Previews, here is a list of all of them! Check them out and share ahead:
Moments of The Day: Stalwarts Mishra, Shikhar Steal The Show
The IPL is full of surprises and memorable moments. Here are my moments of today:
Amit Mishrais the most successful spinner with 164 wickets in all of IPL (7 away from #1 spot- Malinga) and for good reason too. 38 years young, his guile, spin, and googly continues to puzzle people to this day. Although he did not play last year and was out of the XI in the first few games this IPL, Chennai was the ideal venue for him to exploit his leg spin. With Kuldeep-Chahal struggling in internationals & Ashwin out of contention in T20I, is there a small window for his comeback? (Although he has not been treated too well in his international career).
On paper, Shikhar Dhawan’s45 (42) flatters to deceive, but in context, this may have been just as important as his 85 and 92. At Chepauk, KKR & SRH has lost from winning position against MI, but the experience of Shikhar Dhawan & Steven Smith pushed DC across the line.
Emergence of Lalit Yadav– Along with the experience of Dhawan-Smith, 24-year-old Lalit Yadav stood up with an all-round performance of 4-0-17-1 & mature 22*(25).
Honorable Mentions: Rohit Sharma’s 44
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: The Power Three of MI?
Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, & Krunal Pandya has been the engine room for the Mumbai Indians, yet they have looked out of sorts this year. In the four innings, they have accumulated:
Hardik Pandya – 35 runs, best of 15
Kieron Pollard – 49 runs, best of 35*, 1 wicket (one match winning performance)
Krunal Pandya – 26 runs, best of 3*, 3 wickets (including match winning 1/13 spell Vs KKR)
RCB’s success in Chennai had been built on Glenn Maxwell & AB De Villiers, and that has been missing from MI’s #4-6.
IPL 2021 Points Table, Orange Cap, & Purple Cap Leaders
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Orange Cap, & Purple Cap. We will keep updating it in every article!
Shikhar Dhawan – 231 runs (DC, 4 matches)
Harshal Patel – 12 wickets (RCB, 4 matches)
Teams
Played
Won
Lost
Tied No-Result
Points
Net Run Rate
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore
4
4
0
0
8
+ 1.009
2. Chennai Super Kings
4
3
1
0
6
+1.142
3. Delhi Capitals
4
3
1
0
6
+0.426
4. Mumbai Indians
4
2
2
0
4
+0.187
5. Sunrisers Hyderabad
4
1
3
0
2
-0.228
6. Kolkata Knight Riders
4
1
3
0
2
-0.7
7. Punjab Kings
4
1
3
0
2
-0.824
8. Rajasthan Royals
4
1
3
0
2
-1.011
IPL 2021 Points Table
Also, if you have not yet read our IPL Previews, here is a list of all of them! Check them out and share ahead:
— Broken Cricket Dreams Cricket Blog (@cricket_broken) April 9, 2021
What Actually Happened
Winner: RCB won by 2 wickets
Player of the Match:Harshal Patel (5/27 & 4*)
Best Figures
Harshal Patel (RCB) – 5/27
Jasprit Bumrah (MI) – 4/26
Most Runs
Chris Lynn – 49 (35)
AB De Villiers – 48 (27)
Moments of The Day
The IPL is full of surprises and memorable moments. Here are my moments of today:
Surprises
Washington Sundar opens….the BATTING: In a slow Chennai pitch, it was surprising to see Sundar & Maxwell bowling a combined total of 1 over (and Sundar taking a wicket). On the other hand, he came out to bat with Virat Kohli in absence of Devdutt Padikkal.
Harshal Patel Announces His Arrival: A major Indian first class player in recent times, he has never really lived up to his potential. Traded two years ago to the Delhi Capitals from RCB, he repaid their faith in style. After conceding 15 in his first over, came back with slower deliveries, yorkers, bowleds to get a 5-fer & almost a hat-trick. Hope it is a sign for big things to come. Also the first player to take a 5-fer against the Mumbai Indians in ALL 14 seasons.
AB De Villiers Is Still The Best In 2021: Last played in IPL 2020’s eliminator, he was timing it beautifully where most struggled!
Honorable Mentions:RCB’s collapse, Maxwell’s fluency, LynnSanity, & decent tall debuts by Marco Jansen & Kyle Jamieson were the other major moments today.
Rahul Dravid Breaks The Internet
But the best moment of all…actually happened right before the game. Rahul Dravid at his hilarious best—check this video out!
Virat Kohli: Dropped the catch and almost injured his eye. The bruise was evident for the rest of the game. Hope it is okay
#BrokenCricketBats: Krunal Pandya actually broke his bat defending Jamieson’s delivery!
