Week 7 & 8 review

 A humdinger that went up to the penultimate league match

The last two weeks of the tournament have been bizarre to say the least. Just when you expected a team to comfortably make it through, either they come crashing down or the opponent puts in a surprise performance.

Take the CSK v DC match for example. DC were flying high and were expected to cement their place in the top 4 with an easy win. But lo! They came crashing down and dithered into pieces as the CSK batsmen and then their bowlers landed punch after punch. But after such a glorious performance CSK had 3 matches that they'd like to forget as they ended their disappointing campaign with successive hammerings from MI, GT and RR. In all, CSK's fall from glory must be attributed to their inconsistent auction strategy and the injury to Deepak Chahar. Also, the decision to hand captaincy to Jaddu only helped to complicate matters further.

After the CSK debacle, DC put up impressive shows against RR and PBKS. But luck deserted them on the penultimate day as MI sprang a surprise on them and ousted them from the tournament thereby allowing RCB to go through. DC definitely were in with a shot this time but were done in by unexpected challenges. First Covid played rampage on their initial form and then Prithvi Shaw missed a few matches due to illness. Rishabh Pant's lack of conviction in captaincy and in batting also proved costly. 

PBKS pulled off a little surprise of their own when they whacked RCB in emphatic fashion to keep top 4 hopes alive. But their subsequent loss to DC put their hands in the fate of RCB and MI. As RCB and MI shut the windows, PBKS were left to rue what could have been as they decimated SRH in the final game of the league stage in what turned out to be a dead rubber. Both PBKS and DC had better performance quotients than RCB but failed to click when it mattered and found themselves out of contention. Mayank Agarwal's floppy season and over dependence on Shikhar Dhawan pulled them down. 

Equally ordinary was SRH's performance. After stringing a sequence of 5 successive wins, they fell into a rut losing 5 on the trot - the last of which was a loss to KKR. That loss almost condemned them and threw them out of the tournament. Fortunately a win against MI put them back in contention, albeit at the mercy of RCB and MI once again. With nothing to gain after RCB shut the door on them, they played their poorest match of the tournament against PBKS to finish 8th. Lack of variation in batting and bowling made them predictable and teams were easily able to negotiate them with ease. Skipper KW's form only piled the misery.

KKR showed promise during the early stages of the tournament only to falter in mid-season. But they did seem to have regrouped after victories over MI and SRH. An extraordinary rear guard action against LSG by Rinku Singh almost carried them across the line but they fell short of the finishing line to crash out of the tournament. KKR suffered from dependence on Dre Russ to save them every time they played. While Russ did seem to deliver, crunch games did not go their way and led them to elimination.

Like CSK, MI had a season to forget. Having invested heavily in their core from past seasons at the auction, they struggled to get the best out of the rest. After picking up their first victory in week 6, they crashed once again as they lost to KKR but surged back to dump CSK out of the tournament. With nothing to play for they ran SRH close before denying DC a place in the play-offs at the death. Rohit's form, Ishan's form and SKY's injury were talking points on the outside but deep within MI had a millions problems to deal with. Apart from the top 3 there was no one in the line-up to look up to when in crisis. Jasprit Bumrah had a decent season and yet it looked like a bad season for him since the other bowlers rarely gave him any support. And their foreign contingent was the weakest group of all 10 teams in the tournament.

Moving on to the top 4, RCB squeezed through on the penultimate after leaving it late to leave their fate in the hands of MI. They made up for the huge loss to PBKS by easily defeating GT but with a large negative NRR, their hopes hinged on DC losing to MI which eventually turned out to be so. Luck has never been with RCB over the past 14 seasons and going by what transpired in the last 2 weeks, RCB fans can definitely hope "Ee saala cup naamde". Kohli's return to form in their last match must be a welcome sign while DK (after the national team call-up) must be flying high.

LSG also squeezed through as KKR almost toppled their applecart. But they only had themselves to blame for this as they looked insipid against GT and RR in their previous games. The fact that they made history with the IPL's first 200 run opening wicket stand (was undefeated as well) could have disappeared had KKR held their nerves in the chase - special mention to Ewin Lewis for taking the catch of the 15 IPL seasons so far. Thankfully, LSG have KL and QDK in form and will hope that they can carry them all the way to the pinnacle.

RR were the team to beat at the beginning of the tournament. They had a few slips in between but were quite adept in bouncing back every time. After a disappointing loss to DC, they came back strongly to see off LSG and CSK to get into the top 2 - which means two attempts at reaching the final - always a privilege. With a well balanced batting line-up and a bowling line-up that can induce fear in the opposition they seem determined to go for glory this time. Jos Butler and Sanju Samson do hold the fire power to help with this.

The tournament's hot favorites are GT though. They hardly broke a sweat getting though LSG and CSK before an experimentation against RCB resulted in a loss. But having already snapped top spot with a game to go, they had every right to experiment as they did. Hardik Pandya is a transformed player (& captain) and with players like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mathew Wade and Wridhiman Saha in support it's been a dream run. Nobody has finished games this season like GT and they'll hope that those finishing skills would come good in the play-offs as well.

