IPL fatigue? Players from Australian Playing XI in T20 World Cup final, who were also part of IPL 2021 UAE leg

After India bowed out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, cricket pundits and critics highlighted IPL fatigue as one of the reasons behind the pre-tournament favourites unsuccessful campaign. All the IPL players, who were included in India’s World Cup squad regrouped as a national side in the United Arab Emirates just two days after the second leg of Indian Premier League 2021 ended on October 15 in Dubai. 

The tournament was treated as a precursor for the marquee ICC event the fans were expecting IPL to provide insight and good tune-up ahead of T20’s showpiece event, however, players failed to impress in the first two campaign-decider matches, which led to talks of bubble fatigue. 

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In the Super 12 stage, India lost to arch-rivals Pakistan (by 10 wickets) and New Zealand (eight wickets), then registered big wins against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia but it was not enough to book a semi-final berth. 

The talks intensified when Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah said “sometimes you need a break” after India lost the second match of the Super 12 stage against New Zealand. While former coach Bharat Arun said a short break between the IPL and the World Cup would have been good for the fast bowlers. “Definitely being on the road for six months is a huge ask…And I think that takes a huge toll,” he said. 

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But IPL fatigue, really? Here’s a look at the players from the Australian Playing XI in the T20 World Cup final, who were also part of the IPL 2021 UAE leg: 

David Warner: The Australian star opener won the Player of The Tournament award as he emerged as the second-highest run-scorer in the campaign with 289 runs, behind Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who topped the list with 303 runs. Warner was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Overall in the season, he accumulated 195 runs in eight matches he played. 

Glenn Maxwell: Australian all-rounder Maxwell played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and scored 513 runs in 15 matches he played. His performance in the UAE leg was outstanding. 

Marcus Stoinis: The all-rounder, who played some match-winning knocks, was part of the Delhi Capitals (DC) team. For DC, Stoinis scored 89 runs in 10 matches. 

Steven Smith (DC) and Josh Hazlewood (CSK) were also part of the IPL 2021 UAE leg. Hazlewood was in the final match contest between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). With Hazlewood in the Playing XI, CSK won the title after defeating KKR by 27 runs. 

After Australia won the T20 World Cup 2021 title, pacer Pat Cummins said that playing IPL in Dubai was helpful for his side as he mentioned Hazlewood, saying that it helped in adapting quickly to the tough situations in Dubai.