Last Updated on 9 months ago by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: 5 Replacement Players to watch out for in IPL 2021 | 5 replacement players to watch out for in phase 2 of IPL in UAE
The joy of masses across the globe returns as the second leg of the most luxurious and competitive T20 league. The Indian Premier League (IPL), is going to resume from 19th of this month, with the two giants Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings facing off in Dubai.
Ahead of the resumption of the second leg, some teams tweaked their squads a bit owing to the unavailability of some of their players. Some replacements sound very relevant and interesting considering the overall combination of various sides. In this article, I am going to mention five replacements who might play significant roles for their respective teams. Here we go.
5. Tabraiz Shamsi (Rajasthan Royals)
Shamsi has replaced Andrew Tye in the RR squad and his inclusion is really significant considering two factors. The first is the ineffective performance of the RR spinners in the recent past. The second is Shamsi’s current form in the shortest format of the game.
Let’s see these factors statistically. The table below describes the dismal performances of the two RR spinners since IPL 2020.
| NAME | WKTS | AVG | SR | ECO |
| Shreyas Gopal | 10 | 50.2 | 33.6 | 8.96 |
| Rahul Tewatia | 12 | 43.41 | 33 | 7.89 |
On the other hand, Shamsi’s rise as a T20 spinner has been quite phenomenal as suggested by the following table.
Shamsi in T20Is in 2021:
| Matches | Wickets | AVG | SR | ECO |
| 16 | 28 | 11.89 | 13.07 | 5.45 |
These exceptional numbers indicate that Shamsi has been fabulous since the start of 2021 and therefore is surely expected to play as the leader of RR’s spin attack.
4. Tim David (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Known for his hard-hitting abilities, Tim David has replaced Finn Allen in the RCB squad. It can prove to be a vital selection considering the lack of effective finishers apart from AB de Villiers in the RCB squad.
RCB are over-reliant on AB as far as finishing job is concerned. David is expected to ease the pressure off the South African legend in the death overs. Talking about his current form, Tim David scored 279 runs in the latest edition of the Big Bash League at a very healthy SR of 153.30. Further, in the Royal London ODI Cup, David smashed 340 runs in eight innings at a superb average of 68 and a magnificent strike rate of 150.44 (second best in the tournament) playing for Surrey.
These facts certainly indicate his outstanding current form with the bat and therefore he will be one of the replacements to watch out for in the IPL.
3. Evin Lewis (Rajasthan Royals)
Evin Lewis has been signed by the Rajasthan Royals as Jos Buttler’s replacement. The swashbuckling West Indian has been in great touch in T20s for quite some time now. In his last six T20I series, Lewis has smashed 565 runs at a healthy average of 35.31 and a superb strike rate of 165.20.
In the CPL, Lewis scored the second-most runs, smashing 426 runs at an average of 47.33 and a SR of 163.21. He has been able to make a comeback to the IPL on the basis of these impressive performances and I certainly expect him to carry his golden run playing for RR in the tournament.
2. Adil Rashid (Punjab Kings)
After waiting for so long, the experienced English spinner Adil Rashid has finally won a much deserved IPL contract to his name. We all have seen how good he is in the shortest format and the numbers show it.
In 62 T20Is, Rashid has picked 65 wickets at an economy of under 7.5. In his overall T20 career, Rashid has picked 220 wickets in 194 games at an economy of 7.43, which is admirable. He is a really good turner of the ball and has all the variations in his armory.
Although Ravi Bishnoi is doing decently for PBKS, they might get tempted to go with a genuine wicket-taker like Rashid especially on the bigger ground of Dubai where they are scheduled to play three out of their six remaining games. Further, the tracks of UAE will start to slow down with the progression of the tournament and having an experienced spinner like Rashid could prove to be a boon for PBKS on those tracks.
1. Wanindu Hasaranga (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
The Sri Lankan sensation Hasaranga was roped in by RCB as Adam Zampa’s replacement. In my opinion, this is the best replacement of this season as Hasaranga can be a solution to two different problems of RCB due to his all-round abilities.
He is currently the second ranked T20I bowler in the ICC rankings and can contribute some handy runs with the bat as well. Statistically, Hasaranga has picked 36 wickets in 23 T20Is at a splendid economy of 6.47. Although his batting stats in T20s are ordinary, he has scored some useful runs for Sri Lanka coming down the order in the ODI format on several occasions which proves that he can bat quite well.
Therefore, including him in the XI will definitely provide solidity to RCB’s lower order. Looking at his exceptional abilities with the ball, I won’t be surprised if he wins a few games on his own for RCB this time.
Apart from these five names, the dynamic Sherfane Rutherford is someone who can prove to be a good replacement for SRH, considering the lack of fire power in their middle order. Glenn Philips, who was picked as a replacement of Jofra Archer by RR, is also a good name to watch out for in the tournament because of his adaptability to any given role in the batting line up.
This is my list of the replacements to watch out for in the second leg of IPL 2021. Have your say!
Written by Debashish Sarangi. Follow Debashish on Twitter today
