IPL 2021: Strongest playing XI of all teams for UAE leg

Last month, the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was postponed due to COVID cases inside the bubble. However, after a long wait, the BCCI has finally confirmed that the remainder of IPL 2021 will take place in September-October. It was also confirmed that the phase 2 of IPL 2021 would take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The biggest obstacle for all the IPL teams is the availability of their overseas players. No one has a clear idea as to which player will be available and which player would not. However, the ECB already confirmed that England players won’t participate in the remainder of IPL 2021.

As players from the West Indies (WI) would be busy playing the Caribbean Premiere League (CPL), their availability for the initial stages isn’t confirmed as well. Every team has to wisely select their playing XI according to the pitch conditions, availability of players and their desired team combinations.

Here we bring you the expected playing XIs of all teams for first few matches:

1) Chennai Super Kings

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are going to be one of the most affected teams due to the unavailability of the English players. They were heavily dependent on Moeen Ali and Sam Curran during the first half of IPL 2021. The 2018 champions won’t even have the services of their star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo for their first match of IPL 2021 in UAE.

However, their Indian core is strong and thus, their playing XI still looks good on paper. Faf and Gaikwad would open the innings for them like always. Raina, Rayudu, MS Dhoni and Jadeja would bat a position higher. This would force the CSK management to pick Gowtham in the XI.

Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar would be their Indian pacers and would bat at 8 and 9 respectively. CSK can then play the Proteas seamer Lungi Ngidi. Last but not the least, they can play Jason Behrendorff, who had replaced Josh Hazlewood in the first phase of IPL 2021.

Predicted Playing XI:

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf Du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C and WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Jason Behrendorff