So, after close to 6 months, IPL 2021 will be completed tomorrow at The UAE. Forced to move out of India after the Covid surge in May, IPL shifted to UAE and the BCCI managed to complete the remaining set of games without much problem. Two teams, though not both of them deserve to be in the final. Chennai Super Kings had a fabulous run during the league discounting the bad run during the last phase and Kolkatta Knight Riders, who were placed at the bottom before shifting to UAE will face off to decide the winner of IPL 2021. CSK have won the title 3 times and KKR twice. It remains to be seen whether CSK will be able to increase their tally to 4 and KKR to 3. May the best team win. Let me try to analyse the finals in this IPL 2021 finals preview.
Players to watch out for
Venkatesh Iyer, the man who turned things around for KKR at the top of the order. He is one of the player that rejuvenated KKR’s faltering campaign. 320 runs in 9 games with 3 fifties. That is as good a return as anyone can expect. His wicket at the top is crucial for CSK to make inroads in the lineup. Venkatesh has an MBA in finance and is a hardcore fan of Rajinikanth.
He has got just a handful of games at the first class level. Now, with the achievements, he has made the Indian cricketing establishment to look at him. So much so that with his medium pace bowling, he has been added to the Indian WC T20 squad as a net bowler. For someone who is used to the corporate job, this is a gigantic leap forward. Michael Hussey had this to say about Venkatesh after the win against Delhi.
“He struck the ball superbly from ball one. Some of those big sixes he hit actually changed the tempo of the game and got us into a winning position. He’s just a class player at the top. He is tall, a Stephen Fleming clone, I believe. He’s got a big future in the game.”
The emergence of another opener
Ruturaj Gaikwad is another who has set the batting in flames during the tournament. He has been at his fluent best in both India and UAE. Infact, CSK struggled last year, when he was stuck with Covid and couldn’t find a spot in the team until all was lost. This year, at the top of the order, he has not only provided the initial thrust but by batting for most part of the innings has also showed direction the team. Ruturaj is the only batsman apart from Devdutt to score a hundred this season.
The finals may well turnout to be a direct contest between Ruturaj and Venkatesh as to who provides their team the best possible start.
Which is a better balanced team?
On paper CSK looks not only the better balanced team but a better all-around team. Apart from Venkatesh and the spin twins of Narine and Varun, KKR does not have much to worry CSK. The form of Morgan, Karthik is not a cause to rejoice. In Hazlewood, Jadeja and Shardul, CSK have bowlers who can pose a challenge to the KKR batsmen and in Ruturaj, Faf, Rayudu and Uthappa, they have the batsmen to play the main threat of Narine and Varun rather effortlessly.
Players who are a cause of worry for their team
This will easily be Dhoni for CSK and Morgan for KKR. Dhoni’s days are over. Yes, he played a match winning innings against Delhi in the first playoff but those days are few and far between. He struggle against spin is quite well known and KKR have 2 good spinners in their ranks. If KKR can manage to bring in Dhoni to the middle quite early, they can control the game from there on by bringing in the spinners to bowl in tandem. If this happens, KKR will runaway with the trophy. Dhoni will do well do delay his arrival at the crease until towards the last 2-3 overs.
As for Morgan, the fact that he came at number 6 in the second qualifier does not speak highly about his form. Here is an international captain and one of the main batsman in his side walking in at an IPL game so low down the order, does not inspire much confidence. Even for England, Morgan bats at number 5 and that is only because of the fire power before him. Finals, Morgan will have to come up the order to provide stability and thrust to the lower order. He will have to do deal with the spin threat of Jadeja and Moeen and must not leave it to the others who may struggle on a slow pitch.
Battle of spinners
KKR certainly have much better spinners than CSK. Narine and Varun have not only been economical but have taken wickets at crucial times. Kohli, AB and Maxwell were contained by these two in the first eliminator. If that is anything to go by, even the likes of Ruturaj and Rayudu will find the going tough. If CSK can successfully counter these spinners by not losing too many wickets, they will have had one hand on the trophy.
Who has the capacity to win?
I believe CSK have most of the bases covered to win the IPL 2021. They had good top order and a solid middle order together with the flamboyance of Jadeja and Shardul at the lower order. Hazlewood, Deepak, Jadeja and Bravo can be depended on to bowl economically. All CSK must do is prevent KKR from a good start and they can set the ball rolling. As for KKR, their best bet is apart from the spinners and Venkatesh, will be the captaincy of Morgan. He is uses the spinners carefully, he can dictate the game.
All said and done, I expect CSK to just scrape through.
By the time you read this, the finals will be over. Let me see whether my analysis stands the test of time.