The IPL 2021 is the fourteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the professional Twenty20 (t20) cricket league established by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). VIVO Mobiles are the sponsor of the IPL 2021 Title, and the event is officially known as VIVO IPL 2021. Mumbai Indians defend the championship for the consecutive second time in VIVO IPL 2021.
Last year, the IPLt20 was held in the United Arab Emirates due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in India. Early this year, BCCI revealed their decision to organize the tournament in India with Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Chennai as possible venues. The event was also scheduled to be played from 9th April to 30th May 2021. Later, in the midway of the tournament, BCCI had to suspend the event indefinitely as several players and support staff were tested positive.
Events that led to the suspension of IPL 2021
The suspension of IPL 2021 became inevitable as the COVID-19 second wave hit the nation badly. Two non-playing members of the Chennai Super Kings were tested positive initially. On May 03, 2021, the 30th match of the tournament (Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore) was postponed as two KKR players were tested positive. Delhi Capitals spinner Amit Mishra and Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha were some of the other players who got infected. Subsequently, BCCI had an emergency meeting with the IPL general council, and the decision to cancel the event was made.
The decision to restart IPL 2021
Later, in July 2021, BCCI announced the schedule for the remainder of the IPL 2021 tournament. The remaining matches were scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates, from September 19 to October 15. A total of 31 matches will be played in four weeks, in Dubai (13 matches), Sharjah (10 matches), and Abu Dhabi (8 matches).
VIVO IPL 2021 Teams:
Mumbai Indians (defending champions), Chennai Super Kings, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knightriders, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, and Punjab Kings (Kings XI Punjab was renamed to Punjab kings as announced by the franchise on 17th February 2021.)
IPL 2021 Auction
The IPL 2021 Teams’ auction for players was held on 18th February 2021. South African all-rounder Chris Morris became the most expensive player in IPL history when Rajasthan Royals signed him for Rs 16.25 crore. Krishnappa Gowtham signed by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 9.25 crore became the most expensive Indian player at the auction. K Gowtham also became the highest-earning uncapped player in IPL auction history. The other record purchases include the signing of New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson and Australia’s Jhye Richardson by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings respectively. Meanwhile, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, and Piyush Chawla became some of the prominent names among the released players.
The IPL 2021 Tournament Format
In VIVO IPL 2021, like the previous seasons, there would be a league phase and knock-out phase. Each team plays each other twice, following the round-robin format in the league phase. At the end of the league phase, the top four teams will qualify for the playoffs.
In the playoffs, the top two teams from the league phase will play against each other in the first qualifier match, with the winner going straight to the IPL final. The losing team of the first qualifier will get another chance to qualify for the final in the second qualifier. Meanwhile, the third and fourth-placed teams from the league phase would play against each other in an eliminator match. The loser will be eliminated and the winner would play the second qualifier against the losing team from the first qualifier. The winner of the second qualifier will play the winner of the first qualifier in the IPL Final match, where the winner will be crowned the Indian Premier League champions.
IPL 2021 Teams
- Mumbai Indians
- Chennai Super Kings
- Bangalore Royal Challengers
- Sunrisers Hyderabad
- Kolkata Knightriders
- Rajasthan Royals
- Delhi Capitals
- Punjab Kings
Renewed IPL 2021 Match List – Schedule of the Remaining Matches
IPL Teams 2021 IPL Match Date Time
MI vs CSK 19/09/2021 7:30 PM
KKR vs RCB 20/09/2021 7:30 PM
PK vs RR 21/09/2021 7:30 PM
DC vs SRH 22/09/2021 7:30 PM
MI vs KKR 23/09/2021 7:30 PM
RCB vs CSK 24/09/2021 7:30 PM
DC vs RR 5/09/2021 3:30 PM
SRH vs PK 25/09/2021 7:30 PM
CSK vs KKR 26/09/2021 3:30 PM
RCB vs MI 26/09/2021 7:30 PM
SRH vs RR 27/09/2021 7:30 PM
KKR vs DC 28/09/2021 3:30 PM
MI vs PK 28/09/2021 7:30 PM
RR vs RCB 29/09/2021 7:30 PM
SRH vs CSK 30/09/2021 7:30 PM
KKR vs PK 1/10/2021 7:30 PM
MI vs DC 2/10/2021 3:30 PM
RR vs CSK 2/10/2021 7:30 PM
RCB vs PK 3/10/2021 3:30 PM
KKR vs SRH 3/10/2021 7:30 PM
DC vs CSK 4/10/2021 7:30 PM
RR vs MI 5/10/2021 7:30 PM
RCB vs SRH 6/10/2021 7:30 PM
CSK vs PK 7/10/2021 3:30 PM
KKR vs RR 7/10/2021 7:30 PM
SRH vs MI 8/10/2021 3:30 PM
RCB vs DC 8/10/2021 7:30 PM
Qualifier 1 10/10/2021 7:30 PM
Eliminator 11/10/2021 7:30 PM
Qualifier 2 13/10/2021 7:30 PM
Final 15/10/2021 7:30 PM
Previous IPL 2021 Complete Match List
Following is the list of IPL 2021 Matches and their scheduled dates and timings.
