IPL 11 has completed its 4th week and is gradually moving towards the business end. As the tournament proceeds towards later stages, from now, the next 2-3 weeks will probably present some exhilarating cricket and quite a few nail biting encounters for all us, cricket fans out there. At least the league table leaves us with expectation, that the coming couple of weeks will exhibit a lot of mouth watering contests for us especially between the bottom 5 teams of the league table.
Before my readers proceed through this blog, if you have not read my past weekly cricket blogs on IPL, here are the links for them
Going through my past blogs will make it easier for the reader, as I will be drawing references from my past blogs, in the present blog as well. So, as is the norm, I will be picking up the teams one by one, and analysing their position after week 4 of this mega competition. The orders of analysis will be from the bottom of the table.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) [P-9 W-3 L-6]
RR is one team, that I have been saying from week 1, will be losing their path in the league, primarily due to bad leadership skills and decision. RR in 2018 reminds me about Deccan Chargers of 2008. They used to say in 2008 "Deccan Chargers & VVS Laxman- A worse love story than 'Twilight'". That year, Deccan Chargers had every possible resource at their disposal, but they came last in the tournament, primarily due to the horrendous leadership skills of Laxman. Next year, Gilchrist became the captain, and with the same team, they managed to win the IPL. RR, is on the brink of facing the same fate this year, according to me. 9 matches into the tournament, and they are yet to get their combinations right. D'Arcy Short is set to be the new 'Tymal Mills' of this year's IPL and Rahane needs to realize, he is wasting one place in the playing 11 by continuously playing him in the team. Krishnappa Gowtham is a pinch hitter and he will be the most effective either, inside the powerplay, or when the spinners are operating, in the middle overs, whereas he is continuously being sent in to bat with a meagre 2-3 overs at the end. Klassen, was taken as a substitute in the team, just because of his clean hitting abilities against spin- He was played for 2 matches and in neither of them he got to face even one ball of spin- A leadership misjudgement, yet again. Dhawal Kulkarni is the only pace bowler in the RR team, who can swing the ball upfront. He is being left out time and again, from the team, denting his confidence. All in all, it can be said, Rahane has succumbed to the pressure of T20 captaincy and the same thing is impacting his game as well. However, there are a couple of bright spots, that stand out for Rahane. The decision to shift Butler to the opening has been fabulous and so is the decision to take Unadkat out from the torture of death overs to the comfortable middle overs. Needing to win 5 of their remaining 5 encounters, RR faces a next to impossible challenge in front of them, especially with momentum not on their side.
Delhi Daredevils (DD) [P-10 W-3 L-7]
DD tried to change everything around this time for themselves, by building a balanced squad in the auctions, under a veteran captain. Unfortunately, it has been the same decade old tale for the franchise, this time around as well. Loads of failure marred with sparks of brilliance. As has been the case for DD in past seasons, there have been revelations and unearthing of talents, in the form of Shaw, Avesh Khan along with appreciable performances from Boult, Shreyas and Pant. Standing at 3 wins from 10 matches, their campaign almost looks over, as past IPL seasons have shown that teams need to win a minimum of 8 matches to proceed to the playoffs (barring exceptions). However, inspite of that, let us not take away anything from the leadership skills of Iyer, in the small number of matches, he has led the team. He has absolutely risen to the responsibility of leadership after GG relinquished his position voluntarily. Except Iyer, the other talking points in an otherwise dismal campaign for DD, are Pant, Boult and Shaw. Pant is looking determined to shed the inconsistency tag, that has been put on him, by experts this IPL, by consistently converting those starts into half centuries. Shaw, is the find of the season for DD, as the expertise with which he is handling international fast bowlers, and carting them to all corners of the ground with nonchalance, is making cricket analysts gape in awe. Boult, is beginning to understand about how to modify his bowling on Indian pitches, and that has led him to be in the competition of purple cap holders this season. Apart from these bright spots, DD's campaign looks all but over, and looking back, they may rue the fact, that things could have been a bit different, had they handed the captaincy over to Iyer a bit earlier in the league.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) [P-9 W-3 L-6]
