Less than five months after the Mumbai Indians successfully defending their Indian Premier League title, they get to do it all again when the 2021 season of the IPL gets underway. That tournament was staged in the UAE but we are back in India for this campaign.
The Mumbai Indians will be looking for a three-peat over the course of the seven weeks of the tournament but the other squads all strengthened at the auction and will be eyeing up the title themselves.
Recent Winners
2020 – Mumbai Indians
2019 – Mumbai Indians
2018 – Chennai Super Kings
2017 – Mumbai Indians
2016 – Sunrisers Hyderabad
2015 – Mumbai Indians
2014 – Kolkata Knight Riders
2013 – Mumbai Indians
2012 – Kolkata Knight Riders
2011 – Chennai Super Kings
The Format
The competition structure hasn’t changed this season. The only difference is that due to Covid-19 only six venues will be used and no team will have home advantage at any stage. The eight teams play each other home and away in the initial phase of the tournament. At the end of the league phase the top four sides will head into the play-off system which sees the top two meet for a direct route to the final, third and fourth battling for a place in the semi-final where they take on the loser of that first game for the other place in the championship showdown.
The Favourites
Mumbai Indians have won the tournament for the last two years so it stands to reason that they should be the favourites this term. They have a powerful batting line up but nine of their 14 matches are being played in Chennai and Delhi which aren’t exactly batting paradises so it will be interesting to see if they have the nous in their line up to keep laying platforms for their big hitters to capitalise on. They certainly have the bowling attack to be right there and while I’m not backing them at the price, I’m certainly not writing them off.
The Mumbai Indians beat the Delhi Capitals in the final last season and it is the Capitals who are the second favourites to win the title at 5/1 this season. You got the feeling that Delhi needed all their big guns firing last season and if any injuries occurred it would hurt them and through the middle of their campaign that is exactly what happened. This year they almost have an embarrassment of riches having snapped up the likes of Steve Smith and Sam Billings while players like Chris Woakes, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra are all fit to start the season. Delhi look to have a great chance.
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The Contenders
The Royal Challengers Bangalore go into the tournament as a 13/2 shot and after a positive season last term where they were away from Bangalore they might well benefit from not playing any matches there this term too because their bowling attack just can’t defend scores on that ground. Bangalore play all but three of their matches on good batting grounds so that should allow the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell the chance to do their thing. If they can find a nice balance to their bowling attack and a consistency to it they could be hard to stop.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will also begin the tournament as a 13/2 shot to win it and the onus will be on their bowlers this season because nine of their matches are in Chennai and Delhi, probably the hardest two grounds to bat at in the competition. It is with the ball where the Sunrisers tend to excel though so if the likes of Jonny Bairstow and David Warner keep on getting them off to a good start then we could once again see the Sunrisers get themselves deep into the mix. They might be the sleepers in the competition but they won’t want anything to happy to Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Rashid Khan.
If there is a side who could show a lot of improvement this season it is the Kolkata Knight Riders. I say that for a couple of reasons. The first one is they have the best captain in world cricket leading them in Eoin Morgan and also Andre Russell is said to be a lot fitter than he was in October and November when it looked like an effort just to move. All but three of their matches are on good batting grounds so the move away from Eden Gardens isn’t going to hamper them too much. There are plenty of reasons to think they are overpriced at 9/1.
The Outsiders
The Chennai Super Kings looked past it in the last season in the UAE and you get the impression that it is going to take more than one auction to sort that out. Moeen Ali looks to be a useful signing for the men in yellow and the same can be said for Robin Uthappa but Chennai haven’t been helped by Josh Hazlewood doing a late U-turn on the eve of the tournament. Unless some youngsters come through and grasp the nettle you get the feeling this will be another tough season for a past it Super Kings side.
The Rajasthan Royals have seen a huge turnover in player this season as well with the likes of Robin Uthappa, Steve Smith and Tom Curran having moved on and if Jofra Archer doesn’t make it over for any of the campaign that will be a big loss. The one thing the Royals have done which will help them is recruit one of the smartest cricket brains there is in Kumar Sangakkara. There is still plenty of talent at their disposal but if the likes of Rahul Tewatia and Sanju Samson don’t back up excellent campaigns last term it is hard to see the Royals making the play-offs.
The Kings XI Punjab have had a rebranding and go into this season as the Punjab Kings but with 12 of their matches being in Bangalore, Mumbai and Ahmedabad they could be the most exciting team to watch in the entire competition. One thing they will need is their bowling attack to stand up and be counted and that has been an issue in recent times. They certainly have the firepower with the bat to deliver the goods though if the likes of Mohammad Shami, Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith can combine for wickets.
Betting
I like the Delhi Capitals this season. It isn’t ideal that there is no Shreyas Iyer but there is more than enough experience both on and off the field to help Rishabh Pant. What they do have is a great batting line up with options galore available to them and in the South African duo Kagiso Rabada and Amrich Nortje they probably have the best two seamers in the tournament along with Jasprit Bumrah so Delhi tick every box.
The only thing which denied them an even stronger effort last season was injuries in the second half of the campaign. They have recruited really nicely this season and as long as they know who their best team is and those who aren’t playing don’t become disruptive influences then I think the Capitals have it in them to finally end their drought and lift this trophy for the first time in their existence.
Tips
Back Delhi Capitals to win IPL 2021 for a 2/10 stake at 6.00 with BetVictor
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