Defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on three-time winners Chennai Super Kings in Dubai on September 19 to kickstart the second leg of IPL 2021.
Follow Us
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the schedule for the remainder of IPL 2021 which will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A total number of 31 matches will be played in the duration of 27 days. The 14th season of the cash-rich league was postponed in May this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will resume on 19th September in Dubai with an exciting clash between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI).
This will be followed by the action shifting to Abu Dhabi, where Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will face off against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Sharjah will host its first game on 24th September, when the Bangalore-based franchise takes on arch-rivals CSK.
There will be seven double-headers after five matches were already played in India in a total of 12 games. The first match will start at 3.30 PM IST, with the evening matches beginning at 7:30 PM IST. In all, 13 matches will be held in Dubai, with 10 games in Sharjah and 8 encounters in Abu Dhabi.
The final clash of the league stage will be played between RCB and Delhi Capitals (DC) on 8th October. The first qualifier will be played in Dubai on 10th October, with the eliminator and qualifier 2 scheduled to be played in Sharjah on 11th and 13th October respectively. Dubai will host the final of the elite tournament on 15th October.
All teams will play at least one game in the afternoon, with the Delhi-based franchise set to play as many as three. CSK, MI, KKR and Punjab Kings (BKS) will all play two afternoon games each.
DC and PBKS have played eight games so far. However, the remaining teams have their complete set of seven second-half fixtures left to play. Sharjah will witness two games apiece involving every franchise. MI and KKR will play the most number of matches (three) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium this season.
There are concerns over the availability of overseas players for IPL 2021 when it resumes. One of the stars whose presence is not yet confirmed is Australian pacer Pat Cummins. Cummins has reportedly stated that he will not be part of IPL 2021 resumption. This information is according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The report stated, “David Warner and Pat Cummins might be rested from the West Indies tour because of family reasons. Others could follow after a draining year in several bubbles. Cummins, despite a multimillion-dollar IPL contract, has already said he will not return to the T20 tournament this season.”
England has already made it clear that they want to honor their bilateral tours to Bangladesh and Pakistan. Ashley Giles, the managing director of the men’s team, told ESPNCricinfo the players who are rested for the tours cannot play the IPL.
“We are going to have to give some of these guys a break at some point. But the intention of giving guys a break for, say, Bangladesh, wouldn’t be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere. We have to manage our schedule now. So, we get our guys arriving in the best shape possible for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes,” stated the former cricketer.
