IPL STARTS UNDER COVID CLOUD
MoRe england players than ever before will feature in this year’s Indian Premier League, which begins in Chennai today despite Covid chaos as champions Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore. There are 14 england players signed up across the eight franchises, although last year’s MVP Jofra Archer must overcome an elbow injury before travelling next week. The tournament is facing several headaches, including the withdrawals of Mitchell Marsh, Josh Philippe and Josh hazlewood, reportedly to avoid the stresses of bubble life. India is also about to overtake Brazil as the country with the second-most Covid cases. Several players, including england tormentor Axar Patel, have already tested positive for the virus. This has raised fears that the tournament will follow the Pakistan Super League, which was suspended as infection rates rose.
It begins without fans and will tour six venues, with the opening 16 days joint-hosted by Chennai and Mumbai. This is the first year in which the eCB have allowed carte blanche participation, meaning those who make the latter stages will miss the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 2. The decision was made prior to the finalisation of Test plans, yet it may not have mattered given the Twenty20
World Cup is being played in India in six months’ time. Kolkata Knight Riders can rely on england captain eoin Morgan’s expertise as they seek to win a third title and break the dominance of Mumbai, who have won five of the last eight editions. Rajasthan Royals finished bottom last term but boast Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and, hopefully, Archer. Stokes replaced Buttler as opener in 2020 to rare Royals success, coinciding with a career-best unbeaten 107. An extension of such form could influence england to bat Stokes ahead of Dawid Malan at three later this year amid concerns he is wasted further down the order. Malan may struggle for regular game time at Punjab Kings despite his excellent T20 record, with West Indies duo Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran rivals for overseas batting berths.