The2021 Indian Premier League (also known asIPL 14, or for sponsorship reasons,VIVOIPL 2021) was the fourteenth season of theIndian Premier League (IPL), a professionalTwenty20 cricket league established by theBoard of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007.

Mumbai Indians were the two-time defending champions. Ahead of the tournament, Kings XI Punjab were renamed as thePunjab Kings. In March 2021, the BCCI announced the fixtures for the tournament. The tournament started on 9 April. However, on 4 May, the tournament was suspended indefinitely, after a rise inCOVID-19 cases within thebio bubbles of some 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 theUnited Arab Emirates in September and October 2021. The schedule for the remainder of the tournament was released in July 2021.

Inthe final,Chennai Super Kings beatKolkata Knight Riders to win their fourth IPL title.Ruturaj Gaikwad scored the most runs in the tournament, whileHarshal Patel took the most wickets and also won theMost Valuable Player award.

Mumbai Indians were the two-time defending champions, having won both the2019 and the2020 seasons.^[1][2] Although early reports suggested the addition of two more teams in the season,^[3][4] theBoard of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced in their 89thAGM that the inclusion of two new teams would be delayed until the2022 season.^[5][6] The Kings XI Punjab were renamed toPunjab Kings ahead of the tournament.^[7]

On 30 January 2021, the BCCI announced that they expected to host the tournament in India,^[8] and that theUAE, which had hosted the previous season due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, was not being considered as a backup venue.^[9] On the day of theauction, the BCCI also confirmed thatVivo had returned as the title sponsor, after it had pulled out of the previous tournament.^[10] As of late February, the BCCI was considering hosting the tournament in a few shortlisted cities:Kolkata,Delhi,Bangalore,Ahmedabad andChennai, withMumbai as an additional option.^[11][12]

On 7 March 2021, the BCCI announced the full schedule for the season.^[13] Six venues, including all the five shortlisted venues and the additional option, Mumbai, were scheduled to host matches. To avoid home advantage, no team was scheduled to play at their home venue.^[14] The season was scheduled to start from 9 April, with the final taking place on 30 May at theNarendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.^[15] The BCCI also confirmed that the tournament would beginbehind closed doors, and a call on letting spectators in would be taken at a later stage.^[16][17] After the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases in India,Hyderabad was also added as a backup venue, though no matches were played there.^[18]

The released players were announced on 20 January 2021.Steve Smith,Aaron Finch andGlenn Maxwell were the prominent names among the released players.Piyush Chawla, the costliest Indian player at the2020 auction, was also released.^[19]

The players' auction was held on 18 February 2021 inChennai.^[20][21]Chris Morris was the most expensive player, purchased by theRajasthan Royals for₹16.25crore (US$1.9 million).^[22] The most expensive Indian player sold wasKrishnappa Gowtham, who was purchased by theChennai Super Kings for₹9.25 crore (US$1.1 million).^[23]

Due to the worseningCOVID-19 situation in India, several players, includingLiam Livingstone andAdam Zampa, withdrew from the tournament.^[24][25] After the Chennai leg of the tournament,Ravichandran Ashwin left theDelhi Capitalsbio-bubble to "support [his] family" during the pandemic.^[26] On 3 May 2021, the scheduled match betweenKolkata Knight Riders andRoyal Challengers Bangalore was postponed after two Kolkata players tested positive forCOVID-19.^[27] On the same day, three members of the Chennai Super Kings camp – including their bowling coachLakshmipathy Balaji and CEO Kasi Viswanathan, tested positive.^[28] Later, the entire Delhi Capitals team was put into quarantine.^[29]Mumbai Indians andSunrisers Hyderabad skipped their practice sessions ahead of their match on 4 May.^[30] As a result, the BCCI looked at hosting the remaining fixtures of the tournament inMumbai.^[31]

However, on 4 May 2021, the Chennai Super Kings versusRajasthan Royals match, scheduled for the following day, was also postponed due to the Chennai players being in quarantine.^[32] Later the same day, Hyderabad'sWriddhiman Saha and Delhi'sAmit Mishra tested positive for the virus.^[33][34] On 4 May, the season was suspended indefinitely.^[35] On 5 May 2021,Michael Hussey, the batting coach of Chennai, became the first overseas individual to test positive.^[36]Tim Seifert andPrasidh Krishna of Kolkata tested positive as well.^[37][38]

