Kolkata Knight Riders are ahead of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2021 round-robin league points table. Kolkata Knight Riders resumed their campaign with a thumping win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, moving them into fourth place in the points standings. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals resumed with a narrow victory against Punjab Kings before losing three consecutive matches. Any defeat from this stage onward will be a huge setback for both teams. Let's have a look at who has the best chance of making it to the next round.   Read: IPL 2021: Will Shakib Al Hasan Play in a crucial MI vs. KKR match? IPL 2021 Playoffs Race: Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Rajasthan Royals Kolkata Knight Riders have accumulated 10 points in 11 games. While Rajasthan Royals have 8 points in the same number of matches. Among others, Mumbai Indians have 10 points, but Kolkata have better run rates than Mumbai. On the other hand, Punjab Kings have 8 points, and Sunrisers Hyderabad have only 4.   Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders were behind Rajasthan Royals in the points table before the IPL 2021 resumed in mid-September in UAE. However, they made an encouraging start in the UAE phase, winning three of their past four league games. They are now in fourth place, ahead of the defending champion Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. Kolkata defeated Bangalore by a crushing 9-wicket margin on September 20. They defeated Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets on September 23. However, they were defeated by Chennai Super Kings by a mere 2-wicket margin on September 26. Kolkata fought back strong against Delhi Capitals, winning by three wickets on Tuesday (September 28). Read:IPL 2021: Scenarios of Playoffs Qualification for Eight Teams Kolkata's current team combination has looked solid, and they are on track to maintain their domination over their opponents. Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has yet to play a match in the UAE phase, and he is unlikely to do so before the end of the round-robin league. So far, Rahul Tripathi has scored the most runs (315 in 10 innings) for Kolkata with a strike rate of 144.49. On the other hand, Prasidh Krishna has 12 wickets in 10 innings at a strike rate of 19.2 for the Knight Riders. Kolkata Knight Rider’s remaining fixtures: 01/10/2021: Punjab Kings (at Dubai) 03/10/2021: Sunrisers Hyderabad (at Dubai) 07/10/2021: Rajasthan Royals (at Sharjah)

The 14th edition of the IPL was postponed to the end of April due to a massive outbreak of epidemic coronavirus in India. The BCCI had to take that decision as several cricketers were infected with the coronavirus. The rest of the postponed tournament will take place in September in the UAE. Bangladesh will be playing multiple international series at the same time, that's why the BCB does not want to give a no-objection certificate to Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman. This article discusses why Shakib and Mustafizur will not be given NOC for playing in the remainder of IPL 2021. The probable reason why BCB is reluctant to give NOC to Shakib and Mustafizur The much-anticipated seventh edition of the ICC T20 World Cup will take place in the months of November and December. To put it another way, this ICC mega-event will take place in five months. India is the host nation of this year's event, but due to the Corona crisis, it might be staged in the United Arab Emirates or any other country in the Middle East. Read: ICC announces major changes to cricket world cup format The BCB is serious about the ICC T20 World Cup. Bangladesh will play a number of international series both at home and overseas to prepare the cricketers well in the next four months. Besides, the Dhaka Premier League T20 Cricket League is being held in June and the cricketers will be busy with this domestic league. Therefore, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has determined that players will not be permitted to partake in any other franchise league outside of Bangladesh at this time. Several Bangladeshi cricketers have been picked to play in the Pakistan Super League, Indian Premier League, and Caribbean Premier League. No Bangladeshi cricketer will participate in the PSL which will resume on June 7. There is no possibility of any Bangladeshi cricketer participating in the Caribbean Premier League in August-September and the rest of IPL 2021 in September as well. The world's best all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan has got the opportunity to participate in all of the franchise tournaments. But he will not play in these franchise leagues owing to a simultaneous international schedule. In this year's IPL, Shakib played only three matches for Kolkata. On the other hand, Mustafizur Rahman has been one of the best performers for Rajasthan Royals in the 12th season of the IPL. Mustafiz played in every match for Rajasthan before the IPL was postponed. No doubt, the Rajasthan team will be dissatisfied if they don't obtain this left-arm quick bowler. The second phase of the unfinished IPL 2021 may resume on September 19, and the final may be held on October 10. Read: DPL T20 2021: Shakib Al Hasan Shines in First Round The BCB president recently informed a private TV channel why he is hesitant to provide Shakib and Mustafiz a no-objection certificate. Given Bangladesh's hectic international cricket schedule in the next few months, NazmulHasanPapon believes it is not reasonable to allow these two players to participate in the IPL. Because, in his opinion, every series leading up to the World Cup is crucial. Prior to the T20 World Cup, the Bangladesh national cricket team will tour Zimbabwe next July to play a series consisting of Test, ODI, and T20I. After that, they will play ODI and T20 series against England, a five-match T20 series against Australia, and a three-match T20 series against New Zealand. Bottom Line The Bangladesh Cricket Board intends to properly prepare the national team for the upcoming T20 World Cup. The cricket board hopes to improve the cricketers both physically and mentally in the following four months. In that circumstance, it's important to keep an eye on the cricketers at all times. Because a slight mistake might lead to serious injury to players. So even if there is an opportunity, the BCB does not want to allow the players to play in any outside franchise league at the moment. Read: Top 5 Most Followed Athletes Across Social Media Platforms 

