CSK and RCB can afford to lose a couple of games: Gautam Gambhir

The remainder of the IPL 2021 is all set to kick start from September 19 in the UAE. Ahead of the start of the tournament, the teams have reached UAE and have begun their training sessions. With the second leg of the IPL resuming soon, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has put forward his thoughts on the positions of the team in the tournament.

CSK and RCB are placed in the second and third positions of the points table respectively. Both the teams have had a good start to their campaigns in the first half of the IPL. Gambhir thus feels that CSK and RCB can afford to lose a few games in the second leg considering the strong position they are in. The former India batter also pointed that other teams like KKR, Punjab Kings, and SRH couldn’t lose many games if they want to qualify for the playoffs.

“See from CSK & RCB’s point of view, I think they’ve gotten themselves into a position where they can actually afford to lose a couple of games. So that’s the reason why I said Punjab Kings can’t afford to do that, KKR can’t afford to do that. Sunrisers can’t afford to lose a single game if they want to qualify for the playoff and that’s the reason why they probably will still have an advantage especially CSK and RCB because they’ve brought themselves up to that position,” said Gambhir at Gameplan show on Star Sports.

Mumbai probably will be having that advantage: Gautam Gambhir

Mumbai Indians are the defending champions of the IPL. They won their fifth title last year when the tournament was entirely held in the UAE. Gambhir thus feels that this would provide an advantage to the team. He also stated that MI can finish as the top two teams and pointed that the team will have an upper hand in the second leg.

“See again, Mumbai probably will be having that advantage, because first they’ve won it last time in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in UAE and they’re going back to the same place and they’re in a position where they can actually finish in the top two as well. If you look at other franchises especially franchises like KKR or for that matter even Sunrisers (SRH), it’s pretty difficult for them to qualify or for that matter even Punjab Kings. But if you ask me one franchise who’s going to have an advantage with this break, is Mumbai Indians,” Gambhir added.