The 2021 Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 14 or, for sponsorship reasons, Vivo IPL 2021, is the fourteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007.
Mumbai Indians are the two times defending champions, having won both the 2019 and the 2020 seasons. Ahead of the tournament, Kings XI Punjab was renamed the Punjab Kings.
On 4 May 2021, the tournament was suspended indefinitely, after a rise in COVID-19 cases within the bio bubbles of respective teams. At the time of the suspension, 31 of the scheduled 60 matches were still left to be played.
On 29 May 2021, the BCCI announced that the remaining matches of the tournament would be played in the United Arab Emirates in September and October 2021. The schedule for the remainder of the tournament was released on 25 July 2021
COVID-19 Impact
Due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in India, several players withdrew from the tournament. After the Chennai leg of the tournament, Ravichandran Ashwin left the Delhi Capitals bubble to "support [his] family" during the pandemic. On 3 May 2021, the scheduled match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers
Bangalore was postponed after two Kolkata players tested positive for COVID-19. On the same day, three members of the Chennai Super Kings camp – including their bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji and CEO Kasi Viswanathan tested positive. Later the same day, all of the Delhi Capitals team went into quarantine.
Similarly, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad skipped their practice sessions ahead of their match on 4 May. As a result, the BCCI looked at hosting the remaining fixtures of the tournament in Mumbai.
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However, on 4 May 2021, the Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals match, scheduled for 5 May 2021, was also postponed due to Chennai players being in quarantine. Later the same day, Hyderabad's Wriddhiman Saha and Delhi's Amit Mishra tested positive for COVID-19.
On 4 May, the season was suspended indefinitely. On 5 May 2021, Michael Hussey, batting coach of Chennai, became the first overseas individual to test positive. Later, Tim Seifert and Prasidh Krishna of the Knight Riders tested positive.
On 6 May 2021, a group of English counties made an offer to host the remaining matches of the tournament in England in September 2021. On 9 May 2021, Sourav Ganguly, president of the BCCI, ruled out the possibility of the tournament being completed in England or India, citing the difficulties around quarantine.
The BCCI was looking to play the remaining matches in September and October 2021, a plan that was confirmed on 25 July 2021.
The last two matches of the ongoing IPL 2021 league phase will be played concurrently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Tuesday. This is the first time that the last day of the group phase in IPL will have matches being played concurrently.
According to the earlier schedule, SunRisers Hyderabad was to face Mumbai Indians in a day game at 3:30 PM IST while the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals match was scheduled to be played at 7:30 PM IST. Both matches will now be played in the evening at 7:30 PM IST.
"In a first for the IPL, the last two league matches before the VIVO IPL 2021 Playoffs will be played concurrently," the BCCI said in a media release.
On the last day of the league stage (08.10.2021) of the ongoing season, instead of having one afternoon match and one evening match, two matches (SRH v MI and RCB v DC) will be played simultaneously at 7.30 PM IST (6.00 PM GST)," the statement further read.
The tournament is at a crucial stage right now as none of the teams have made their place secure in the playoffs. Delhi Capitals had a chance to become the first team to enter the play-offs on Tuesday, but their loss to Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah means Rishabh Pant's team will have to wait longer.
MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings could secure their play-offs berth if they beat bottom-placed SunRisers Hyderabad in their next outing.
Who Is The King Of IPL?
There are several cricketers who have shown remarkable performances during IPL. We may bring to mind M.S Dhoni, David Warner, and Suresh Raina to our minds when we think of ace players in IPL.
However, each of these players cannot be called the king as there is just one king to any territory. So, who is the king of the IPL? The undisputed player who is IPL King is surely Virat Kohli. Read along to find out how Virat Kohli has marked his royal position in IPL history as a player who is the king of the IPL.
The Undisputed Winner Team in IPL History
The winner always stands out from the rest. When we ask who is the king of the ipl team, the names of certain teams come first in our minds. In the history of IPL, Mumbai Indians have acquired the winning position as a team by securing 5 wins in the years 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
The Mumbai Indians team defied its pattern of winning in odd years by grabbing the trophy in 2020. Sunrisers Hyderabad bagged the trophy in 2016 and Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings bagged the trophy in 2018.
Mumbai Indians still achieve the position of an undisputed winning team over the years. When you have to decide a team, who is the king of ipl, Mumbai Indians is the name that comes first.
Individual Player Performances
Just like there is a team that has been the champion in IPL history, there are also certain players who have left their marks. These are players who have shown remarkable performances during their IPL careers.
The names of these players pop up when we ask who is the king of IPL players. One of the most loved captains in Indian IPL history is M.S. Dhoni. However, it is not right to call him the king of IPL.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of Mumbai Indians, can be called the king performer. It is under his captaincy that the Mumbai Indians team has achieved the winning position 5 times in IPL.
There were even considerations being made to replace Virat Kohli with Rohit Sharma in international cricket. However, the BCCI did not approve of this split captaincy scheme.
A Glimpse into the Performance of Top Players
It is important to know all about the performance history of the top performers before you decide who is the king of IPL. Here we have shared the information for you to evaluate:
M.S Dhoni
Runs Scored in IPL: 4669
IPL Titles as Captain: 3
IPL Titles as Player: 0
Orange Caps: 0
Rohit Sharma
Runs Scored in IPL: 5480
IPL Titles as Captain: 5
IPL Titles as Player: 1
Orange Caps: 0
Suresh Raina
Runs Scored in IPL: 5491
IPL Titles as Captain: 0
IPL Titles as Player: 3
Orange Caps: 0
Virat Kohli
Runs Scored in IPL: 6076
IPL Titles as Captain: 0
IPL Titles as Player: 0
Orange Caps: 1
It is evident that Virat Kohli remains the undisputed king of IPL when anyone asks who is the ipl king. He is the first batsman to score 600 runs in IPL.
The team only played the finals once under his captaincy but never won. Virat is the current cricket captain of India and the best batsman in the world.
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