Date |
Fixture |
Time in IST |
Venue/City |
April 9, Friday |
Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore |
7:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 10, Saturday |
Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 11, Sunday |
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders |
7:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 12, Monday |
Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 13, Tuesday |
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians |
7:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 14, Wednesday |
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore |
7:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 15, Thursday |
Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 16, Friday |
Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 17, Saturday |
Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad |
7:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 18, Sunday |
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders |
3:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 18, Sunday |
Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 19, Monday |
Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 20, Tuesday |
Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians |
7:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 21, Wednesday |
Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad |
3:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 21, Wednesday |
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 22, Thursday |
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 23, Friday |
Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians |
7:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 24, Saturday |
Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders |
7:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 25, Sunday |
Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore |
3:30 PM |
Mumbai |
April 25, Sunday |
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals |
7:30 PM |
Chennai |
April 26, Monday |
Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders |
7:30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
April 27, Tuesday |
Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore |
7:30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
April 28, Wednesday |
Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad |
7:30 PM |
Delhi |
April 29, Thursday |
Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals |
3:30 PM |
Delhi |
April 29, Thursday |
Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders |
7:30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
April 30, Friday |
Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore |
7:30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
May 1, Saturday |
Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings |
7:30 PM |
Delhi |
May 2, Sunday |
Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad |
3:30 PM |
Delhi |
May 2, Sunday |
Punjab Kings Vs Delhi Capitals |
7:30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
May 3, Monday |
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore |
7:30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
May 4, Tuesday |
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians |
7.30 PM |
Delhi |
May 5, Wednesday |
Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings |
7.30 PM |
Delhi |
May 6, Thursday |
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Punjab Kings |
7.30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
May 7, Friday |
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Chennai Super Kings |
7.30 PM |
Delhi |
May 8, Saturday |
Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Capitals |
3.30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
May 8, Saturday |
Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians |
7.30 PM |
Delhi |
May 9, Sunday |
Chennai Super Kings v Punjab Kings |
3.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 9, Sunday |
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad |
7.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 10, Monday |
Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders |
7.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 11, Tuesday |
Delhi Capitals v Rajasthan Royals |
7.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 12, Wednesday |
Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders |
7.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 13, Thursday |
Mumbai Indians v Punjab Kings |
3.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 13, Thursday |
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Rajasthan Royals |
7.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 14, Friday |
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Capitals |
7.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 15, Saturday |
Kolkata Knight Riders v Punjab Kings |
7.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 16, Sunday |
Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore |
3.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 16, Sunday |
Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians |
7.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 17, Monday |
Delhi Capitals v Sunrisers Hyderabad |
7.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 18, Tuesday |
Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals |
3.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 19, Wednesday |
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Punjab Kings |
3.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 20, Thursday |
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians |
7.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 21, Friday |
Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad |
3.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 21, Friday |
Delhi Capitals v Chennai Super Kings |
7.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 22, Saturday |
Punjab Kings v Rajasthan Royals |
7.30 PM |
Bengaluru |
May 23, Sunday |
Mumbai Indians v Delhi Capitals |
3.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 23, Sunday |
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings |
7.30 PM |
Kolkata |
May 25, Tuesday |
QUALIFIER 1 |
7.30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
May 26, Wednesday |
ELIMINATOR |
7.30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
May 28, Friday |
QUALIFIER 2 |
7.30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
May 30, Sunday |
FINAL |
7.30 PM |
Ahmedabad |
2021 IPL Players
The following is the list of IPL 2021 teams and their squad of players.
