IPL 2021: How each franchise looks ahead of second leg in UAE

The 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL)  was suspended earlier this year, due to a rise in Covid-19 cases. However, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has announced that the second phase of the league will begin in the UAE from September 19.

29 matches were played during the first leg of IPL 2021, with each team playing at least seven games each. Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings finished in the top half of the table while Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders finished in the bottom half of the table.

DELHI CAPITALS

Delhi Capitals, led by Rishabh Pant, are currently sitting at the top of the points table with six wins in eight matches. Capitals started their IPL 2021 journey with a seven-wicket win over three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before losing to Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede. The Delhi-based outfit bounced back by registering a hat-trick of wins. A narrow 1-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ended their winning streak but Pant's unit defeated Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings to finish with 12 points in the first leg. 

Newly Added: Ben Dwarshuis 

Delhi Capitals full squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dwarshuis, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Currently second on the points table with five wins in seven matches, MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings started their IPL 2021 campaign with a seven-wicket loss against last season's runner-ups Delhi Capitals. CSK, however, bounced back to win 5 consecutive matches. A four-wicket loss against Mumbai Indians (MI) stopped their winning momentum.

Newly Added: None

Chennai Super Kings full squad: Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Narayan Jagadeesabn, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M.Harisankar Reddy, K.Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth, R Sai Kishore, Josh Hazlewood.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by Virat Kohli, are currently sitting at the third position on the points table with five wins in seven matches. RCB started their IPL 2021 journey with a nail-biting win over defending champions Mumbai Indians. After winning their opening game, the Red and Gold registered a hat-trick of wins before losing to three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede stadium. The Bangalore-based franchise won against Delhi Capitals (DC) before losing to Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Newly Added: Dushmantha Chameera, George Garton, Tim David, and Wanindu Hasaranga

Royal Challengers Bangalore full squad: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, George Garton, Washington Sundar, Pavan Deshpande, Tim David, Shahbaz Ahamad, Navdeep Saini, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kyle Jamieson, Glenn Maxwell, Rajat Patidar, Sachin Baby, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Daniel Christian, KS Bharat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Dushmantha Chameera, Harshal Patel.

MUMBAI INDIANS

Defending champions Mumbai Indians are currently fourth on the points table with four wins in seven matches. Rohit Sharma-led MI started their title defence with a hard-fought loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore. After losing their first game, the men in blue and gold registered consecutive victories against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). However, MI's campaign faltered due to defeats against Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). The Mumbai franchise notched up a win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) to achieve a top 4 finish before the tournament came to a halt.

Newly Added: None

Mumbai Indians full squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Adam Milne, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, James Neesham, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Quinton De Kock, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Yudhvir Singh.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Currently fifth on the points table with three wins in seven matches, Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals started their IPL 2021 battle with a four-run win over Punjab Kings. After winning their first game, RR won their next game against Delhi Capitals (DC) in a hard-fought battle. After registering two consecutive victories, RR lost two matches in a row. The Rajasthan-based franchise made a comeback against Kolkata Knignt Riders (KKR) before losing to Mumbai Indians, finishing 5th in the points table.

Newly Added: Glenn Philips, Tabraiz Shami, Oshane Thomas, and Evin Lewis

Rajasthan Royals full squad: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra, Anuj Rawat, Riyan Parag, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Glenn Phillips, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh.

PUNJAB KINGS

Punjab Kings, led by KL Rahul are currently sitting sixth on the points table with three wins in eight matches. PBKS registered a dramatic 4 run win against Rajasthan Royals in their opening game. After starting their winning campaign, PBKS lost three consecutive matches in a row. However PBKS broke their losing streak against Mumbai Indians before losing to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The Punjab-based franchise again bounced back against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) before losing to Rishabh Pant-led Delhi side.

Newly Added: Adil Rashid, Nathan Ellis and Aiden Markram

Punjab Kings full squad: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Aiden Markram, Adil Rashid, Shahrukh Khan, Nathan Ellis, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Currently seventh on the points table with 2 wins in seven matches, Eoin Morgan-led Kolkata Knight Riders started their campaign with a 10-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. After an impressive start, KKR lost four consecutive games. The Kolkata-based franchise registerd a five-wicket win against Punjab Kings before losing to Delhi Capitals, finishing seventh in the table.

Newly Added: Tim Southee

Kolkata Knight Riders full squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Harbhajan Singh, Karun Nair, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan Negi.

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD

Currently at the bottom of the points table with one win in seven matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad, one of the most consistent teams in the IPL history, got off to a terrible start. The Hyderabad-based franchise lost 3 consecutive matches at start of campaign before registering a 9 wicket win against Punjab Kings. Their poor form continued as they lost three more games, finishing 8th in the table.

Newly Added: Sherfane Rutherford

Sunrisers Hyderabad full squad:  David Warner, Kane Williamson (c), Virat Singh, Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Wriddhiman Saha, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Roy, Sreevats Goswami, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Kedar Jadhav, J Suchit, Jason Holder, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mujeeb ur Rahman.