KKR tops the league right now having won 3 of their 4 games, but their success may owe more to their opponents than their own achievements. They are averaging a league lowest 141 runs per innings, mainly because their opposition with the exception of Mumbai have not challenged them with targets more than 150. The only game they were setting a target, they only managed to put up 128 runs! Lost in the mix of Pat Cummins’ blistering knock against Mumbai is the fact that their batting line-up while immensely talented with power hitters, has been put in spots of bother already in their first four games and will have to overcome far tougher bowling attacks and situations as the season progresses.
The Gujarat
Titans are behind KKR in current standings as they’ve played one game less, but
they are unbeaten yet this season. They have talented playmakers at every
position and they all look in great touch at the moment – Shubman Gill has had
a few great knocks already, Hardik Pandya has been effective with the Bat and
the Ball, Mohd. Shami steaming in ball-after-ball has helped them take a league
high 3 wickets on average during the powerplay overs, and Rashid Khan looks as
fresh and wily as he always has! And when all else fails, Tewatia showed us his
big hitting ability can win them matches too. They are one of only 4 teams to
have successfully defended their total after batting first (and not against
SRH!) This team could legitimately go all the way if they can play with the
same intensity!
RCB had a
rough start to the season when they couldn’t defend a 200 plus score, but they
have pulled it back since then and are now on an impressive 3 game winning
streak. While we may never find out why they didn’t retain Yuzvendra Chahal, their
bowling attack has not lost all of its teeth. Hasaranga has shown matchwinning
ability with the ball, as has Harshal Patel. Their real strength though, lies
in their batting depth. The Faf acquisition has largely helped RCB fill a large
ABD sized hole in their batting, while Kohli has looked dangerous in the first
few matches, and Dinesh Karthik has shown us he’s still got it with a few
finishing acts deep down the order. No team scores more runs and loses fewer
wickets in the middle overs than RCB. This team’s success will be predicated on
how much success their bowlers continue to have and how their enviable batting
lineup measures against the best IPL bowling attacks!
Debutants
LSG will be pleased with their opening act in IPL 2022, having won 3 out of 3
since their first loss against the Titans, their fellow debutants. A team that
has batted well in all three phases – powerplay, middle and death overs – their
true strengths were on display in their impressive victory chasing 210 against
CSK, which they did with 3 balls to spare. Ayush Badoni has been a fantastic
find for the team (and the IPL in general!) and Deepak Hooda has proved to be
an asset in the middle to late overs as well. Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul are
a top 3 opening pair of batsmen and the runs have been flowing for this team!
It is on the other side of the ball that there have been questions. While the 4
overs from Bishnoi are a nightmare for any opposition, the rest of the bowling
line up has been a tad inconsistent. Avesh Khan has looked better every game he
has played, but Andrew Tye and Dushmantha Chameera have had troubles with
consistency. If the Super Giants can channel their bowling attack to help
capitalize on one of IPL’s best spinners, this team will be hard to beat!
The Rajasthan Royals’ social media shenanigans aside, they have had a stellar start to the season. Sanju Samson is the real deal – we always knew he was a great batsman, but his captaincy has helped the IPL look at him in an all new light! Samson and his opening partner, Jos Butler have both looked in great form and the fireworks at the top of the order, along with the big hitting Hetmeyer and underrated Padikkal have propelled RR to the IPL’s most prolific run scoring team – they are averaging 191 per game at the moment. They are also the only team to defend a score twice this season – once each against Hyderabad and Mumbai. This is in part due to their revamped shiny spin attack in Chahal and Ashwin – no other IPL team this year can boast of 2 World Class spinners on the same line up. They’re the reason RR picks a league high 4 wickets on average in the middle overs. Prasidh Krishna is bowling his best T20 ball right now, and Trent Boult bowling on the opposite end gets batsmen stuck between a rock and a hard place. The loss of Nathan Counter Nile will no doubt impact the balance of the bowling attack, but if Navdeep Saini, who also appeared to be nursing his own injury, is up and running, the team should overcome that. This team has all the pieces to make a deep run this year in the playoffs and beyond. They take on the Titans this upcoming Thursday in what could be a precursor to how things might look like at the end of May. Excitteed!