On 6 May 2021, a group ofEnglish counties made an offer to host the remaining matches of the tournament in England in September 2021.^[39] ButSourav Ganguly, the president of the BCCI, ruled out the possibility of the tournament being completed in England or India, citing difficulties around quarantine rules.^[40] The BCCI were looking to play the remaining matches in September and October 2021,^[41][42] a plan that was confirmed on 25 July.^[43] It was then announced that the remainder of the tournament would take place in the UAE.^[44] The second half started on 19 September, with the final to be held on 15 October in Dubai.^[45] After the relocation to the UAE, the organisers were looking to allow at least 50% capacity of vaccinated audience in the stadium, if permitted by the local government.^[46] Four days before the restart, spectators who followed COVID-19 protocols were allowed in.^[47]

Matches during the first stage of the competition were played inDelhi,Ahmedabad,Mumbai andChennai.^[48]Eden Gardens in Kolkata and theM. Chinnaswamy Stadium inBangalore were also scheduled to host matches, but these were relocated.^[49]

India
Delhi	Ahmedabad	Mumbai	Chennai
Arun Jaitley Stadium	Narendra Modi Stadium	Wankhede Stadium	M. A. Chidambaram Stadium
Capacity: 41,000	Capacity: 132,000	Capacity: 33,000	Capacity: 39,000
Mumbai Delhi Chennai Ahmedabad

After the tournament was shifted to the UAE, matches were held inDubai,Sharjah, andAbu Dhabi.^[50]

United Arab Emirates
Dubai	Sharjah	Abu Dhabi
Dubai International Cricket Stadium	Sharjah Cricket Stadium	Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium
Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 16,000	Capacity: 20,000
Dubai Sharjah Abu Dhabi

Each team received two points for a victory, one each for a no-result match, and none for a loss.^[51] The teams were ranked based on the number of points. If it was equal, thenet run rate would determine the rankings.^[51]

The schedule for the league stages was published on the official IPL website on 7 March,^[52] and the schedule of the postponed matches to be held in the UAE was released on 25 July.^[43] The final two games of the league stage were played concurrently for the first time in the IPL history, as decided in the IPL Governing Council meeting on 28 September.^[53][54] The league follows the doubleround-robin format, where every team plays each other twice, and the top four teams advance to the playoffs.^[55] There were nohome andaway games, and no team played at theirhome ground.^[55] Rules and regulations dictated by theInternational Cricket Council were followed.^[56] If both teams score the same number of runs, asuper over would follow.^[56]

The top-four teams qualified for the playoffs. The first two teams would play each other in the first qualifier, where the winner would progress to the final, while the loser would play in the second qualifier. The eliminator was played between the third and fourth teams. While the loser was knocked off, the winner would advance to the second qualifier. The winner of this match would qualify as the second finalist.^[74] The IPL 2021 playoffs started on 10 October 2021, and the final was played on 15 October.^[75]

Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to bowl.Chennai Super Kings scored 192 runs in 20 overs, losing 3 wickets.Faf du Plessis became the highest scorer with 86 runs, whileRuturaj Gaikwad andMoeen Ali complimented with substantial scores. For the fielding team,Sunil Narine took 2 wickets. In the second innings, Kolkata started well afterVenkatesh Iyer made a fifty. But they soon lost many wickets, withShardul Thakur taking 3 of them. Chennai went on to win the match by 27 runs.^[76]

Players aregiven several awards with a trophy and prize money at the end of each season.^[77] TheMost Valuable Player award is given to the player who accumulates the most points, depending upon their overall performance like the number of fours, sixes and wickets.^[78] TheOrange Cap is given to the player who scored the most runs, while thePurple Cap is presented to the one with most wickets.^[79] TheEmerging Player award is given to a young player with the most promising performance, who meets the given guidelines.^[80]Fairplay award is given to the team which played most in accordance with the rules, being fair, and upholding the spirit of the game.^[81] The player who changed the game for their teams gets theGamechanger award,^[82] and the one with the higheststrike rate is presented with theSuper Striker award.^[83] The player hitting the mostsixes gets an award,^[84] along with the one who performs the best in thepowerplay.^[85] ThePerfect Catch of the Season award is given to the player who took the best catch in the season.^[86]Ravi Bishnoi of the Punjab Kings won the award for his catch taken against Kolkata Knight Riders inmatch 21 to dismissSunil Narine, where he took a diving catch atdeep mid-wicket.^[87][88]

• Source:^[89]
•   Orange Cap

• Source:^[90]
•   Purple Cap

• Source:^[91]

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