The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League will begin on Friday (April 9) and the championship match of this tournament will be held on May 30 at Ahmedabad's Motera Stadium. This year's tournament will feature a total of 8 teams and will be held in six different venues. Last season, no Bangladeshi cricketer participated in the IPL, but this year's edition will feature Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman. Shakib will represent Kolkata Knight Riders, while Mustafizur will play for Rajasthan Royals for the first time. Let's see which team has the best chance to win the IPL 2021? Rajasthan vs Kolkata: Who has the upper hand in terms of team strength? It's important to have an understanding of the squad when assessing title contenders. Let's take a look at both squads and examine their overall strength. Batting Rajasthan Royals David Miller, Liam Livingstone, and Jos Butler are the three destructive overseas batsmen for Rajasthan Royals. The only two prominent Indian batsmen in Rajasthan's squad are Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal. They'll have to play with more responsibility since there aren't many alternatives in the Rajasthan squad. On the other side, Kolkata have a slight advantage in terms of batting ability. Also read; Mustafizur gets BCB nod to play in IPL Kolkata Knight Riders In the batting department, Kolkata have England captain Eoin Morgan and New Zealand wicket-keeper Tim Seifert in the foreign quota. These two are very effective batsmen in limited-overs cricket. Besides, Morgan is also one of the best captains in the world right now. Among the Indians, Kolkata have well-known batsmen like Rahul Tripathi, Karan Nair, Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, and veteran Dinesh Karthik. Overall, the Kolkata squad has some reliable top and middle-order batsmen. Read How to Become a Cricketer in Bangladesh: An Overall Guideline. Which team is stronger in batting? Kolkata Knight Riders Bowling Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan Royals are considered to have the worst spin attack in this year's IPL as Mayank Markande and K. C. Cariappa are the only two young spinners for the Royals. They do, however, have a potent pace attack led by Bangladeshi left-arm medium-fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman, Andrew Tye of Australia, Jofra Archer of England, and local lad Jaydev Unadkat. If Cutter Master Mustafiz gets into his rhythm in the tournament, he could be a trump card for Rajasthan. Bangladesh cricket fans are eagerly waiting to see Mustafiz's bowling prowess in the IPL. Read Bangladesh's five most memorable overseas ODI wins Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata have formed their pace attack with the inclusion of Australia's Pat Cummins, New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson, and India's Kamlesh Nagarkoti. Considering India's spin-friendly pitches, Kolkata have included four world-class spinners. They are Sunil Narayan, Varun Chakraborty, Kuldeep Yadav, and veteran Harbhajan Singh. Kolkata have arguably the best spin attack in the tournament. Read Mashrafe Mortaza drops a bombshell over his alleged T20 retirement in 2017 Which team is stronger in bowling? Kolkata Knight Riders All-Rounder Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan Royals includes England's best player Ben Stokes. This marquee all-rounder can become a nightmare to opposition teams. Rajasthan Royals have also included solid performers like Chris Morris, Rahul Tewatia, and Shivam Dube in the squad. Chris Morris is currently one of the best all-rounders in the T20 format. Morris is an all-rounder on par with England's Ben Stokes. Rajasthan will undoubtedly need these two players to perform consistently if they are to progress to the IPL 2021 playoffs. Read Memorable Match Winning Knocks in Tests Kolkata Knight Riders In the all-rounder category, Kolkata Knight Riders have included India's Shivam Mavi, Australia's Ben Cutting, Windies Power Hitter Andre Russell, and world no.1 Shakib Al Hasan. Among them, Andre Russell was Kolkata's best player in the last three seasons. So the Knight Riders will have a lot of expectations from him. On the other hand, Shakib will try to achieve success and showcase his true potential in this year's IPL. Shakib has an amazing ability to shine when the team needs him the most. Kolkata haven't won an IPL trophy after 2014, therefore Shakib and Russell will have to take on a lot more responsibility to reclaim the title for the knight riders.    Which team is stronger in the all-rounder category? Both teams are equally strong Read Shakib's 34th Birthday: 34 achievements to celebrate the no.1 all-rounder Bottom Line   In terms of team strength, the Kolkata Knight Riders are slightly ahead of the Rajasthan Royals. As a result, Shakib Al Hasan's Kolkata are one of the hot favorites to win the 14th edition of the IPL. According to statistics, teams' probabilities of reaching the IPL play-off round increase if they can retain consistency in the middle of the tournament. In that case, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals would want to finish the league stage in top form. So, by the middle of the tournament, it will be clear which team has the best chance to win the IPL 2021? However, Bangladesh cricket supporters will cheer for both teams.   Read How Can Bangladesh directly qualify for the world cup 2023?