Punjab is
probably the most frustrated team in the IPL right now after a series of games
where they snatched losses from the jaws of victory! Their new found identity
of pure unabashed hitting from first ball to last has been entertaining, as it
has been effective, but they will need to close games out with wins better. No
team jumps out of the gate faster with a run rate of 12 rpo in the powerplay,
and they continue to score at an average 8.3 rpo after that. On the flip side,
they lose a league high 5 wickets in the middle overs which results in an
ill-timed slowdown right at the end. While Rahul Chahar has bowled great in
each of his 4 games, the rest of the bowling attack lacks tooth and has not
been able to turn situations in their favor in games. This team is still
finding its recipe to winning. Johnny Bairstow further helps bolster the lineup
but they need to find a way to keep Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Bairstow without
further reducing their bowling options. First time IPL Captain, Mayank Agarwal,
no doubt has a tough assignment.
The Delhi
Capitals popped eyes when they comfortably took down Mumbai in their opening
game this season, but overall, they have looked like a side that needs help. On
paper, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel are the best spin tandem in the league
alongside the Rajasthan Royals, but Rishabh Pant’s captaincy has not been able
to fully utilize their strengths. For instance, in their last game against the
Super Giants, in a tight run chase, Axar didn’t even bowl his quota of 4 overs!
There are not really many other difference making options in the bowling
attack. The Capitals are among the worst in the league in giving up runs in the
powerplay overs. The batting has not done them many favors either. While they
are near the league average in batting in every phase of the innings by all
measures, the runs have come from different places and no real “leader” of the
batting line up has emerged yet. They are only 3 games into their campaign so
plenty of time to figure things out, but Ricky Ponting and Rishabh Pant will
need to close some of these gaping holes on both sides of the ball to have an
impact in IPL 2022
SRH had a
lot of noise surrounding the team last season and in the off-season. Their
decisions to get rid of a fan favorite captain (David Warner) and their most
talented player (Rashid Khan) didn’t sit well with the fan base. They acquired
exciting all-rounder Washington Sundar but didn’t go beyond that to acquire
another spin bowler they could consistently get 4 overs out of. This leaves
them overdependent on their pace attack – which is totally okay if your pace
lineup is Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan and the bolt-of-lightning rookie
Umran Malik. SRH looks to live and die by this bowling line-up. They have won
all three tosses, and chosen to bowl on all three occasions, and though the
first two games resulted in losses, they turned the corner in their third game.
In their win, they seemed to have identified their batting formula as well – an
aggressive start by Abhishek Sharma with Kane playing an anchor across the
pitch. How consistently they can execute remains to be seen, but with 3 games
in the next week, this is make or break time for this team!
Why is it so
hard to believe that Mumbai has not won a single game this season? They have
shown flashes in all 4 games and yet, have nothing to show for it. Where are
the games getting away from Mumbai? Short answer: the middle overs. While
batting in overs 7-16, MI averages 68/4 – the league average is 82/3. So they
score fewer runs and lose more wickets than average. On the other side of the
ball, they give up a league worst 102/2 in those same overs. For MI to turn
things around, they need to focus on keeping their pace in the middle overs,
both while batting and bowling. With that said, there are encouraging signs for
Mumbai – their batting lineup, while lacking chemistry, has been producing
runs. Suryakumar Yadav in particular is continuing his swashbuckling from last
year and is going to cement his place in the Indian side if he continues this
trend. Ishaan Kishan is also in the running for the Orange Cap and seems in a
good spot to keep contributing. Bumrah seems invincible as the King of Indian
Fast Bowling, and Murugan Ashwin has shown tremendous potential. If they can
find chemistry, it is still not too late for MI.
What ails
the Chennai Super Kings? The perennial team of champions has been hit hard by
doldrums and there seem to be no answers in sight. It starts with their
bowling. CSK has the league’s worst bowling attack by any metric. They only
take 4 wickets a game on average – about 2 wickets lower than the league! Their
powerplay average of 52/0.5 is also the worst in the league. Injuries have
continued to sideline Deepak Chahar, and Moeen Ali has not yet proved the trump
card he was expected to be, at least in the bowling department. For all its
shortcomings while bowling, CSK batsmen have shown flashes of being able to
take the games away from the opposition. While Ruturaj Gaekwad’s inexplicable
slump at the top of the order continues, Uthappa, Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen
Ali, Jadeja and Dhoni have all had good knocks already this season and have all
looked like they could take a game away from the opposition before their
premature dismissals. The biggest noticeable feature of this team of course is
Jaddu’s struggle in taking captaincy away from Dhoni – there have been multiple
occasions where Jaddu at deep midwicket almost is too far out of the picture to
control the flow of the game, and Dhoni is talking to the bowlers and setting
fields. For a team that has had a stable leadership situation its entire
history, these are uncharted waters, and these may be long odds to overcome at
this point!