The Dropped Catches: The standard of catching in the IPL is depreciating by the year. Brilliant boundary saves & run-outs at one end and dropping dollies on the other. Mohammad Siraj, Virat Kohli, & Rohit Sharma the culprits today.Net
IPL 2021 Points Table
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table. We will keep updating it in every article!
Teams
Played
Won
Lost
Tied/No-Result
Points
Net Run Rate
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore
1
1
0
0
2
+0.05
2. Mumbai Indians
1
0
1
0
0
-0.05
Chennai Super Kings
Delhi Capitals
Kolkata Knight Riders
Punjab Kings
Rajasthan Royals
Sunrisers Hyderabad
IPL 2021 Points Table
Tomorrow’s Preview
The Chennai Super Kings take on Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede in Mumbai.
MS Dhoni Vs Rishabh Pant
Watch Out For: The return of Ishant Sharma & Amit Mishra (DC)
Questions: Rahane Vs Smith, Tom Curran Vs Umesh Yadav Vs Ishant Sharma
Watch Out For: Faf Du Plessis, Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK)
Questions:Fate of Suresh Raina, Moeen Ali Vs Sam Curran Vs Dwayne Bravo Vs Imran Tahir
My Prediction: Delhi Capitals win
Comment on your thoughts below and share ahead!
If you have not yet read our IPL Previews, here is a list of all of them! Check them out and share ahead:
1st. The same old story. Champions for a 5th time. Another wonderful campaign. Here are some of the highlights.
Suryakumar Yadav & Ishan Kishan storm into national spotlight after consistent performances. Add Quinton de Kock’s blazing starts & a certain Rohit Sharma and that was an enviable top order.
The better the finishers, the more consistent a T20 side. Finishing prowess of Kieron Pollard & Hardik Pandya justifies this claim.
James Pattinson, Jasprit Bumrah, & Trent Boult provided the firepower that the fast bowling bowling needed in sluggish UAE pitches.
Injury & COVID-19 News
No major injury or COVID-19 news for the Mumbai Indians as of yet, but cases in Mumbai are rising rapidly. The Road Safety Series in Mumbai has several former cricketers in quarantine. Fingers crossed, but keep checking your news if any local Mumbai players join the MI squad.
How can an already dangerous line-up become even more dangerous? Instead of adding another foreign pace bowler, maybe Jimmy Neesham can slot in at #8. The Pollard-Pandyas-Neesham finishing line up can be quite something.
Watch Out For
Adam Milne, the New Zealand speedstar of 2015 World Cup fame, went missing for a couple of years due to injuries. He has slowly made a comeback in the New Zealand squad through the Big Bash, but can he light up the IPL?
With 11 games in Chennai-Delhi-Kolkata combined, spin will be very handy. Expect Rahul Chahar to be among the wickets. Since Krunal Pandya is more of a batting-allrounder, we may see a bit of Piyush Chawla and Jayant Yadav. Before the final that is.
Where Can Things Go Wrong For the Indians?
Mumbai play first 5 matches at Chennai. While familiarity can be a good thing, let us look at the opposition—strong RCB & Punjab sides and games against spin giants SRH (Rashid, Mujeeb, Nabi), DC (Ashwin, Axar, Amit Mishra), & KKR (Shakib, Varun, Harbhajan, Kuldeep, Pawan Negi).
I am betting against Mumbai Indians for their ‘home’ venues.
Venues & Fixtures
Venues
Chennai- 5, Delhi- 4, Bangalore- 3, Kolkata- 2
Fixtures
9 April: MI vs RCB (Chennai)
13 April: KKR vs MI (Chennai)
17 April: MI vs SRH (Chennai)
20 April: DC vs MI (Chennai)
23 April: PBKS vs MI (Chennai)
29 April: MI vs RR (Delhi)
1 May: MI vs CSK (Delhi)
4 May: SRH vs MI (Delhi)
8 May: RR vs MI (Delhi)
10 May: MI vs KKR (Bangalore)
13 May: MI vs PBKS (Bangalore)
16 May: CSK vs MI (Bangalore)
20 May: RCB vs MI (Kolkata)
23 May: MI vs DC (Kolkata)
25 May: Qualifier 1 (Ahmedabad)
26 May: Eliminator (Ahmedabad)
28 May: Qualifier 2 (Ahmedabad)
30 May: Final (Ahmedabad)
Prediction
Mumbai Indians always seem to bounce back after rough campaign starts. Given the schedule in IPL 2021, I think if they lose 3 or more of the first five, I do not think they can bounce back.
For a change, I am going for a different IPL winner this time around. They will probably win again, but for the fun of it, I have them winning from the reverse order this time.
