CHENNAI: When the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was halted abruptly in May with India reeling under a deluge of Covid-19 cases, you couldn’t have been blamed for assuming that this was it for this season. With the cricket calendar tightly packed and the threat of another wave of Covid always a possibility, the T20 extravaganza seemed certain to be a casualty this year.
But here we are, hours away from resumption of the IPL amid much fanfare once again. The fact that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has managed to squeeze in the remaining 30 matches (26 league matches and playoffs) into a packed calendar is another illustration of the sway that it holds as well as the importance of the IPL in the cricketing order.
The resumption, which sees the tournament return to United Arab Emirates (UAE) after it was successfully held there last year, will begin with the league's two marquee teams – Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings – facing each other in Dubai. With many teams having had to rejig their squads and settle for lesser players because of Covid-related compulsions, there are doubts whether the second half of the tournament will be up to its usual standards. MI and CSK — placed at fourth and second respectively in the points table — have a chance to put those doubts to rest with a high-profile restart.
Considered the IPL’s version of the Clasico, the two teams have offered some engrossing contests over the years. Even accounting for the fact that T20 matches hardly register in one’s mind, Kieron Pollard’s breathtaking, unbeaten 87 to help Mumbai Indians gun down 219 against the men in yellow before the suspension will be hard to forget anytime soon. Mumbai had stuttered to 81/3 at the halfway mark, but the bulky West Indian’s pyrotechnics helped his side script a remarkable turnaround and pull off the second-highest run chase in the IPL.
That came on a flat surface at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, a ground that can be a graveyard for the bowlers given the small boundary dimensions. In Dubai on Sunday, the surface will be expected to be a little more sluggish and should keep the bowlers interested all the way through.
The pitches in the UAE will see a lot of high-intensity cricket over the next two months with the IPL closely followed by the T20 World Cup. As the matches pile up at the three venues in the UAE — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah — the surfaces will be subject to wear and tear and make run-scoring more and more difficult. It is an aspect that the players will have to soon get accustomed to, especially those who will be donning their national kits at the T20 World Cup.
Amid the many interesting subplots that MI and CSK have in store for us, the chance to witness MS Dhoni in action has acquired fresh impetus owing to recent developments. At the T20 World Cup in October, after all, Dhoni will once again be part of the Indian dressing room in the capacity of a mentor. Now 40, his move to take up a behind-the-scenes role hints at a strong possibility of this IPL season being his last as a player.
While his glove work remains up to scratch, his batting has understandably waned with the lack of playing time. In the first half of the IPL in India, he batted in only four of the seven innings and was often willing to bat as low as No 7. With the conditions in the UAE being on the slower side and the grounds in Dubai and Abu Dhabi having sizeable boundaries, it might be even harder for Dhoni to have any substantial impact with the willow. But if he can do his job as captain and take CSK all the way to the title — as he has so often done — it will be a riveting finale to a season that looked unlikely to reach its conclusion at one stage.