6 days in and 6 thrilling matches in IPL 2021 - talking points for week 1

What a start to IPL 2021! We've had 6 games and all of them have been highly competitive with a few really tight finishes to boot.

Below are a few of the main talking points from the first week of fixtures in IPL 2021. Please comment if you have views to share.

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You don't need batsmen friendly conditions to produce good white-ball cricket

Four of the six games to take place to date have been held on the slower wickets of Chennai and while that lack of pace isn't conducive to high scores and six hitting what it has produced is fixtures where there is a good balance between bat and ball resulting in four last over thrillers.

RCB won it from the last ball in the opening match against defending champions Mumbai Indians before SRH threatened KKR late on via the hitting of youngster Abdul Samad. However, it's been the last 2 matches that have really caught the eye with the sides chasing in KKR and SRH both looking in total control until late surges from Mumbai Indians and RCB saw them snatch dramatic victories.

Watch KKR collapse from 72-0 to lose to Mumbai Indians

Watch Shabaz Ahmed take 3 wickets in an over as SRH's run chase unravels

Scoring, particularly once the ball gets soft has proved difficult with sides having to fight for every run at the back end of their innings. In my opnion this is far more entertaining cricket than seeing batsmen smashing everything and anything for six at venues with very flat pitches and tiny boundaries.

Unfortunately, world cricket's administrators disagree with me and so more often than not we get matches played on pitches flatter than a road with nothing in it for the bowlers. The 4 games in Chennai suggest that there is another way and that it is likely to produce tenser finishes which is what T20 cricket should ultimately be about.

RCB or Delhi Capitals to win their first IPL title?

RCB are now 2 wins from 2 and you feel that Virat Kohli will have his team motivated to continue this early momentum and storm into the playoffs.

Certainly RCB will be pleased with the performance of Kohli himself who has gotten RCB off to good starts in both of his stints as openers as well as new big money signings Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson.

Maxwell scored his first IPL 50 since 2016 in the game against SRH and it seems bizarre to think that a player with his reputation in the T20 format has gone so long without making a major impact in this league.

Meanwhile Jamieson looks a particularly useful asset on these slower wickets with his bounce. He did cop a bit of tap in the early stages of the game vs SRH and I do wonder how he'd fair on some of the quicker wickets with shorter square boundries where acomplished batsmen can hook and pull him until the cows come home.

Generally speaking in any tournament and not just in cricket, the best teams ensure that they peak at the business end of the competition. RCB will undoubtedly have a sticky period at some point in this season's IPL, if for no other reason than because it is such a competitive league. For Kohli and their supporters, they'll just need to make sure that it doesn't occur in the playoffs as has been the case on so many occasions in the past!

The side however that has impressed me the most so far this season is Delhi Capitals. They looked very sharp in the field against CSK and but for a few untidy overs bowling towards the death they were in total control in their opening win against the Super Kings.

Of course, they now get to welcome back their South African pace duo of Rabada and Nortje who delivered over 50 wickets between them in IPL 2020 and who specialise in bowling at the back end of an innings. I expect them to win against Rajasthan Royals tomorrow and join RCB on a 100% record.

The Capitals look like they've come into this year's IPL with a real focus and drive to go one better than runners-up this year and with the squad they have they might just be able to do it.

Team of the week

Here's my team of the week

KL Rahul seems to cop a lot of stick on social media for the tempo of his innings but the guy scores and scores he heavily allowing others to bat around him.

Partnering KL at the top of the order is Nitish Rana who has taken good form in the domestic white ball competitions into the early part of the IPL. He's always had the ability and KKR are finally seeing some end product as well.

Next comes Sanju Samson who almost played the ultimate captains innings for RR vs PBKS. Was he right to turn down that single off the penulitmate ball? I guess you've got to back a guy on 100 to finish things off.

Manish Pandey has played a couple of really good innings in losing causing for SRH. I guess if you were being ultra critical you could say that he should have seen it through to the end against RCB and he had have done his side would probably have won.

Glenn Maxwell seems to enjoy playing at number 4 for RCB and is proving a few of the doubters wrong with a sustained run of form that has elluded him in past tournaments.

Deepak Hooda is arguably the surprise package of the early games. His innings against RR was probably the most explosive of the IPL to date and at 25 years old he's perhaps ready to fulfil his talent at this level.

Krunal Pandya is one of the most underated cricketers in the world. He might not be quite as big a star attraction as a few of the other MI team but he is mighty effective with both bat and ball and his tight overs vs KKR helped to swing that match back in the champions favour.

If you were picking any T20 side, anytime, anywhere then you'd probably have Rashid Khan in it. The number 1 ranked bowler in the world has started off in excellent form for SRH with the ball and nearly pulled off a win with bat as well vs RCB.

Harshal Patel's brilliant yorker bowling was too much for even the mighty hitter of Mumbai Indians and he closed out another win against SRH to further his growing reputation at the death.

It was a tough choice between Avesh Khan and his new ball partner in Chris Woakes but ultimately I decided that i wanted the pace and hostility that the former showed against CSK.

The final spot goes to debutant Chetan Sakariya whose 3 wickets in a match where all other bowlers were put to the sword were a remarkable return for such an inexperienced bowler. He is definitely one to watch for the remainder of IPL 2021.

Do you agree with my team? Who might you have added?