I don't want to predict the plight of the Indian cricket team post the retirement of MS Dhoni, and I completely agree that captaincy in IPL is extremely different from taking on the leadership hat for the nation, but it is becoming more and more evident with every passing game, this IPL, that Virat Kohli is a different captain, with no MSD behind the stumps. He has been taking decisions which are baffling, to say the least. 9 games, into the tournament and RCB are yet to decide their final 11 team combination. What is worse, is that, it is not a matter of 1 or 2 positions, in the team, that are getting changed every match like in the case of RR. RCB is turning the team combination upside down, by hit & trial method. The only fixed members of the squad except the captain himself, seem to be, De Villiers, Chahal, Mandeep and Umesh Yadav. Chahal is yet to find a consistent spin partner and all the possible Indian spinners in the RCB team have been given a chance, and then chopped and changed the next match. Negi, Ashwin, Sundar, have tried to fill in this void, but the moment, the spinners have given away 20 odd runs, in one bad over of a match, the next match, they have been overlooked, while selecting the playing 11. The Indian openers, in the form of Manan Vohra or Parthiv Patel, are consistently being insecure of their position in the team, for the next match. Then come the 4 foreigners in the team. De Villiers, is the only consistent overseas player, who is an automatic selection. The rest of the three positions, even after 9 matches in the competition are rotating between De Kock, Mccullum, Corey Anderson, Tim Southee, Chris Woakes and De Grandhomme randomly. Kohli is yet to decide, which is his first set of foreign players and that is resulting in whimsical team selection, every match, thus affecting team balance and results. The condition of their death bowling is similar. After Siraj & Southee did a wonderful job at the death against MI, suddenly Virat did not think about giving them the final overs against CSK, the very next match- the reason being Dhoni likes pace on the ball. As a consequence, Chahal was brought on to the attack in the 18th over of the match- Dhoni being Dhoni finished off the match in that over itself by taking a massive 22 runs from that leggie's over. It is an old saying in cricket, "When instead of playing to your strengths, you are trying to play to the opposition's weaknesses, you have lost the match, even before you took the field." Its time, maybe Virat takes into account these age old sayings. RCB standing today, need to win 5 of their remaining 5 matches, and unless Virat or AB gets into a purple streak, in the remaining 5 matches, RCB fans should again rest their playoff hopes for next year.
Mumbai Indians (MI) [P-10 W-4 L-6]
MI is the 'Sourav Ganguly' of IPL. Just when you feel, MI is down and out and have no hopes left, they manage to make a comeback and get into a winning spree and make it to the playoffs. Whether or not, that will be possible this year, that is a matter of introspection. But, winning the last 2 games in a row, MI has enhanced their chances of proceeding tot he playoffs. Yet, in a tournament like IPL, to win 4 out of the remaining 4 games, is a big ask and it will definitely not be an easy road from Mumbai. However, the good news for MI and hence India, is that Hardik Pandya has continued his progress in the avenue of fast bowling, which began from the limited overs leg of South Africa. Pandya, is now bowling the slower ball, the toe crushing yorker (albeit at only 135 kmph), the three quarter length ball, along with his all time favourite short ball. Rohit is also promoting him up the order at Number 4 and he is thriving with this extra responsibility in both batting & bowling. However, the bad news for MI, is their out of form Skipper. As a consequence of his lack of runs from the willow, in a number of games, MI, inspite of having a stable platform after the first 10 overs (courtesy Surya Yadav), has been unable to go berserk in the final 10 overs. That, however, does not take away anything from Rohit, the captain. He has been among the top 3 captains of this year's IPL and has taken decisions, that has affected outcome of the games- be it his decision to attack KL Rahul with Markande;s leg spinners or be it using Ben Cutting with his off cutters, when Gayle was relishing pace on the ball against MI or be it attacking KKR top order with short balls by Mitch and Bumrah- his captaincy has been nothing short of genius. However, make no mistake, MI, inspite of some in-form players in the team, still faces an uphill task of winning 4 consecutive matches against top oppositions, and it will be another fairy tale comeback, if they manage to do so.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) [P-10 W-5 L-5]
Let us go a decade back to that tournament, which perhaps marked the birth of IPL- T20 World Cup 2007. India was facing South Africa in a must win encounter at Kingsmead, Durban. At 61-4 (10 over mark), walked in a lanky young 19 year old lad, who stroked his way to a sublime half century and lifted the team to 150 at the end of 20 overs along with a young long haired MSD at the opposite end. About that lad from Mumbai, called Rohit Sharma, commentators had one thing to say again & again that, this lad had one split second more to play the ball, than others. 11 years later, a pleasant reminiscence occurred for me, as the commentators repeated the same thing for KKR U19 Star Shubhman Gill. Shubhman Gill came out to bat against CSK, with his team delicately poised at 40-2, and stroked his way to a wonderful half century (57* off 36 balls) to take his team to victory. It may be too early to decide, whether Shubhman Gill will reach anywhere near the limited overs legacy of Rohit Sharma, in future, but for all I know, Indian players who can play horizontal bat shots with as much ease as Gill does, future holds something very bright for him. KKR, however is delicately poised in the table. From their remaining 4 matches they need to win 3 out of them, to find that much coveted 4th playoff spot in this year's IPL. But KKR is looking a very settled unit under DK and quite contrary to my expectations, DK is gradually improving his leadership skills, thus making them the most probable team to go through in their competition with MI, RR & RCB. KKR however, has one small advantage, in terms of the remaining 3 teams. MI, RR & RCB have to win all their remaining 4-5 matches to make it to the playoffs, whereas, KKR has that very vital cushion of one extra match, they can afford to flunk. Standing at the end of the 4th week of the tournament, they look the most probable to make it to the playoffs.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) [P-9 W-6 L-3]
