For the first time in the IPL’s history of being hosted in India, all 8 teams will play no matches at their home venues and have been assigned neutral venues through the tournament with the Finals set to take place at India’s new Theatre of Dreams, the Narendra Modi Stadium.
We take a look at the impact of this decision on the teams that leaves some franchises with new problems, and some smiling!
IPL 2021 is now set to take place from the 9th of April to the 30th of May across India and will start behind closed doors with a decision on whether to allow fans into the stadiums to be take at a later stage in the tournament. With our nation still battling the effects of the Covid19 pandemic, there is one never-seen-before twist to the schedule that could have a massive impact on the success of certain teams and therefore on the results of the overall tournament too.
Mohali, Jaipur and Hyderabad will host no matches this year which meant that with 3 franchises affected (Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad) the IPL commission and BCCI had to take a decision that meant no team would play at their home venue in 2021!
While at the outset this decision may not seem like a big deal, especially with no fans to give their sides a massive boost, the impact of teams playing away from their home venues could be drastic, given that many teams were picked based on their home conditions in the IPL. Let’s break this down further:
Mumbai Indians & Sunrisers Hyderabad will play 5 games at Chepauk, Chennai.
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will play 5 games at the pacy Wankhede, Mumbai.
Royal Challengers Bangalore & Delhi Capitals will play 5 games at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Kolkata Knight Riders & Punjab Kings will play 5 games at the Chinnaswamy, Bangalore.
Matches at each Venue for each IPL team
Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata will now host 10 matches each in the league phase while Ahmedabad and New Delhi will host eight matches each. The playoffs and Finals are set to be held at the new Theatre of Dreams of Indian Cricket, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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MS Dhoni & CSK have traditionally looked at Spin-to-Win and suddenly find themselves playing a number of games at the pacy, bouncy Wankhede stadium. The Yellow brigade play 5 games at Mumbai and 3 at Bengaluru so it really is a question of whether they have the batting firepower to excel at these venues that need 200+ on a regular basis.
Mumbai Indians, who have reveled at the Wankhede find themselves at the Chepauk which could produce dry, slow turners, given what we’ve seen recently too. MI though, do have a great record at Chennai where they play 5 games, but they only have struggled a bit at Delhi where they play their next 4 games so Rohit Sharma’s men can’t afford to have their traditionally slow starts to the season this time around.
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Glenn Maxwell would have been thrilled & licking his lips at the prospect of flicking balls into the stands at the small Chinnaswamy Stadium, but that now changes and Virat Kohli and his men will have their work cut out as RCB has a very low win % at Chennai (22%) and Mumbai (30%) where they play their first 5 games. They finish their league stage with 5 games at the majestic Eden Gardens but a good start is vital for RCB and the onus might once again lie with Virat and ABD to get them the runs with young Devdutt Padikkal at the top too.
The change in venues could potentially help a few sides too. The Rajasthan Royals, now led by Sanju Samson, are a team filled with overseas stars with the bat and ball, that like pacy conditions and start their season with 5 games in Mumbai! With the likes of Jos Buttler, Joffra Archer (if fully fit), Ben Stokes and new recruits, Chris Morris, Liam Livinngstone, Mustafizur, the move could benefit the side that haven’t tasted much success in a while.
The same could be said of Sunrisers Hyderabad who now possess all three Afghan spinners (Rashid Khan, Mohd. Nabi and Mujeeb) who could be an absolute nightmare to face on a turning track in the sweltering Chennai heat. SRH, the most underrated team in the IPL, could find themselves well and truly in the title hunt as they play as many as 9 games at Chennai and Delhi which suit their bowling perfectly.
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Two time Champions KKR meanwhile missed last season’s playoffs by the barest of margins, they changes Captain changed mid-way and play 5 games at Chennai and Mumbai and won’t be complaining too much. It’s a balanced side and we can’t see them tinkering too much with their overseas combination of Captain Morgan, Russell, Cummins and Narine although we’d love to see Shakib-Al-Hasan back in there if Narine fails with the bat.
A new name, a new look squad, a new logo and a new bunch of venues for the newly crowned Punjab Kings who, with their batting firepower, play at a lot of batting-friendly venues including 5 games at the Chinnaswamy, home to their Bengaluru boys, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Anil Kumble…and Chris Gayle ☺! They perhaps are still lacking a good foreign pace option but new additions, big buys and new vigour gives this team a great shot on paper at their first-ever title!
We’ll give you a detailed breakdown of each team’s chances given the venues they’re at soon too, so stay glued to Man’s Life right through this IPL season and you’ll be sure to thank us later!
[Image Credit: Indian Cricket Team]
Suhail Chandhok
Vertical Head - Sports