IPL 2021: The lowdown on all the replacement players of the 8 teams ahead of the UAE leg
With the IPL 2021 witnessing an unprecedented break, making it a two-phased season for this year, there was plenty more transfer activity than usual. The second phase of the tournament is set to commence from 19th September, with the Mumbai Indians taking on the Chennai Super Kings. Hailed as the two best sides in the tournament’s history, Mumbai Indians have won the title five times whilst CSK missed out on a top-four position only once in their history.
There are plenty of other reasons behind their prolonged success, one of the major ones being background management. They are the only ones who did not need any extra additions to their squad for the second phase of the tournament, with almost their entire squad assembling back again after three months in UAE.
The other sides, by no fault of their own, were forced into personnel changes to fill the vacuum left by the ones who will not be making it to the UAE. Whilst Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata had to make one change each, the other three, Bangalore, Punjab and Rajasthan, needed plenty of chopping and replacing.
Here’s a look at the players who made the cut in the form of a replacement (teamwise).
Royal Challengers Bangalore (5 replacements)
Wanindu Hasaranga will walk into the RCB Playing XI as a spin-bowling all-rounder
The Royal Challengers Bangalore swooped in for Waindu Hasaranga after Adam Zampa was ruled out of the UAE leg, making it one of the smartest pieces of business materialized by any team this edition. Hasaranga, who picked up 7 wickets in three games against India in July, picked up three more in the two games against South Africa in the ongoing T20I series between the sides. He’s a more than decent striker of the ball, making it a very exciting addition for Kohli’s men.
His countrymate Dushmanta Chameera was roped in as a replacement for Australian pacer Daniel Sams. Chameera picked up 4 wickets in the 3 ODIs against South Africa and had an interesting outing against India as well, picking up 4 wickets at an impressive economy of 5.25.
Fin Allen, who couldn’t get a game in the first half, ruled himself out of the UAE leg and this made Tim David the first Singaporean cricketer to be a part of the IPL. He holds an impressive 147 strike rate in international T20Is and scored 234 runs in 10 knocks in the Caribbean Premier League for St. Lucia Kings.
Washington Sundar is another massive miss for Virat Kohli, who has been ruled out due to a finger injury. Akash Deep, the Bengal pace bowler who was a part of their net bowling team, now joins the main squad as his replacement. Akash Deep, who turns 25 this December, picked up 21 wickets in his T20 career thus far and is capable of using the long handle to strike some big shots.
George Garton made his way into the RCB setup to replace Kane Richardson. The young Sussex left-arm pacer is pretty quick, and had a couple of impressive county seasons. Besides being a wicket-taking option with the new ball, he can bat in the lower middle order and score some pivotal runs for the side.
Rajasthan Royals (4 replacements)
The list of names Rajasthan Royals will be missing out for the second phase of PL 2021 is quite an eye-popping one. They will be without their foreign core of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Andrew Tye. Evin Lewis was named as a replacement for Jos Buttler up the order. He is the second-highest run-scorer in CPL right now, with 343 runs at an average of 42.88 at a strike rate of 159.
Ben Stokes left the tournament midway through the first half and will not join them in UAE. Caribbean speedster Oshane Thomas, who was previously a part of the Royals setup in 2019, returns to replace the English all-rounder. Despite not having an impressive season with the Barbados Royals, he is a decent addition to their pace battery.
Glenn Phillips has been in great form in the shortest format and had a terrific outing with Barbados Royals, scoring 254 runs in 10 knocks. He is replacing Jofra Archer in the squad and although it isn’t a like-for-like replacement, he could turn up in the XI as the tournament progresses.
Tabraiz Shamsi was the highest wicket-taker in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, and produced a man-of-the-match performance in the second T20I yesterday, picking up 3 wickets for 20 runs. The chinaman bowler, who previously represented RCB, will replace Andrew Tye in IPL 2021.
Punjab Kings (3 replacements)
Punjab Kings have roped in Aiden Markram as a replacement for Dawid Malan
Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson, who cost the Punjab Kings INR 8 crore and INR 14 crore respectively, are out of the UAE leg, leaving a huge dent on the Punjab squad. However, the management will not be overly disappointed as both the young Aussie quicks were yet to settle in. The two replacements for these players were Nathan Ellis and Adil Rashid.
Nathan Ellis, who received his maiden international cap against Bangladesh last month, picked up 5 wickets in the two games he played. The 26-year-old looked impressive in those slow conditions, and earned a chance to don the Punjab jersey for this season. English spinner Adil Rashid brings in loads of experience and is capable of picking crucial wickets at the right time.
However, one of Punjab’s tournament-changing signings could be that of Aiden Markram, who is in to replace Dawid Malan. Yesterday, he picked up 3 wickets with the ball and remained unbeaten in the run chase for South Africa, further reaffirming his status as one of the players to watch out for in the Proteas ranks.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (1 replacement)
Jonny Bairstow, who scored 248 runs and was Sunrisers Hyderabad’s highest run-scorer in the tournament thus far, will not be traveling to UAE until the T20 World Cup. The Orange Army, in replacement, have signed a much-needed lower-order batsman in Sherfane Rutherford, who has been in top form in the CPL. He scored 227 runs at a strike rate in excess of 130, and predominantly bats at number 5 or below. He could enter the XI straight away for the Sunrisers.
Delhi Capitals (1 replacement)
The Capitals have been in resounding form this season, registering 6 wins in 8 games, on the brink of confirming their playoff spot. Chris Woakes will not continue with them in the tournament and he will be replaced by the Aussie Ben Dwarshuis. Dwarshuis was the second-highest wicket-taker in the BBL 2020-21, and picked up 15 wickets for Worcestershire in the T20 Blast.
Kolkata Knight Riders (1 replacement)
One of the most expensive cricketers in the IPL, Pat Cummins was picked up for INR 15.5 Crore last season by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Cummins has been named the Australian vice-captain for the upcoming T20 World Cup, leaving him no choice but to avoid the second phase of IPL. Kiwi pacer Tim Southee will be replacing him for the remainder of this season.