IPL 2021: Ranking all 8 teams based on their all-rounders' performances
For as long as it lasted, IPL 2021 was a largely happening season for the all-rounders of various teams. While some found it difficult to juggle between their multi-roles, others shone despite their teams' dismal campaigns.
For simplicity, we have only considered the performances of all-rounders who contributed with both bat and ball during the tournament. For instance, Pat Cummins and Kyle Jamieson have been considered as all-rounders, but not Glenn Maxwell.
Only one all-rounder made it to the top-15 run-scorers in IPL 2021. However, as many as seven of them feature in the strike rate leaderboard. In bowling, three all-rounders appear in the top-15 wicket-takers, a number that increases to seven in the 15 players with the best bowling strike rates in the tournament.
The eight teams have been ranked based on the performances of their all-rounders in terms of how they fared in various match situations. Without further ado, let's get started.
#8 IPL 2021 Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) arguably had their worst IPL campaign in the history of the tournament, and the performances of their all-rounders reflect that perfectly.
SRH boasted a plethora of all-rounders in Vijay Shankar, Jason Holder, Abhishek Sharma, Mohammad Nabi and Kedar Jadhav. However, none of them put up a single outstanding performance in the season.
Holder, who singlehandedly lifted SRH's poor campaign in 2020, was given just one chance in the playing XI this year. That was against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), where he took three crucial wickets and scored only four runs but was inexplicably not given any further game time.
Shankar and Abhishek got the most chances in IPL 2021 but largely underwhelmed. The former scored just 28 runs in five innings, consistently failing to finish off game after good starts by the top-order. He took three wickets without creating much impact, though.
Jadhav and Nabi had some opportunities in IPL 2021 before the tournament got suspended, but both of them failed to perform as well.
#7 IPL 2021 Team: Royal Challengers Bangalore
As is the case every year, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) largely put out top-heavy batting lineups in IPL 2021. But this time, they had a bevy of all-rounders and asked AB de Villiers to do the finisher's role.
Their experienced all-rounder, Dan Christian, scored only three runs from as many innings and bowled five wicketless overs in IPL 2021. Daniel Sams replaced him in the last few games and had some good returns with the ball. However, he wasn't much reliable in the lower order.
Similarly, Indian all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed notched a 'Player of the Match' performance with the ball against SRH but didn't contribute enough as a batsman, despite getting opportunities in the top order.
Harshal Patel was the Purple Cap holder and showed his batting prowess against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), scoring a 13-ball 31. However, that came in a losing cause when the game was already done and dusted.
Jamieson was the only other all-rounder to make small but consistent contributions at no. 8. His tally of 59 runs with a strike rate of over 143, coupled with nine wickets, was the only performance by an RCB all-rounder in IPL 2021.
#6 IPL 2021 Team: Rajasthan Royals
Chris Morris's stunning show with both and ball in IPL 2021 masked the failure of the other Rajasthan Royals (RR) other all-rounders. The South African ended the first half of the tournament as the third-highest wicket-taker, taking 14 wickets at an average of 16. Two of RR's three wins in IPL 2021 came on the back of Morris' performances.
Against the Delhi Capitals (DC), Morris scored a rollicking 18-ball 36 to take his team home in a tricky chase. Against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), he picked up four wickets, including Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins, to restrict the two-time champions to a below-par score.
On the contrary, Rahul Tewatia looked a pale shadow of himself, collecting just 86 runs and two wickets in seven matches. Shivam Dube, too, attracted criticism for his sluggish knocks that failed to build on the momentum provided by the top order. He went for 31 runs in three wicketless overs in IPL 2021.
#5 IPL 2021 Team: Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings' young all-rounders were a treat to watch in IPL 2021. Deepak Hooda produced some stunning knocks with the bat and was a frugal option with the ball for KL Rahul during the first half of the campaign.
Jhye Richardson and Fabian Allen made decent contributions. Chris Jordan picked up two wickets in three matches and scored a scintillating cameo of 30 runs against KKR that gave PBKS a fighting chance.
However, the best of the all-rounders' performances came from Harpreet Brar. The left-arm off-spinner from Punjab took the wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell in his first IPL 2021 game. He picked up four wickets in two matches and chipped in with 29 crucial runs in the lower order too.
#4 IPL 2021 Team: Delhi Capitals
One of the finds in the first half of IPL 2021 was DC all-rounder Lalit Yadav. In three innings, Yadav scored 54 runs, including a match-saving 22 not out against the Mumbai Indians (MI). He also picked up three wickets at an average and economy rate of 22 and 6, respectively.
He was well supported by Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis. Stoinis scored 71 runs in six innings despite not getting many opportunities to bat. But he made sure he finished the game for his team whenever he got the chance to do so.
Stoinis also picked up two wickets in ten overs in IPL 2021. One of these scalps was that of Quinton de Kock against MI in the powerplay overs, which tilted the balance of the game in his team's favour.
Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin were the other DC all-rounders during the first half of IPL 2021. Thanks to the form of their top and middle orders, the duo didn't get too many chances with the bat. However, they played their roles with the ball to perfection.
#3 IPL 2021 Team: Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR's disastrous IPL 2021 campaign featured a bag of mixed performances from their all-rounders.
While Andre Russell was at his big-hitting best, scoring 163 runs at a strike rate of 155.24, the Jamaican also recorded the edition's best bowling figures - 5/15 - against MI. He added two more to this tally before the tournament got indefinitely postponed while averaging an impressive 14.86.
Sunil Narine, though, underperformed, scoring only ten runs and picking up three wickets in four games. However, the emergence of Pat Cummins as an all-rounder in IPL 2021 was a huge positive for KKR. The Australian's unbeaten 66 against CSK was one of the best knocks of the tournament. He also fared better with the ball than he did last year, taking nine wickets in seven games.
#2 IPL 2021 Team: Mumbai Indians
With Hardik Pandya playing as a specialist batsman, MI's team balance looked iffy at the start of IPL 2021. However, Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard had decent outings with both bat and ball.
Pollard's scarcely believable innings of 86* against MS Dhoni's team stamped his pedigree as one of the best all-rounders to have ever played the IPL. In seven games during the season, Pollard scored 168 runs at an average of 56, doing so at a strike rate of 171.43. The West Indian T20 captain also picked up three wickets in seven overs, two of them coming in the match against CSK.
Meanwhile, Krunal Pandya looked a little clueless with the ball in IPL 2021, even on the spin-friendly tracks in Chennai, but made up for that with his batting exploits. The left-hander scored 100 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 131.58.
All-rounder Jayant Yadav also chipped in with a wicket and 29 runs during the season.
#1 IPL 2021 Team: Chennai Super Kings
No team could match the performances of CSK's all-rounders in IPL 2021. Ravindra Jadeja, who is arguably the world's best all-rounder at the moment, collected 131 runs and six wickets in seven games in IPL 2021. He struck at an average of 161.73 with the bat and took a wicket every 24 balls.
In CSK's match against RCB, Jadeja had an all-round outing. He notched 62* in the first innings, scoring 36 runs in a record-equalling 37-run Harshal Patel over. While bowling, he picked up three wickets, including De Villiers and Maxwell and also effected a brilliant run out to cap a stunning all-round performance.
Jadeja's all-round show overshadowed Sam Curran's brilliance for CSK. After the first half of the tournament, Curran (208) sits at the top of the batting strike rate charts. He was also the sixth-highest wicket taker in the season, registering nine dismissals at an average of 24.11.
Meanwhile, veteran all-rounder DJ Bravo picked up three wickets and scored 20 runs in four IPL 2021 games.