The 2021 season of the IPL concluded last Friday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Chennai Super Kings proved their doubters wrong by winning their fourth IPL championship. They beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs in the summit clash and became the second IPL team after Mumbai Indians to win four seasons.
There were many memorable performances from players of all teams in the IPL 2021 season. The batters dominated the proceedings in the Indian leg of the IPL 2021 season, but the bowlers ruled the roost in the UAE leg. Overall, fans got to witness some high-quality cricket in the tournament, and here is the best playing XI of the IPL 2021 season.
Best Openers of IPL 2021 Season – Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad
Chennai Super Kings’ opening pair of Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad was the best one in IPL 2021. The two right-handed batters scored runs consistently at the top. The fact that they finished in the Top 2 positions of the IPL 2021 Orange Cap standings highlights how they dominated the bowlers in the competition.
Gaikwad took the Orange Cap home by scoring 635 runs for the Chennai Super Kings team, while Du Plessis was right behind him with 633 runs. Both batters played 16 innings each in the entire competition, and notably, both had a batting average of 45+ in the season.
Middle Order – Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson (WK) and Glenn Maxwell
Although Virat Kohli played as an opener for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021, he will bat at number three for this team. Kohli was 12th on the Orange Cap leaderboard this year, aggregating 405 runs. His strike rate was below 120, but Kohli recorded three half-centuries in the tournament.
The other two middle-order batters of this team will be Sanju Samson and Glenn Maxwell. Both batters finished in the Top 10 of the Orange Cap leaderboard. Maxwell was fifth with 513 runs, while Samson was right behind him with 484 runs in IPL 2021.
Best All-Rounders of IPL 2021 Season – Venkatesh Iyer, Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja
Venkatesh Iyer and Moeen Ali will be flexible in the team’s batting order. Both Iyer and Ali showed how they can single-handedly change the game in IPL 2021. Iyer was the primary reason behind Kolkata Knight Riders’ incredible turnaround, while Ali also played a vital role in Chennai Super Kings’ rise after a forgettable 2020 season.
Ravindra Jadeja completes the all-rounders’ lineup. The Indian star was the highest-ranked all-rounder on the list of IPL 2021’s Most Valuable Players. Jadeja played all 16 matches for the Chennai Super Kings team, scalping 13 wickets and aggregating 227 runs with the willow. He produced a masterclass performance against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai during the first phase of IPL 2021.
Bowlers – Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan and Rashid Khan
Harshal Patel became the first uncapped cricketer in IPL history to win the Player of the Series award. Patel was the highest wicket-taker in IPL 2021 as he took 32 wickets in 15 matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Another uncapped Indian pacer who performed brilliantly in IPL 2021 was Avesh Khan. Playing for the Delhi Capitals, Avesh picked up 24 wickets in 16 games during the 2021 season of the IPL.
The last name to feature on this list is Rashid Khan, who took the highest number of wickets among all spin bowlers in IPL 2021. Khan took 18 wickets and was jointly number one among spinners along with Varun Chakravarthy and Yuzvendra Chahal. The SRH leg-spinner made the cut because he played the least number of matches. Khan was one of the few bright spots of the SRH team in IPL 2021.
