Chennai Super Kings veteran opening batter Faf du Plessis was adjudged the player of the match for his fantastic exploits in his team’s much-savoured victory in the Indian Premier League 2021 final on Friday.
The South African was rewarded for his stellar knock of 86 from 59 deliveries. His right-hander’s pivotal innings helped CSK post a daunting total of 192/3 in their 20 overs against the Kolkata Knight Riders, which they later defended by 27 runs.
Du Plessis was one of the Super Kings’ most consistent performers through the season, ending with 633 runs from 16 matches at an average of 45.21 and strike-rate of 138.20. He came only two runs shy of finishing the tournament as its top run-getter.
That award, and with it the prestigious ‘Orange Cap’, was given to Du Plessis’ opening partner and young Indian batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, who made a whopping 635 runs while maintaining an average of 45.35 and strike-rate of 136.26 in his breakthrough Premier League season.
Gaikwad struck one century and four half-centuries in his 16 innings and eclipsed not only his teammate Du Plessis but also KL Rahul (626 runs), Shikhar Dhawan (587) and Glenn Maxwell (513).
As he contributed immensely to CSK’s fourth successful campaign, Gaikwad was also expected to receive the award for the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. But that award was given to Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Harshal Patel with 264.5 voting points for the season.
Harshal was handed the ‘Purple Cap’ for taking the highest 32 wickets for the season with an economy rate of 8.14. One of the shining lights to emerge from the RCB campaign, Harshal was instrumental to his team’s run to the playoffs. The Haryana pacer was traded into the RCB camp from Delhi Capitals and ended up having his most fruitful IPL season with the ball.
Here is the list of other notable awardees for IPL 2021:
Team fair-play award: Rajasthan Royals
Emerging Player: Ruturaj Gaikwad
Catch of the Season: Ravi Bisnoi
Super Striker of the Season: Shimron Hetmyer
Game-changer of the Season: Harshal Patel
Most Sixes Award: KL Rahul
Power Player of the Season: Venkatesh Iyer
