IPL: CSK and RCB would have jitters in their minds, reckons Parthiv Patel

Former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel reckons Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings will have early nerves going into the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in the United Arab Emirates this month.

Both RCB and CSK had made a great start to this season, winning 5 games each out of the 7 played before IPL 2021 got postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic in India. MS Dhoni’s CSK ended the first half in second place while Virat Kohli’s RCB are third on the points table.

But Parthiv Patel feels both teams won’t find it that easy to get back in the groove again and start winning matches from the word go when the season restarts in UAE.

“Definitely I think there would be jitters in CSK’s mind, there would be jitters in probably RCB’s mind.

“You know we’re talking about teams like CSK, they wanted games behind their back, someone like Dhoni, like Raina, Like Rayudu, like Robin Uthappa, they’re not playing cricket throughout the year, but they’re just getting into the groove and they got this break,” said Parthiv Patel on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’.

“And teams like RCB you know, they need that momentum to start the tournament which they had, so I think these are the two teams which would be thinking ‘Oh okay we’ll go again, and start from scratch’.

“This break for teams which are at 4,5,6 they would be thinking that they have a chance to come back and teams who are in the 2nd or 3rd would be thinking that they have to start well again,” Parthiv added.

The premier T20 league, which was cut short in India due to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in May, resumes from September 19 in the UAE.

Three-time winners CSK will face defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 19 while RCB will restart their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders a day later in Abu Dhabi at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.