IPL 2021: Best XI of the first week in the UAE leg of the tournament

We’re already into the second week of the second phase of our beloved Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. There have been a lot of close contests in such a short span of time. Like every season, it gets hard to predict which team will come on top as each and every team looks strong on paper. While teams like the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Delhi Capitals (DC) have been absolutely magnificent, teams like the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings (PBKS) have struggled. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been the surprise package of the second phase of IPL 2021 so far. However, all these teams consist of players who have performed well for them and have helped their team do well. In just a week, we have seen several outstanding performances by various players. However, if we were to make a playing XI consisting of the best players from the first half of IPL 2021, then a few of the players would only make the cut. In the article, let’s take a look at the best XI of the first phase of IPL 2021 1) Venkatesh Iyer Venkatesh Iyer. (Photo Source: Twitter/IPL) The player who’s name hadn’t been heard until last week has featured on this list. This shows how impactful the KKR opener has been for his team. The youngster made his IPL debut against RCB in the second match of the second half of this season. Venkatesh Iyer caught everyone’s attention when he was hitting all the bowlers for fun. He went on to score 41 in just the 27 deliveries. He backed it up with an amazing 53 against the defending champions in his second match. After an unfortunate failure against the Super Kings, he made it up with an amazing display of bowling in his fourth match against DC. Turns out he is a handy bowler as well. 2) Ruturaj Gaikwad Ruturaj Gaikwad. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Ruturaj Gaikwad has been nothing short of phenomenal. His consistency just amazes one and all. It gets scary when you realize that he is just 24! The CSK opener played arguably the best innings of the second phase of this season against MI when he played the rescue act. He scored an unbeaten 88 from just the 58 deliveries against the defending champions. This knock gets even more special when you realize that the Super Kings were 24/4 at one stage of their innings. The opener then scored a 38 against Bangalore in a rather tricky chase and looked really solid during his stay at the crease. He then made an impactful 40 from just the 28 deliveries against the Knights and he has been super consistent. 3) Rahul Tripathi Rahul Tripathi. (Photo Source: Twitter/IPL) Rahul Tripathi is one individual who would be backed by everyone irrespective of the team they support. His audacious shots are truly pleasing to the eye. However, the one thing he didn’t have was consistency and he has shown signs of working on that aspect. The top order batsman scored an unbeaten 74 from 42 balls against MI. His knock ensured that his team won the match rather comfortably. He then backed it up with a superb 42 against the Super Kings. He played against world class players like Josh Hazlewood and Sam Curran with such ease. However, he failed against DC in his most recent match. Nevertheless, his game seems to have improved and it won’t be surprising if he wins a few more games for his team. 4) Shreyas Iyer Shreyas Iyer. (Photo Source: Twitter) Before the commencement of the second phase of IPL 2021, several cricket pundits were concerned about Shreyas Iyer’s form. They felt that it would he hard for him to settle after being ruled out for more than 6 months due to an injury. As a matter of fact, his franchise felt that he’d need time to settle and thus, decided to let Pant continue as the DC captain. However, he proved all his critics wrong as his game suggested otherwise. The former DC skipper has been absolute sensational so far. In his comeback game against SRH, he scored a calculative 47 from 41 balls. He also saw his side home as he managed to hit the winning runs. He was superb in the next game as well as he scored a 43 against the Royals in tricky conditions. He was the only batter who looked comfortable as the playing conditions were really hard. Thus, he was given the player of the match award. 5) Rishabh Pant (C and WK) Rishabh Pant. (Photo Source: Twitter) When the DC management decided to persist with Rishabh Pant as the captain despite the availability of Iyer, it shocked a few. The wicketkeeper blew hot and cold in the first phase of the season. However, he has been very good in the second phase so far. The DC skipper first saw his team home with his team’s former skipper Iyer as he scored a quickfire 35 from 21 balls against SRH. However, he failed with the bat in the second game of the second half as he scored 24 from 24 balls. His captaincy that game however was absolutely spot on. The way he rotated his bowlers against the Royals was commendable. He then scored a 39 in 36 balls against KKR. Taking the pitch conditions into consideration, it was a pretty good knock. 