The gulf which has been clearly visible between the top 3 teams and the remaining 5 teams from the second week of the tournament itself is becoming more and more prominent, with every passing week. The opening pair of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul at the top of the order is providing the kind of success that was maybe last provided by Gambhir & Uthappa for KKR in 2014. Rahul & Gayle are consistently giving KXIP opening partnerships greater than 50, every match, during the powerplay overs and that is setting KXIP up a wonderful platform to launch upon in the middle and slog overs. KL Rahul is producing screaming performances to reclaim his lost spot in the Indian limited over setup and with his latest match finishing skills as well coming to the fore, he will be a candidate, difficult to ignore for the Indian selectors. However, after Rahul & Gayle, there is little to talk about the KXIP batting line up and that is something that will worry Ashwin for sure. He has shuffled and changed the batting order, but none except Karun Nair, is able to show any consistency in that fragile middle order of KXIP. Yes, they have managed to hide behind the performances of Rahul & Gayle, in majority of the matches, but we are starting to see, that a number of teams are exploiting that middle order weakness of Punjab to win matches, in recent past. With 2 wins required from 5 matches to assure a playoff spot for the Ashwin led team, it looks almost certain that they will be going through, but if the middle order persists its weakness, it will be difficult for KXIP to realize their dream of winning the first ever IPL trophy.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) [P-10 W-7 L-3]
They call him 'The Thala' in Chennai. I wonder post IPL 11, if they will cal him 'The Thala' throughout the country. Harsha Bhogle stated in a video blog before the beginning of IPL, that "IPL 11 will be extremely important for Dhoni to re-establish his relevance as a T20 player." and boy, he is definitely doing it. 360 runs in 10 matches at an average of 90 and a strike rate of above 150 is something even ardent Dhoni fans would have not expected from him, especially standing at the twilight of his cricketing career. To rectify your technique and playing style, at the age of 36, when you reflexes are slowing down gradually, is much tougher than it seems from outside the field and Dhoni has just done that. This year, CSK's performance has largely been the consistency of Rayudu at the top of the order, backed by an impact finish from MSD. Yes, in the mean time, there have been performances from Watson, Billings, Bravo and Raina, but these 2 have consistently lived up to the demands of the game, almost in every match. CSK's bowling was appearing as the major chink in their armour in the second half of the tournament, however, after a fabulous win against RCB, scripted by the CSK bowlers, in Jadeja & Bhajji, Dhoni is looking to have solved that headache of his team. Covering almost all bases, at the end of the 4th week of IPL. CSK, though positioned second in the league table, is looking the best team in IPL 11, with no major weakness visible for the other teams to exploit.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) [ P-10 W-7 L-3]
SRH 2018 is reminding me of KKR 2012. Rashid Khan is the new Sunil Narine of IPL for sure. Back in 2012, KKR had a very average batting line up except Kallis & Gambhir, but what set them apart from other teams, were the 4 overs of Narine. He would concede 15 from his 4 overs, scalping 2 wickets on an average, every match and no opposition found a solution to it. Rashid Khan, the prodigy from Afghanistan, is bamboozling opponents with his leg spin and consistently picking up wickets. Unlike Narine, he is not bowling any mystery ball, he is instead using his leg spin, googly & flipper intelligently and that is creating havoc in the opposition camp. The Warner episode seems long past and they have found a like to like replacement for the batsman Warner, in Alex Hales, who quite surprisingly is looking comfortable on Indian pitches against spin. Williamson, is filling in for the 'Captain Warner' pretty well and it looks all rosy for SRH till the top 3. Then the issues begin to gradually raise their heads. I wrote about the issues with the No. 4, 5 & 6 for SRH last week and unfortunately they continue to persist even in this week. Pandey seems to be bogged down under the pressure of his price tag and is simply not timing the ball. Saha, has lost his ability to bat in limited overs setup for some strange reason and Pathan, though has shown glimpses of form, is looking vastly inconsistent. This fragile middle order is hiding behind some stupendous performances from the top 3 of the batting line up and some accurate bowling performances, but as we move towards the business end of the tournament, Williamson will be expecting some match winning performances from the premiere Indian middle order batsman.
Conclusion
IPL 11 has reached a thrilling point of excitement, where 3 teams are facing a situation where they need to win all their matches from hereon to keep their playoff hopes alive. Expect a lot of nail biting thrillers in Week 5 of IPL 11, as MI, KKR, RCB & RR look to stake their claim in the No. 4 spot for the playoffs.
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