After waiting for more than four months, now finally the Indian Premier League 2021 will resume and we will see our favorite teams in action once again. The IPL will be back with a bang, we will witness the contest between the two most successful teams in the IPL history when defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on 19th September in Dubai.
Resumption and the reason for suspension
More than four months after the suspension of the Indian Premier League 2021 on May 4, the tournament is set to resume in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 19th September 2021. The reason for its suspension in May was due to the catastrophe created by the deadly second wave of COVID-19 and its effects on the player camps with increased COVID cases in various teams. The BCCI (Board of control for cricket in India) had indefinitely postponed the Indian Premier League after players and support staff members tested COVID positive. The decision came after the rescheduling of the Match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) when two players from the KKR camp, Varun Chakraborty and Sandeep Warrier got COVID positive. The tournament was half-way done when it was suspended, with only Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) the only two teams to have played 8 league matches, the rest have played seven matches each so far in the tournament. Currently, Delhi capitals are leading the points table with 6 wins so far from their 8 matches and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are currently at the bottom with only 1 win from their 7 matches so far in this tournament.
Revised Schedule for Indian Premier League 2021
The BCCI had said that they had the aim to complete the remaining matches of IPL within 25 days’ time frame. This is because the ICC World T20 is also around the corner, which is scheduled to start from 17th Oct 2021.
The BCCI in their official statement has clarified that IPL 2021 league matches will conclude on 8th October with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC) to play the last league match, thereby concluding the league stage. After that, the Playoffs are scheduled to start from 10th October. The teams finishing on number 1 and number 2 on the points table will play Qualifier 1 on 10th September in Dubai. The Eliminator (between number 3 and 4 spots) and Qualifier 2 (between the winner of Eliminator and Loser of Qualifier 1) will be held on alternate days in Sharjah, with the former is scheduled to be held on 11th October and latter is scheduled to be held on 13th October respectively. The Final of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League is scheduled to be held on 15th October in Dubai, as said by BCCI.
The Race for the Playoffs
All the 8 teams so far have chances to make it to the playoffs. SRH, KKR, PBSK, and RR are the teams with bleak chances to make it to the playoffs if they continue to show the old form that they have shown in India. SRH is on the bottom of the table with only 1 win (2 points), KKR is on the second last spot with 2 wins (4 points), RR and PBSK are on 5th and 6th spot respectively 3 wins and 6 points each.
The Top 4 teams, for now, are DC with 12 points acquiring the number 1 spot followed by CSK with the best NRR, who had played one match less than DC and had lost only two matches so far in this season. The Number 3 spot is acquired by RCB, who initially played very well but, their performance and batting line-up started showing cracks from the last three matches. Currently, number 4 are defending champions MI, who despite their three losses looking in great shape.