Prediction
8th
Most Runs
Suryakumar Yadav
Most Wickets
Rahul Chahar
Emerging Player
Marco Jansen
Surprise Package
Jimmy Neesham
X Factor
Kieron Pollard, the leader
Broken Cricket Dream
Third Time…Is Not the Charm. May not win this time
Also, Chris Lynn. Someone of his calibre might have to warm the benches two seasons in a row.
Mumbai Indians Preview Predictions
What do you think of the Mumbai Indians Preview? Your First XI? Will they make the IPL 2021 qualifiers?
During that series, Australia announced a Test & T20I squad that would have been played at the same time (before Australia cancelled the South Africa tour of course).
These two events got me thinking—Can India field two Test XIs at the same time without overlapping players? How about an additional ODI & T20I team?
Today’s Twist
Build FOUR Indian National Cricket Teams Roster: 2 Test teams, an ODI, and a T20I XI so that (1) each team can field a team (wicketkeeper & 5 bowling options), and (2) a player is not repeated in any of the lists.
The Catch
Would you pick Virat Kohli for the Test team, ODI, or the T20I? Bumrah?
Can you make all 4 teams balanced? The goal is that each team is just as good and competitive on the international stage. The ODI & T20I teams should be good enough for the World Cups and the Test teams for the World Test Championship.
With so many spinners in the Indian cricket circuit and given recent history, does Kuldeep Yadav find a place in any of these XI?
India Cricket Teams
*uncapped player
Test Team 1
1. Mayank Agarwal
2. Shubman Gill
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Virat Kohli (C)
5. Rishabh Pant (WK)
6. Hardik Pandya
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Ishant Sharma
10. Jasprit Bumrah
11. Kuldeep Yadav
Test Team 2
1. Prithvi Shaw
2. Abhimanyu Easwaran*
3. Hanuma Vihari
4. Ajinkya Rahane (C)
5. Karun Nair
6. Wriddhiman Saha (WK)
7. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
8. Umesh Yadav
9. Mohammed Siraj
10. Navdeep Saini
11. Shahbaz Nadeem
Indian Cricket Limited Overs Teams:
ODI XI
1. Shikhar Dhawan
2. Rohit Sharma (C)
3. Sanju Samson (WK)
4. Shreyas Iyer
5. Kedar Jadhav
6. Vijay Shankar
7. Axar Patel
8. Deepak Chahar
9. Mohammed Shami
10. Khaleel Ahmed
11. Yuzvendra Chahal
T20I XI
1. KL Rahul (WK)
2. Ishan Kishan*
3. Suryakumar Yadav*
4. Manish Pandey
5. Shivam Dube
6. Dinesh Karthik (C)
7. Krunal Pandya
8. Shardul Thakur
9. Varun Chakravarthy
10. Washington Sundar
11. Thangarasu Natarajan
India’s most successful Test skipper and the stand-in skipper in Australia are given the Test reins, while the most successful IPL captain & captain of the victorious Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy have been given limited overs captaincy duties. We made sure the limited overs team had plenty of 6th bowling options, an area Indian selection has recently struggled with.
Extended List of Prospects
These are just the 44 that are ready for the international level. Just like IPL 2020 showed, we can further create a squad just of the Emerging Players. Here is an extended list of players for the next decade.
Others:69. Jayant Yadav, 70. Jayadev Unadkat, 71. Siddharth Kaul, 72. Dhawal Kulkarni, 73. Sandeep Sharma, 74. Mandeep Singh (India caps, have age on their side, but out of favor & unlikely to get back in anytime soon)
*Note: Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, and Amit Mishra were not considered because they are almost at the end of the careers and are out of the favor with the selectors.
Conclusion
Problem of plenty for Team India.
We have all criticized Indian cricket selectors at some point in time, but we can clearly see it is difficult to give every player an extended run. Gone are the days where we can find players who play 2 or 3 formats for more than a decade. Virat Kohli maybe the last of his breed in India.
Next week, we will do a similar exercise with the England cricket team. Their limited overs depth is quite something, and they are a rising force in Test cricket as well.
What will your Indian XIs be? What do you think of Indian cricket right now? COMMENT BELOW! Would love to know your thoughts!
If you like this, check out the rest of our World XIs with TwistsHere – Best Fielding XI, Best Commentators XI, and much more!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – Indian Cricket Team Squad Depth
How many Indian cricketers are there?
As of 2023, at least 75 Indian cricketers are fighting for a place in the national team. Today the Indian national cricket team player list is one of envy with its massive depth.
How many teams can Indian cricket team field?
At least four professional cricket side can be fielded with the talent of Indian cricket team depth. These includes a separate squad for Test matches, ODI tournaments, and T20 series.
