IPL 2021: "In the second leg, middle-order of every team has struggled"

Former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta has expressed his disappointment with the middle-order batters in the second half of the IPL 2021. He feels that barring Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), no other franchise's middle order has fired.

Glenn Maxwell has performed spectacularly since coming to RCB. Even as the other teams' middle order has struggled, the Australian kept scoring match-winning 50s in every other IPL 2021 match.

But apart from Maxwell, there haven't been many middle-order batters who have performed well enough on slow and sluggish pitches in the UAE.

During a live session on his YouTube channel, Deep Dasgupta said that the middle-order unit of every side has greatly struggled in the second leg of IPL 2021. He believes that pitches in the UAE remain good for batting in only the first six-even overs. As soon as the ball gets a bit older, it makes the batters grind for their runs.

"To be very honest in this second leg - the middle order of every team has struggled, be it Mumbai, CSK, Delhi, Punjab or any other franchise," said Dasgupta. "Barring RCB, thanks to Maxwell, no other team's middle order has fired.

"The pitches in the UAE remained good during the first 6-7 overs but then starts to deteriorate," he added. "When the balls get older it gets tough for the batters. In the t20s, every batter tries to slog the ball from the very go. The graft is missing this time from the middle-order batters."

The average first innings total, which was around 160-170 during Phase 1 of the IPL 2021, has dropped to about 150s since the resumption in the UAE.

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Deep Dasgupta also had his say on recent struggles of CSK in the second half of IPL 2021

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head into their Qualifier 1 clash against the Delhi Capitals on the back of three consecutive defeats in the league phase. Despite finishing inside the top 2 in the table, Dhoni's side looked a pale shadow of themselves at the fag end of the group stages.

The former cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out the major issues with the Men in Yellow during the live session.

"During phase 1, Moeen Ali was in great form," he said. "Somehow he has underperformed in the UAE. Then obviously Rayudu is hot and cold. And so unfortunately Jadeja is batting quite down the order. Yes, the middle order has struggled for them as well."

CSK will hope to forget their winless streak and use their experience of playing in the knockouts when they meet DC in the Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2021.