The 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League turned out to be a grand success, thanks to BCCI for hosting the league in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament was played behind closed doors and fans from all across the world relished the world’s most-watched franchise cricket at home.
Mumbai Indians defended the trophy for the first time in history to added one more accolade to their decorated trophy cabinet. They are the most successful franchise in IPL history as they won 5 trophies. On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings come second on the list with 3 titles. Chennai Super Kings had a rough patch in the 13th edition of the league as they finished 7th in the points table. When everyone expected CSK to compete for the title, they failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time in the tournament’s history.
Delhi Capitals proved worthy of themselves as potential challengers as they made it to the finals for the first time since the inaugural edition of the IPL. Rohit Sharma & Co got the better of Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020 finals to become the serial trophy winners. Kolkata Knight Riders have won 2 titles to their name while the likes of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, and Deccan Chargers (now defunct franchise) won a title apiece. Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, and Kings XI Punjab are yet to make a case for themselves as viable title contenders.
In the wake of the 13th edition of the cash-rich league, all the eight IPL teams analyzed the performances of players, and based on that, they have decided to release certain players while also retaining the core part of the players for the upcoming edition of the IPL.
IPL 2021 Auction Players list (Released)
Mumbai Indians
Prince Balwant Rai, Digvijay Deshmukh, Lasith Malinga, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell McCleneghan
Chennai Super Kings
Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Monu Singh, Shane Watson
Delhi Capitals
Alex Carey, Keemo Paul, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mohit Sharma, Jason Roy
Kings XI Punjab
Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb Zadran, Hardus Viljoen, James Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karun Nair, Jagadeesha Suchith, Tejinder Singh Dhillon
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Billy Stanlake, Sandeep Bavanaka, Fabian Allen, Sanjay Yadav, Prithviraj Yarra
Kolkata Knight Riders
Chris Green, Harry Gurney, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Siddhesh Lad, Tom Banton
Rajasthan Royals
Steve Smith, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Tom Curran, Varun Aaron
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Moeen Ali, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana, Gurkeerat Mann
Aakash Chopra Predicts the most expensive buy
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has predicted the player who will get the highest bid in IPL 2021 auction. The cricketer-turned-commentator reckons that Australia’s left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc will get the highest bid this time around.
In the previous edition of the IPL, Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins was the most expensive overseas player in the auction as he was sold for a record INR 15.5 crores by two-time IPL champions, Kolkata Knight Riders. Chopra feels Starc will get the highest bid in the upcoming auction. It is to be noted that Starc backed out of the previous edition of the IPL in a bid to prepare for the T20 World Cup. Nonetheless, the marquee event was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Starc is the sought-after players in the present era.
However, the left-arm pacer has preferred to spend more time in international cricket than franchise cricket. The fast bowler played just 2 seasons for Royal Challengers Bangalore where he stunned everyone by weaving the magic with the ball. The 30-year-old pacer bagged as many as 34 wickets in 27 games, which is quite impressive. It will be quite interesting to see if he makes himself available for the next auction.
