IPL 2021: Star Sports announce star-studded commentary panel for UAE leg
Star Sports, the official broadcasters of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, have announced the list of commentators and broadcasters ahead of the resumption of the tournament on September 19. The star-studded English crew includes the likes of Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Gavaskar, Nick Knight, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Ian Bishop, while the Hindi panel includes the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Aakash Chopra and Jatin Sapru.
The 14th edition of the league was abruptly halted on May 4 due to the emergence of Covid-19 cases inside the bio-secure environment created for the teams. While BCCI and IPL Governing Council opted to immediately postpone the 2021 edition, after plenty of thoughtful considerations and arrangements, the edition is set to resume in the UAE, where the 31 unfinished games will be played across three venues – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Following the indefinite postponement of the England vs India final Test in Manchester, several IPL teams are flying out the players from UK to UAE, where each individual will have to serve a mandatory six-day quarantine before entering inside the bio-bubble meant for the league. In all 14 bio-bubble will be created, with understandably stricter protocols after the mishaps reported in India.
Meanwhile, as per the new schedule, the Dubai International Stadium will host 13 of the remaining 31 games including the first qualifier and the final, while Sharjah will have 10 fixtures including the Eliminator and the second qualifier. The remaining fixtures will be played in Abu Dhabi. The second leg of the tournament will conclude on October 15, only two days prior to the scheduled start of the T20 World Cup 2021, scheduled in UAE and Oman.
At the time of season suspension, the Delhi Capitals occupied the top spot in the points tally, with 12 points in eight fixtures, followed by MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings and Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore at positions two and three, both with 10 points in seven games.
IPL 2021 English commentators
Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Gavaskar, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Murali Kartik, Deep Dasgupta, Anjum Chopra, Ian Bishop, Alan Wilkins, Pmumelelo Mbangwa, Nicholas Knight, Danny Morrison, Simon Doull, Matthew Hayden and Kevin Pietersen
IPL 2021 Hindi commentators
Jatin Sapru, Suren Sundaram, Aakash Chopra, Nikhil Chopra, Tanya Purohit, Irfan Pathan, Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel and Kiran More