Week 7 performances

Excellent:  DC, PBKS, GT, KKR

Good: RR

Fair enough: MI, RCB

Mediocre: SRH, LSG, CSK

Week 8 performances

Excellent:  RCB, LSG

Good: RR

Fair enough: MI, PBKS, DC, SRH, GT

Mediocre: CSK, KKR

Performance quotient

Week 6 review

 Top 2 emerging; Race for remaining spots gets crowded

It's now emerging clearly that LSG and GT are marginally ahead of the rest of the pack and it is safe to say that they will qualify for the play-offs. As for the remaining spots, except for MI every other team still have a shot - now it just depends on which team performs on it's day and it could be anybody's game.

Take SRH for example. A week ago they were the form team of the tournament. But it's now 4 defeats back to back and they have now fallen out of the top 4 although not drastically. With opponents having had the measure of Umran and the rest of the bowling line-up running into a combo of injury crisis and dip in form, they have been left to depend on their batting to chase targets beyond their reach. KW's form is still a cause of concern and although Markram, Tripathi and Pooran have been making runs, they have not been able to create the requisite impact. With Washy and Natrajan missing, the bowling and the lower batting order look very ordinary. They really need to be on top of the game for their next 3 games.

RCB's fortunes have taken a turn for good even though VK's form hasn't been anything of mention. Their fortunes seem to follow the performances of their foreign contingent and Faf, Maxi, Hasaranga and Hazlewood have lived up to their billing. DK's end innings heroics continued against CSK and SRH while Shahbaz and Rajat Patidar are proving to be worth the money invested. On current form they look poised for a play-off berth.

CSK's push for play-off qualification seems like it has come very late but they are continuing to cling on to the last straw. A win against RCB could have helped their cause but the batting order once again crumbled just when it was required. The openers seem to have struck form at the right moment though with Conway breathing new life into the slot. MSD's influence does seem to have a say, but it has not been as impactful as previous seasons - reflected in his statement after the loss to RCB - "the world is not going to end if CSK don't qualify". But a win against DC has at least kept them in contention for this week.

The mid table teams are still jostling with RR, PBKS, DC and KKR each winning one and losing one this week. RR though must be fighting at the top given that the top run getter(Butler) and wicket taker(Chahal) of the tournament are playing for them but somehow are conjuring up inexplicable losses. Against KKR they were totally listless but found the mojo against PBKS.

Both PBKS and KKR blew hot and cold with KKR blowing it colder. They definitely seem out of sorts are destined to follow MI and (unfortunately) CSK through the exit door. PBKS are also clinging on to the same straw that CSK is holding on to. So any slip-up in the next week could show them as well the exit door. While DC also sit on 10 points, among the 5 teams that are vying for the 4th play-off spot they are seated in a better position.

The week's surprise came when MI sprang a surprise by muting GT at their game. Needing 9 off the last over, GT managed to lose the game by 5 runs despite having Tewatia and Miller at the crease in that last over. Pride restored, MI must certainly be hurting and already looking forward to the 2023 edition.

Week 5 performances

Excellent:  RCB, LSG

Good: MI, CSK, PBKS

Fair enough: GT, KKR, RR, DC

Mediocre: SRH

My performance quotient for each team

Week 5 review

 MI get a win finally; KKR wheels coming off? No clear picture emerging yet!

Yet another week has passed with no clear picture yet. The only picture that has emerged from the lot has been that newcomers GT and LSG have almost confirmed their entry into the knockout stages. But the remaining teams are still slugging it out to reach the top.

The week saw PBKS bouncing back from last week's debacle to strangle CSK's chase in the first match of the week. MS could not repeat the heroics of last week as both the target and opponent grew large on them towards the end of their chase. For the Kings, Gabbar continued his incredible batting form against CSK - amassing the maximum runs for a batsman against a particular team. 

PBKS though could not carry that form into their match against LSG later in the week. This time it was PBKS's turn to be choked in the chase as LSG's bowlers tightened the noose in a relatively small chase. In their next match LSG held their nerves to stifle DC's chase making it a successful week for them.

This week saw a decline in the overall runs scored by teams as the pitches at Mumbai and Pune started wearing out. KKR felt the brunt of this as they slid to their 5th straight loss this season losing to DC. Also sharing the same fate was RCB who had a poor outing against RR despite restricting them around the 150 mark. VK's form slump continued into that game as well. Kohli struck form in their next game against GT only to be let down by the rest of the team as GT once again rode on Tewatia heroics to win from a precarious position.

In fact, Tewatia was at the center of two scintillating chases this week as GT got the better of SRH and RCB. Against the former, GT had to overcome a spirited spell from the Jammu express Umran Malik. Umran picked 5 wickets in that game but got little support from the bowlers at the other end. SRH ended up conceding 25 runs off the final over to lose the game to some Rashid Khan pyrotechnics. SRH's misfortune with bowling carried on to their next game against CSK (with a new captain in MSD!!) who sent them on a leather hunt to score over 200 runs. SRH who have a horrible record chasing scores in excess of 180 (1 win in 13) faltered in the chase to cap off the week with 2 losses although their batting fared better in both matches. 

And lastly, MI got their first taste of victory as they chased down RR's below par score. Hitman's form still is a concern for MI but SKY clicked once again. Also exciting was the fact that two relative unknown players in Hrithik Shoukeen and Karthikeya shone in the match - definite India prospects. 

Week 5 performances

Excellent:  GT, LSG

Good: RR, CSK, DC, MI

Fair enough: SRH, PBKS

Mediocre: KKR, RCB

My performance quotient for each team