OPINION
Follow UsFor the first time in the 14-year history of the Indian Premier League, the tournament had to be postponed mid-way with only 29 matches being played. The tournament faced roadblocks due to the impact of the second wave of Coronavirus crisis in India, which breached the bubble, and left the situation in dire straits. Now that no one is quite sure of the rescheduling and how the remainder of the season would look like, we, at Cricket.com, take a look at the five best, or rather most impactful, overseas performers who took the stage by storm and left us asking for more.
Faf du Plessis
Despite the consistency that the Saffer has shown in the IPL over the years, it is easy to look beyond him and position Moeen Ali as the most impactful player for Chennai Super Kings this season. Partially that is true, for Moeen’s free-flowing approach was the reason behind CSK flourishing at the batting paradise of Mumbai, but Faf’s reinvention as a complete T20 batsman this season is a story that needs to be told over and over again and put into context for it was the fulcrum on which CSK chanted their success Mantra.
Till last year, Faf and Shane Watson formed a mirror image batting pair - whose inability to get off the blocks in the powerplay - pushed CSK backward often. However, in the IPL 2021, the former Proteas skipper had a powerplay strike rate of 148.5 with a boundary percentage of 67.9%. With a minimum of 50 runs in the first six overs this season, only Prithvi Shaw had a better strike rate.
Not only in terms of impact, but du Plessis was also head and shoulder above all batsmen in the entire tournament, piling up 320 runs from seven innings, including four 50+ plus scores. The next best in the team - Moeen Ali - had 114 runs less than him, albeit with a slightly better strike rate. For all the early calls about Faf being benched to accommodate a more free-flowing batsman, the Pretoria batsman made everyone eat their pies and then had ripe mangoes for his own meal.
AB de Villiers
Try imagining an RCB win without an AB de Villiers hand in it? The ageless warrior proved it yet again, with some of the most impactful performances which played a big role in everything coming together for the Virat Kohli-led franchise in IPL 2021. His 48 off 27 against Mumbai Indians was as effortless as his 75 not out off 42 balls against Delhi Capitals or unbeaten 76 off 34 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders. Such was his consistency and class!
With Glenn Maxwell being provided with the responsibility of batting at No.4 - which he did with elan - de Villiers had been sent to counter the spin in the middle overs as well as dismantling the pace at death and boy, did he do that with some swag!
Between overs 16 and 20, he scored 146 runs at a strike rate of 243.3 with a boundary percentage of 72.6%. With Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal taking care of the powerplay and Maxwell delivering in the middle-overs, things finally seemed to be on track for the Bangalore-based franchise. That alone justifies the importance of Abraham Benjamin de Villiers for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Kieron Pollard
Much like Chris Gayle and AB de Villers, the history of T20 cricket will remember Kieron Pollard fondly for the way he dominated the format. Mumbai Indians, four years after using the RTM on a person who was called a spent force back then, have been reaping the benefits of his magnetic charisma. Chennai Super Kings were battered, bruised, and were left to rue their own luck when Pollard showed up with his devastating avatar. Picked up two wickets for 12 runs in a game 437 runs were scored with the most prolific 34-ball carnage you’ll ever see to go with that. It was a game that celebrated the Peak Pollard in all its might.
That game alone would tell you why Pollard was one of the best performers this season but then again, there was the Sunrisers performance too. Coming in at a time the side needed him to put the accelerator early, he did just that to milk 35 runs off 22 balls on the tricky track of Chepauk. There was no stopping for the man from Trinidad and one would be left wanting more. A sheer powerful T20 dynamite.
Jonny Bairstow
In the season of gloom and despondency for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Jonny Bairstow held the fort as the biggest anomaly, with consistent performances in almost every game. Playing on the difficult tracks of Chennai, he was closest to what ABD and Maxwell did for RCB but without support from the other end, scoring 248 runs at an average of 41.33 and an SR a tad over 141.
He was the lone batsman standing against Kolkata Knight Riders and following his dismissal, the team lost track of their business. Against Punjab Kings, his 63* helped the side secure their only win in the league this season while he was in his elements against Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals subsequently. Third-highest run-scorer among the overseas professionals this season, Bairstow has surely made himself indisposable ahead of the mega-auction next year, and his absence, as indicated by ECB, for the rescheduled tournament will be a massive loss for the Hyderabad-based franchise.
Chris Morris
When Chris Morris was offered 16.5 Crore, the discourse was not about his quality rather it flew between the money earned and money wasted. Few South African journalists listed out how Morris’ windfall was a slap on the face for normal South African people who struggle for basic things in their lives. On the IPL landscape though, it hardly mattered and for Morris, it was an opportunity to prove his worth.
With 14 wickets from seven games, not only did he emerge as the second-highest wicket-taker of the season, his SR of 11.1 was the third-highest for a bowler with a minimum of two wickets. His four-wicket burst against the Knight Riders broke their back while he ran through the Sunrisers middle-order to give the side a cutting edge in the tournament.
Batting wise, he didn’t really have a telling impact but try selling that to a Delhi Capitals fan. His unbeaten 18-ball 36 laden with four sixes landed the Royals an unbelievable victory from the jaws of defeat and his subsequent statement summed that up beautifully. “There are guys who get paid to bat and there are guys who get paid to slog, I know what I am. I am a slogger that swings everything I can, I play so much golf,” he added. Talk about impact, talk about swag.
