IPL 2021: Five batsmen to watch out for
The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will get underway from 9th April 2021. Needless to say, the IPL season is a time that is filled with unprecedented fervour and anticipation. And this time too, it will be no different. On that note, let us take a look at 5 batsmen to watch out for in the 2021 edition of the IPL.
5. Rishabh Pant
It seems as if Rishabh Pant can do no wrong at the moment. The swashbuckling left-hander has been the toast of the nation and has decimated several bowling attacks with the bat in hand in recent months. Even in the recently concluded ODI series against England, Pant blasted 155 runs in two innings at an average of 77.50.
At the age of 23, Pant has also been given the responsibility of leading the Delhi Capitals (DC) side, as regular skipper Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out due to injury. Pant is surely a cricketer to keep an eye on in the 2021 edition of the IPL.
4. Manish Pandey
Manish Pandey has been in and out of the Indian side in the recent past. And, with a plethora of talents like Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant setting the stage alight, Pandey surely needs to have a good IPL season if he wants to wear the Indian jersey again. Pandey was in good form in the 2020 edition of the IPL and scored 425 runs at an average of 32.69. He will be looking to continue that good form in the 2021 edition of the IPL as well.
3. Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina missed an entire IPL season for the first time in 2020, and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) failed to qualify for the IPL Playoffs for the first time in 2020 as well. Raina has been a vital cog of the CSK batting line up, and is one of the most experienced campaigners in IPL cricket. The IPL behemoth has amassed 5368 runs at an average of 33.34 in 193 IPL matches.
Raina has also retired from international cricket and will be seen in the IPL after a gap of almost 2 years. It will be interesting to see whether Raina’s return will allow CSK to return back to their winning ways.
2. Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal was in rollicking form in the 2020 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 20-year-old scored 473 runs in his debut IPL season and won the ‘Emerging Player’ award as well last year. Padikkal was also in a mind-boggling form in the 2021 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and scored 737 runs at an average of 147.40. The youngster will be looking to put up another solid performance in the 2021 edition of the IPL.
1. MS Dhoni
For the first time in his unmatched IPL career, Mahendra Singh Dhoni looked out of sorts in an IPL season last year. Not only did CSK finish at 7th place in the points table, but Dhoni also experienced a poor run with the willow in the 13th IPL edition. The CSK behemoth could score just 200 runs last year, and could not even score a single half-century. And in all probability, the 2021 edition could be Dhoni’s last in IPL cricket, and he would like to go out with a bang.
