Although IPL 2021 was halted midway due to the rise of the COVID19 crisis, there were no short of entertainment and jaw-dropping performances. In the light of this, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra acknowledged the efforts by the batters and has picked six best innings of the tournament.
In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Chopra picked Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten 87 off just 34 deliveries against Chennai Super Kings as the best knock of IPL 2021. Pollard single-handedly took Mumbai Indians (MI) to victory as his sublime knock helped Mumbai chase the massive total of 219 runs.
Aakash Chopra picks six best knocks of IPL 2021
“My innings of the tournament is Kieron Pollard’s knock against CSK in Delhi. I agree the ground is small, he has a thick bat and powerful forearms but it is not easy to chase. When you are chasing 15 runs per over, you have no option but to hit but while hitting your heart is beating that there is no scope of a mistake,” said Aakash Chopra.
The cricketer-turned-commentator went with AB de Villiers’ quickfire knock against Kolkata Knight Riders for the second spot. The former South African batter smashed 76 runs off just 34 balls on the spin-friendly track of Chepauk. For the third spot, Aakash Chopra picked RCB’s opening batter Devdutt Padikkal. Playing against Rajsthan Royals, Padikkal slammed his maiden century in the Indian Premier League as he amassed 101 runs off 52 balls. Devdutt stitched an unbeaten 181-run stand with skipper Virat Kohli to help RCB chase 178 runs.
Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson’s blistering century during their first match of IPL 2021 against Punjab Kings also made it to Aakash Chopra’s list. The former KKR player capped off his list with Jos Buttler’s 124 off 64 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as the fifth-best innings of IPL 2021 while Mayank Agarwal’s 99 off 58 balls against Delhi Capitals (DC) found the sixth place.