IPL 2021: Wisden’s league stage XI from the UAE leg

This XI follows the rules of IPL, with only four overseas players alongside seven Indian players. A number of youngsters impressed on the slow, low pitches of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, with Venkatesh Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Umran Malik, among others, emerging with eye-catching performances.

None of them, however, make it to this XI. (Stats from the UAE leg)

KL Rahul (wk)

6 innings, 295 runs @ 59.0, 2 fifties, HS: 98, SR: 141.8

KL Rahul continues to be consistently good in the IPL, with his last four seasons fetching a whopping 2,548 runs (and 25 fifty-plus scores). In the UAE, Rahul looked as fluent as ever, ending the campaign with an unbeaten 42-ball 98-run blitz that was littered with an array of spectacular strokes. Unsurprisingly, he stands at the top of the season’s run charts.

Faf du Plessis

7 innings, 227 runs @ 32.4, 1 fifty, HS: 50, SR: 128.2

Considering the way he’s batting, you’d really wonder why du Plessis is not in South Africa’s World Cup plans. Du Plessis rarely failed, stitching together a string of good scores at the top for CSK. He finished the league stage with a feisty 76 against Punjab, on a day when none of his teammates managed more than 15, and is currently only behind KL Rahul in the runs list.

Ruturaj Gaikwad

7 innings, 337 runs @ 67.4, 1 hundred, 1 fifty, HS: 101, SR: 142.2

After a rickety start to his IPL career, Gaikwad showed just why he’s such a highly-rated commodity among young Indian batters, making the most of the slow UAE conditions to rack up big scores. Filled with purposeful intent in the powerplay, when he regularly goes over the infield, he rounded off a series of good starts with a rollicking, unbeaten century against Rajasthan, the only ton from the UAE leg.

Rahul Tripathi

6 innings, 190 runs @ 38.00, 1 fifty, HS: 78*, SR: 150.8

Tripathi’s contributions in KKR’s route to the playoffs isn’t spoken of enough, but the versatile batter has proven to be a vital component of the middle order, especially with Eoin Morgan woefully out of form. In his first innings in the UAE leg, he compiled a stroke-filled 42-ball 74*, following it up with key scores of 45 and 34. He leads the run-charts for KKR this season.

Glenn Maxwell

7 innings, 275 runs @ 55.00, 4 fifties, HS: 57, SR: 149.5

The other hero of RCB’s last-ball triumph on Friday, Maxwell has been a completely different player this season, oozing with the boldness and fluidity that was conspicuously lacking from his earlier IPL returns. Maxwell crossed 40 in each of the last five league stage games (including four fifties) and is comfortably leading the run-charts for his franchise. Among overseas players, he has also hit the most sixes this season (27).

Jason Holder

7 innings, 13 wickets @ 16.7, ER: 7.80, BBI: 4-52 | 6 innings, 67 runs @ 16.2, SR: 120.9, HS: 47

Holder comes in more for his bowling than batting, picking up wickets in clusters in the UAE leg, although he did have one innings of note, blasting a 29-ball 47 in Sharjah amid an SRH batting collapse. In the same game, he picked up a nifty three-wicket haul and continued to be among the wickets for the side, ending with a four-wicket haul in the final game, a run-fest. Not for nothing did Brian Lara say that SRH should build their team around Holder next year.

Axar Patel

6 innings, 9 wickets @ 15.4, ER: 15.3, BBI: 3-21

Axar didn’t have a great outing with the bat but was consistently good in the league stage on UAE pitches, prising out wickets in the middle overs while keeping a tab on the run-rate. Barring the last game, Axar didn’t concede more than 27 in any game, and picked up a crucial three-wicket haul against Mumbai, ending with nine wickets in the UAE leg.

Harshal Patel

7 innings, 13 wickets @ 14.1, ER: 7.52, BBI: 4-17

The uncapped seamer, enjoying his dream run in the IPL, continued his good work from India into the UAE leg. Usually called on in the middle overs to continue into the death, Harshal was right on the money at crucial junctures, sending down near-perfect yorkers while mixing them up well with swift bouncers. Entering the playoffs, Harshal’s only two short of Dwayne Bravo’s 2013 record of 32 wickets in one season.

Lockie Ferguson

5 innings, 10 wickets @ 11.2, ER: 6.22, BBI: 3-18

Ferguson did not get a game in the India leg, but by the time the action shifted to UAE, Ferguson had become the central figure of KKR’s fast-bowling attack, picking up at least a wicket in each of the games. Regularly operating in excess of 150kph, Ferguson combined well with their strong spin attack, ending with an impressive economy of 6.22

Yuzvendra Chahal

7 innings, 12 wickets @ 14, ER: 6.46, BBI: 3-11

Chahal and Varun Chakravarthy have comparable figures in IPL 2021 so far, but Chahal was in particularly good touch on UAE pitches, using the slow pitches to set batters up beautifully. Having been overlooked in the initial T20 World Cup squad, Chahal showed exactly what India might be missing, picking up at least one wicket in every game (he took two three-fors), giving away more than 30 runs only once.

Arshdeep Singh

6 innings, 11 wickets @ 17.5, ER: 8.35, BBI: 5-32

While there was good competition from Avesh Khan for the same spot in this XI, Arshdeep makes it to the list as an incisive left-arm quick, a cricketer who is proving to be as skilful as he is smart. He started the UAE leg with a bang, picking up a five-for, and proceeded to take another three-wicket haul, conceding more than 40 runs only once in six games.