The 2021 Indian Premier League is set to start from 9th April, with an exciting opening match between reigning champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. With last year’s IPL played in closed, empty stadiums, there is a lot of rush and excitement among cricket fans to follow the action through their own eyes this year.
Similar excitement should be there among all you betting enthusiasts out there, as IPL’s T20 format matches are competitive, always fun to watch, and just as much fun to bet on.
So if your mind is already working overtime thinking about who and what to bet on this IPL season, we’re here to give you some insights. Today we’ll be taking a look at the betting odds for all teams and try to reason which teams have a strong chance of winning the competition. Our sporting experts have performed a detailed analysis of the competition, teams, and players, so we have come up with many recommendations and useful betting tips to share with all of you.
IPL 2021 Teams: Key Players and Outright Betting Odds
Let’s start with the basics and just go through the betting odds and key players for each team first.
- Mumbai Indians
Odds: 5/2
Key Players: Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Quinton de Kock, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah
- Royal Challengers Bangalore
Odds: 6/1
Key Players: AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj
- Delhi Capitals
Odds: 5/1
Key Players: Steve Smith, Rishab Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Chris Woakes
- Kolkata Knight Riders
Odds: 8/1
Key Players: Andre Rusell, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hassan, Dinesh Karthik
- Chennai Super Kings
Odds: 9/1
Key Players: Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja
- Sunrisers Hyderabad
Odds: 7/1
Key Players:Kane Williamson, Johnny Bairstow, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jason Roy, Rashid Khan
- Rajasthan Royals
Odds: 9/1
Key Players: Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Kuldip Yadav, David Miller, Mustafizur Rahman
- Punjab Kings
Odds: 10/1
Key Players: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Dawid Malan, Moises Henriques, Mohammad Shami
IPL 2021 Outright Betting Tips and Recommendations
Among the 8 teams competing for the IPL trophy, we will be analyzing the top three teams that we think are most likely to win the tournament, starting with the reigning champions themselves.
Mumbai Indians
They’ve won the last two seasons of IPL. They have won three out of the last four seasons. They have won the most number of IPLs. When you hear Mumbai Indians, you know they mean serious business.
Their 2021 squad is filled with talents like De Cock, Pollard, Pandya, and Bumrah, spearheaded by the very competent and talented captain Rohit Sharma. These are not just top players thrown in together, but a formidable team of well-coordinated players. Big hitters like Quinton De Cock and Chris Lynn are there to support the batting lineup, but they have no shortage of other match winners. MI also boasts of a solid group of Indian players – Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and more.
On the bowling side, their only weak point is that their spin attack isn’t the best. Though they have the likes of Piyush Chawla and Krunal Pandya as spinners, it’s still the one aspect that their opponents can exploit.
Mumbai Indians are still the favorites to win this season with a powerhouse team, so put your money on them if you want to play it safe.
Delhi Capitals
If there’s any team that can outmatch the number of quality Indian players in MI, it’s the 2020 IPL runner-up Delhi Capitals. Ashwin, Rishab Pant, Rahane, Dhawan, and Prithvi Shaw are just some of the star names in their list of Indian players. The foreign side is also looking dangerous with the likes of Steve Smith, Chris Woakes, Kagiso Rabada, and more.
Delhi Capital’s strength lies in their excellent bowling attacks, both spin and fast bowls, as well as a line of in-form players. Rishab Pant has rejuvenated himself in the past months and emerged as a class player. Young and enthusiastic Prithvi Shaw has also performed well in recent matches, and the threat of R Ashwin can never be underestimated by Delhi’s opponents.
With a coach like Ricky Ponting guiding them and having improved their performances in the last two seasons, Delhi Capitals can challenge Mumbai Indians once again for the trophy. The absence of Shreyas Iyer is something that can hurt them, not that they are dependent on him as they have a well-rounded team, but they will surely miss the boost that they could get from Iyer’s presence.
A strong contender against the favorites, Delhi Capitals also has a good chance of winning the IPL this year, and that too with excellent odds of 5/1.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Time and again, we see Royal Challengers Bangalore put together a star-studded lineup of talented, world-class players. And yet, the IPL trophy still eludes them despite being a very strong team on paper in many seasons. So is this season going to be any different than we should put our hopes and money on RCB?
Well, some factors are going in favor of RCB, which could deliver them their first IPL trophy this season. First of all, we have Kohli, who’s decided to play in the opening position, which can change their batting dynamics for good as it can give AB de Villiers more freedom in the top order batting. With Kohli opening and de Villiers coming in early on 3rd or 4th position, you can expect some big scores with RCB, And now they even have a powerful trio of all-rounders in Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, and Dan Christian. They have even reinforced their bowling, which was often a major weak spot in previous seasons. Home-grown bowlers like Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, and Mohammed Siraj are all talented and reliable, even in big matches and tight situations.
With RCB tying up loose ends this season, we have high hopes for them to put up a strong fight and possibly win their first-ever IPL trophy this season, which is why it’s a bet we recommend to those who like to take a little risk for a bigger reward.
Conclusion
So our recommendation for IPL 2021 outright betting goes with Mumbai Indians as favorites which will be a safer bet. Delhi Capitals are the ones who seem likely to be the biggest contenders against Mumbai, while Royal Challengers Bangalore seem to have what it takes to beat both of them and emerge victorious this season. We are just as excited as you to find out how the season will unfold. As the opening of IPL is just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to start placing your bets, and we hope that our tips and analysis will help you pick the right team to bet on.