IPL 2021: Team-wise fittest cricketer in the season

IPL 2021 is all set to take off within a week’s time in grand fashion. Although there are a lot of changes with respect to venues and also empty stands, having an IPL in itself is a huge achievement. Players from various countries have joined their respective teams in their bio-bubble and have started training.

When it comes to cricket in India, especially the IPL where the schedules are quite hectic, fitness becomes an essential factor. Playing in the scorching heat in the afternoon games and the high humidity otherwise, does take a toll on the bodies of the players.

Thus, to bat, bowl and field well and with full intensity in these conditions, a certain level of fitness is definitely needed. There are few players whose fitness is right up to the level and which clearly reflects on their game.

Here we list the fittest player from each team in IPL 2021:

1) DC- Kagiso Rabada

The Protean has quickly risen over the ranks with his fiery and pacy bowling. Kagiso Rabada has been the best bowler of the IPL in the last two years. Along with his bowling, another aspect of his success is his fitness.

Fast bowlers are usually very prone to injuries because of their workload. Scientifically, when a fast-bowler jumps while delivering the ball, his/her legs bear nearly four times the entire body weight while landing. Now, this is quite some exertion on the body.

Thus, to play cricket continuously as a pacer, without any injuries, fitness definitely needs to be up to mark. Rabada has, time and again, proved his fitness levels by his bowling and gun fielding and rarely misses matches due to injuries. The Capitals do have other highly fit players like Marcus Stoinis and Tom Curran, but Rabada is definitely the best.

2) SRH- Manish Pandey

From the Sunrisers, we have Manish Pandey as the fittest player of the team. Pandey has been associated with SRH and also the Indian team for a long time now. He has been Hyderabad’s main Indian batsman forming the backbone of batting’s middle order.

Although he has not been able to grab a permanent spot in the Indian team, he is one of the fittest guys around. Previously he has even had a better Yo-Yo test score than Virat Kohli who is considered as the epitome of fitness levels. This clearly helps him and his team with respect to his batting and fielding.

Pandey shows a very athletic approach on the field, flying around to grab diving catches and he also chases the ball in no time. He is also quite fast between the wickets which is an important aspect while batting. He is surely one of the fittest players of the league.

3) RR- Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes has been the best all-rounder that world cricket has seen in recent times. People have a lot of debates as to who is the best batsman, is it Virat Kohli or Steve Smith, but when it comes to the best cricketer as a whole package, it is definitely Benjamin Stokes. His fitness standards have had quite a role in making this possible.

It is not long before that we have witnessed Stokes chasing the ball off his own bowling on the fifth day of a Test match against the West Indies or seen him bowling long spells against India in the last Test of the recently concluded test series, as Joe Root had opted for the only pacer.

He truly owns the word ‘commitment’ by all means.
Being a seam-bowling allrounder, handling batting, bowling, and fielding duties is a huge task. To fulfill this role is an achievement in itself. Rarely has he missed a match owing to injuries, which is not common with all-rounders. He is the fittest cricketer one would witness playing currently.

4) CSK- Ravindra Jadeja

Sir Jadeja is one of the best all-format all-rounders in international cricket currently. Ravindra Jadeja is an integral part of the Indian Cricket Team and also the Chennai Super Kings. Apart from his batting and bowling, what sets him apart is his fielding.

Jadeja’s athletic fielding abilities and diving catches, are definitely to be watched out for. The main reason for such skills is his fitness. He has a lean physique that allows him to sprint after the ball while fielding and swiftly run between the wickets while batting.

CSK are often trolled for having a lot of players aged 30+ and not having high fitness levels, but Jadeja’s fitness levels are not to be questioned. He is arguably CSK’s fittest player and also one of the best in the IPL.

5) RCB- Virat Kohli

The India and RCB captain has set really high standards with respect to his batting over the years. The same goes for Virat Kohli’s fitness levels too. When he started playing, he was a young chubby lad whose fitness was not up to the mark.

But as he says, it was in IPL 2012 that he realised the importance of fitness in international cricket. Thereafter he underwent a revolutionary fitness transformation and is currently one of the fittest cricketers.

His fitness is clearly shown on the field with his athletic fielding skills, not to forget his running between the wickets during batting. He easily converts ones into twos and twos into threes by putting pressure on the fielders. Thus, Kohli is one of the fittest players in the league.

6) KKR- Pat Cummins

The Aussie pacer has been one of the best bowlers in world cricket in recent times. Pat Cummins has consistently been the top-ranked Test bowler and has also bowled really well in white-ball cricket. He has also played the IPL for several seasons, but he grabbed eyeballs when he was picked by KKR for a whopping 15.5 crores in the last season.

Cummins had an off-season last year but he is such a good bowler that it will take no time for him to turn things around. One of the major reasons for his success has been his fitness. He can bowl long spells in Test cricket with full intensity and does not let fatigue get the better of him.

A lot of fast bowlers’ careers have been ruined due to injuries, but Cummins has not let that happen. He plays international cricket consistently for Australia without missing any games and gives his best even in Shield Cricket and the IPL. Thus, Cummins’ fitness level is right at the top in the KKR camp.

7) MI- Trent Boult

Next, we have another fast-bowler in the list of fit cricketers. Trent Boult made his MI debut last season and had a very successful tournament being in the top five wicket-scalpers of the league. He played most of the games for the team without any injuries which is not very common for pacers.

Apart from his bowling, Boult is also a wonderful fielder. He shows excellent athleticism on the field and has a lot of diving catches to his name. His one-handed catch to dismiss Virat Kohli in the 2018 IPL was a catch for the ages and is still fresh in our minds.

A lot of credit also goes to the New Zealand team management and Mumbai Indians for perfectly managing his workload while playing in a long season. Workload management is very essential, especially for pacers which if not done properly can easily affect the bowler.

8) PBKS- KL Rahul

From the Punjab Kings, we have the skipper, KL Rahul as the fittest player of the squad. Rahul has been consistently scoring runs for the Kings ever since he joined the team and also won the Orange Cap in the last year’s IPL. Rahul’s fitness level, too, has been pretty up to the mark.

The Karnataka batsman is one of the fastest between the wickets along with the likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. The team has also assigned him the wicketkeeping duties for the past year which he also carried out in the IPL. Whether he is keeping or fielding, he is very swift and active on the field.

Despite not being a regular keeper, he has been excellent behind the wickets and has produced some jaw-dropping runouts by collecting difficult throws. Even when he is fielding, he is the safest in the park and covers the distance for a catch in no time. Thus, he stands out as the fittest in his team.