6) Ravindra Jadeja Ravindra Jadeja. (Photo Source: Twitter/IPL) Ravindra Jadeja has been the Superman for CSK. Whatever he has touched has turned to gold. The southpaw has arguably been one of the most valuable players of the first week of the UAE leg. In the match against MI, he played a second fiddle to Gaikwad and played a responsible innings. He then had a decent game against RCB where be bowled at an economy rate of 7.8. However, his best was against the Knight Riders. In that game, he first was economical with the ball and gave away just the 21 runs in his full quota of 4 overs with a wicket. The one wicket which he took was of a well set Tripathi. He was then superb with the bat as he scored 22 from just the 8 deliveries when things looked difficult for the Super Kings. 7) Dwayne Bravo Dwayne Bravo. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) It seems like the old Dwayne Bravo is back. After a few bad seasons according to his high standards, the champion is well and truly back to the groove! DJ Bravo has been one of the best match winners of the second phase of the tournament so far. The all-rounder displayed a compete all-round show against MI when he first scored a brilliant cameo with the bat. He scored 23 from just the 8 deliveries against a top class bowling unit. He then took 3 wickets with the ball as the MI batters struggled to play him. The charismatic Windies player then took 3 wickets again in the second match of the UAE leg. This performance came against RCB. He was even awarded the player of the match for his performance against them. 8) Sunil Narine Sunil Narine. (Photo Source: Twitter/IPL) Sunil Narine is one of the most impactful players to have played the shortest format of the game. Every captain dreams of having a player like him in their side. The mystery spinner has done no harm to his reputation as he has been mind blowing in the second phase of IPL 2021. The bowling all-rounder first bowled a wicketless yet effective spell against RCB where he gave just the 21 runs in his 4 overs against them. He then backed it up with another economical spell against Rohit Sharma’s men as he took a wicket and gave just the 20 runs against them. He then decided to show his skills with the bat in the next game against the Capitals. The KKR all-rounder scored a quickfire 21 from just the 10 deliveries against DC and took a special liking to Rabada. He hit him for 19 runs in just the 4 balls. Last but not the least, Narine also picked two wickets in the same match. 9) Arshdeep Singh Arshdeep Singh. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Arshdeep Singh has shown a lot of temperament despite being an uncapped player. His bowling at the death has been praiseworthy. It gets better when you realize that he has been as good as his teammate Shami, who is an established bowler in the international arena. The youngster impressed one and all when he picked a fifer against the Royals in his first game of the UAE leg. He took most of his wickets in the death overs. He then backed it up with a superb spell against SRH in a low scoring thriller. The pacer gave just the 22 runs against them and took a wicket. Despite not picking a wicket in the game against MI, he was considerably economical. He went for 29 runs in 4 overs at an economy rate of 7.2. 10) Anrich Nortje Anrich Nortje. (Photo Source: Twitter/IPL) Anrich Nortje is someone who the Capitals badly missed in the first phase of IPL 2021. Nevertheless, his presence this time around made a significant impact. His extra pace has troubled most of the batters who have faced him. The Proteas pacer won the player of the match award against SRH as he picked 2 wickets in the 4 overs against them. What made that performance even better was the fact that he went for just the 12 runs in his 4 overs. The speedster then had a good game against RR as well. He took 2 wickets and gave just the 18 runs against them. DC lost just the one game against KKR and even in that match, he tried his best. The express pacer just got 2.2 overs against them were he picked a wicket. 11) Varun Chakravarthy Varun Chakravarthy. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Varun Chakravarthy has been the best spinner of the first week of the UAE leg of IPL 2021 so far. No batsman has been able to pick him as of now. It is safe to call him an “X Factor”. The spinner instantly made a mark when he won the player of the match award against RCB. He picked 3 wickets in that match. Although he didn’t pick a wicket against MI, he was fairly decent and went just for the 22 runs in his full quota of 4 overs. The Tamil Nadu spinner then made a game out of his team’s encounter and nearly won the match for KKR with his final over towards the end of the second innings. He then had another economical spell against DC.

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IPL 2021: Best XI of the first week in the UAE leg of the tournament

In just a week, we have seen several outstanding performances by various players.

10) Anrich Nortje

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