MUMBAI INDIANS (MI) PLAYERS LIST
Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Anmolpreet Singh, Aditya Tare (wk), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
New Buys: Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS (CSK) PLAYERS LIST
MS Dhoni (c/wk), Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N. Jagadeesan (wk), Robin Uthappa, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, R. Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, KM Asif
New Buys: Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Harisankar Reddy, K. Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishanth
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE (RCB) PLAYERS LIST
Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Finn Allen (wk), AB de Villiers (wk), Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel
New Buys Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddin, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, K.S. Bharat
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD (SRH) PLAYERS LIST
David Warner (c), Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi
New Buys: Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR) PLAYERS LIST
Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun CV, Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna
New Buys: Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan Negi
RAJASTHAN ROYALS (RR) PLAYERS LIST
Sanju Samson (c&wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra, Anuj Rawat, Riyan Parag, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Jofra Archer, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi
New Buys: Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh
DELHI CAPITALS (DC) PLAYERS LIST
Shreyas Iyer (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan
New Buys: Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings
PUNJAB KINGS (PK) FULL SQUAD AND PLAYERS LIST
KL Rahul (c/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan
New Buys: Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar
IPL 2021 Teams: Strengths & Weaknesses
MUMBAI INDIANS
Strengths: MI has a very strong batting lineup packed with match-winning batsmen. The finishers like Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya are good game-changers too. MI’s fast bowling attack is also very strong. They have the best fast bowling attack with Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Weaknesses: MI’s major weakness is the lack of experienced spinners. They are largely depending on Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya for the spin attack. No proper Indian backup to Bumrah is another weakness. In Bumrah’s absence, an overseas bowler may have to lead the pace attack, which would cause an imbalance in batting as they could let only 4 foreigners.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Strengths: The main strength of CSK is that they have a highly experienced squad with MSD at the helm. The return of Suresh Raina and the inclusion of Robin Uthappa would improve their already strong batting lineup. Their spin bowling attack is also very strong with the presence of Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja.
Weaknesses: The major weakness of CSK is that they are an aging team. Many of their players are away from international cricket for a long time. MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, and Robin Uthappa presently lack exposure to competitive matches. Also, Ravindra Jadeja, who is returning from an injury, might not be at his best.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
Strengths: RCB’s main strength has always been their top and middle batting order. Now, with the inclusion of Glenn Maxwell, they can hope to fill up the lack of a reliable finisher after Ab de Villiers. They have also strengthened their bowling with players like Kane Richardson, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, and Navdeep Saini.
Weaknesses: The release of Aaron Finch and the retirement of Parthiv Patel have left RCB with the problem of finding a new opening combination. Now, the youngster Devdutt Padikkal is the only specialist opener, and skipper Virat Kohli might have to promote himself up the order or send Finn Allen (Josh Philippe’s replacement) to open. But, the Kiwi batsman is uncapped and doesn’t have much international experience. Also, in the case of adding Allen, RCB would need to drop an overseas pacer.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Strengths: The main strength of Sunrisers Hyderabad is their opening pair of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. They have the best opening combination in IPL now. Their bowling squad, which includes Bhuvaneswar Kumar, T Natrajan, Rashid Khan, and Jason Holder is also strong. Rashid Khan is currently the number one T20 spinner in the world.
Weaknesses: The weakness of Sunrisers Hyderabad is that their middle order lacks T20 specialist batsmen. Excluding Kane Williamson, their players Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha, Vijay Shankar, and Kedar Jadhav are yet to find their best.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Strengths: The KKR squad has players who can make a strong impact on the T20 format. The West Indians, Andre Russell with the bat and Sunil Narine with the ball, are capable of turning any game in their favor.
Weaknesses: KKRs weakness is the lack of experienced Indian players. They depend heavily on their overseas players, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine. Skipper Dinesh Karthik struggled with the bat last season. It will be interesting to watch how the new addition Shakib Al Hasan performs.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Strengths: RR has some great talents in their squad. They have a good batting lineup with a strong opening pair and the best white-ball bowler Jofra Archer. This time, they picked the all-rounder Chris Morris for a record Rs 16.25 Cr too.
Weaknesses: RR would begin this season of IPL under the captaincy of Sanju Samson. It would be interesting to watch how well they perform under Sanju, who is taking up the skipper’s role for the first time. Team RR heavily relies on their overseas players, Archer, Stokes, Butler, and Miller. The inclusion of Chris Morris would force them to drop any one of the other overseas players. They lack a specialist spinner too. Even their most experienced spinner Shreyas Gopal lacks international experience.
DELHI CAPITALS
Strengths: DC has a well-balanced squad. They have a strong batting lineup consisting of Shikhar Dhawan, Steve Smith, and Ajinkya Rahane. Their fast bowling attack led by South African pacers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje is also strong. The addition of Steve Smith would strengthen the DC’s batting furthermore.
Weaknesses: DC’s problem is their middle order. They largely depend upon Shimron Hetmyer and Rishabh Pant for finishing the games. Their other weakness is that they lack an alternative fast bowler in case of Rabada’s absence. Ishant and Umesh are experienced bowlers, but both are considered red-ball specialists.
PUNJAB KINGS
Strengths: Punjab Kings have a good batting lineup consisting of KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, and Nicholas Pooran. KL Rahul’s performance as captain in the last season was praiseworthy. They also have quality pacers like Mohammed Shami and Chris Jordan.
Weaknesses: Punjab Kings’ major weakness is that they have no good alternatives for their key batsmen. Also, their bowling attack heavily depends on the pacers. Their squad is filled with medium-pacers and lacks a frontline spinner with international experience.