IPL 2021 concluded last Friday in Dubai. The Chennai Super Kings claimed their fourth championship in the tournament’s history by defeating the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2021 season finale. Not many fans expected the Super Kings to end the 2021 season as champions because of the way they performed last year in the United Arab Emirates.
However, MS Dhoni and his team proved everyone wrong by finishing at the champion’s podium in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League. The Kolkata Knight Riders had also failed to reach the playoffs last year, but in the 2021 season, they finished as the runners-up. One of the main reasons behind KKR and CSK’s success in IPL 2021 was the form of their Indian players. There are seven Indian players in an IPL playing XI. So, if they perform well, the team wins more matches. Speaking of Indian stars, in this article today, we will form the best IPL XI of the 2021 season featuring only Indian players.
Best Indian openers in IPL 2021 season – Ruturaj Gaikwad and KL Rahul
The opening pair of this team will be Ruturaj Gaikwad and KL Rahul. Both batters scored more than 600 runs in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League. Gaikwad beat KL Rahul in the race to the Orange Cap by scoring 635 runs in the season. Rahul scored nine runs less than the CSK star.
It is pertinent to note that Rahul had a better strike rate and average than Gaikwad. While Gaikwad batted at an average of 45.35, Rahul had an average of 62.60 in IPL 2021. At the same time, Rahul’s strike rate of 138.80 was slightly better than Gaikwad’s 136.26 strike rate.
Middle Order – Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (C and WK) and Rahul Tripathi
Sanju Samson was by far the most impressive player from the Rajasthan Royals squad in IPL 2021. The right-handed batter was the only player from the RR squad to feature in the Top 10 of the IPL 2021 Orange Cap leaderboard. Samson scored 484 runs in 14 innings, with his highest score being 119.
Rishabh Pant will lead this team. The southpaw took the Delhi Capitals to the number one position in the IPL 2021 standings. Pant attained the tenth spot in the Orange Cap standings by scoring 419 runs in 16 matches. The number five batter will be Rahul Tripathi who scored some crucial runs for the Kolkata Knight Riders this season. Tripathi scored 397 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of more than 140.
Best Indian All Rounders in IPL 2021 season – Venkatesh Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel
Venkatesh Iyer will be flexible in the batting line-up. He opened the innings for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2021 IPL season, but he has been placed in this category because he is an all-rounder. Iyer made his IPL debut in the UAE leg of the competition and ended the tournament with 370 runs and three wickets in ten matches.
Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel will be the two spin-bowling all-rounders of this team. Both were exceptional for their respective franchises. Jadeja took 13 wickets and scored 227 runs in 17 matches for CSK, while Patel aggregated 40 runs and bagged 15 wickets in 13 games for DC.
Bowlers – Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan and Varun Chakravarthy
The pace attack of this team features RCB’s uncapped bowler Harshal Patel and DC’s uncapped bowler Avesh Khan. Harshal won the Purple Cap and the MVP award for taking 32 wickets in 15 matches. Khan was right behind him with 24 wickets in 16 games.
Varun Chakravarthy was the most successful among spin bowlers in IPL 2021 as he took 18 wickets in 17 matches. Most importantly, the Kolkata Knight Riders mystery spinner had an economy rate of 6.58 this season.
