Former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta recently caught up with cricfit.com for a quick chat pertaining to the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season. The former India player who played eight Tests and five ODIs for the Indian team in the early 2000s has now turned commentator in addition to being an MPL Fantasy Expert.
During the 40 minute chat, the former gloveman of the Indian team spoke in length about week one and week two’s matches that took place in the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Deep Dasgupta spoke about the players that have surprised and disappointed him the most from the matches that have recently concluded.
Also Read: Exclusive: Deep Dasgupta Wishes To See Shikhar Dhawan Back In India’s T20 World Cup Squad
In an exclusive chat with Cricfit, Former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta talks about his favorites to win the IPL this season:
Q1) Who has been the Most Valuable player for you so far in this phase?
Deep Dasgupta: I think to a great extent Ravindra Jadeja and Glenn Maxwell.
Do not forget this name – Venkatesh Iyer!
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) September 28, 2021
Q2) One youngster who has surprised you the most in this season?
Deep Dasgupta: One youngster who has surprised me is I think Ruturaj Gaikwad and before that Venkatesh Iyer, I’ve watched him in domestic cricket but the jump from playing for Madhya Pradesh to playing in the IPL has been unbelievable.
Q3) Your favorite ground out of Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi ?
Deep Dasgupta: Abu Dhabi as a ground, the food is great in Dubai and Sharjah for the Falooda which Sunil Gavaskar has been having since the 1980s but from a cricketing perspective, I think I like Dubai and Sharjah but this year Sharjah’s pitches haven’t been ideal for T20 cricket so I’d rather go with Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Q4) One player’s performance or form that has disappointed you the most?
Deep Dasgupta: Everyone’s done well but to a certain extent maybe Rahul Chahar, he’s picked fewer wickets in this phase. I would’ve liked him to pick a few more wickets keeping the T20 World Cup in mind.
Also, I think Surya would be the biggest disappointment as far as I see it I rate him extremely high in white-ball cricket and I think India’s chances for the T20 World cup, his form will be very important but given that the form he’s in at the moment it’s very disappointing.
Q5) Which two teams apart from Delhi and Chennai can make it to the playoffs?
Deep Dasgupta: Bangalore and I think one team between Kolkata and Mumbai but I also think yesterday‘s defeat has made things very even, had Kolkata won I could’ve said they have an edge but now I think with Kolkata and Mumbai its interesting to see what happens ahead.
Q6) Would you want to see Shreyas Iyer or Yuzvendra in the World cup side given the form they’re in the IPL?
Deep Dasgupta: I wanted someone like Shikhar back into the squad, Virat to play at 3, Surya at 4, Rishabh at 5, Jadeja at 6, Hardik at 7, Bhuvi at 8 Chakravarthy at 9, Jasprit at 10, and one more depending on the conditions.
Q7) Your favorites to win the title this season?
Deep Dasgupta: I hope there is a first-time winner this season, this is just my gut feeling saying that we will have a new winner this season. It’s too much of Chennai and Mumbai winning the title and just hope a new franchise wins the title this season.
If I had to pick one, I’d go with Delhi since they have the best squad in the competition, they’re playing good cricket and they also have a lot of youngsters in their side.
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