We are half-past IPL 2020, which teams are likely to qualify for playoffs?
Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals are the top favorites, know two other teams
It is about to be almost a month since the IPL 2020 started which means we are half past the IPL 2020 season. This IPL season has been very different from other seasons as teams have decided to bat first in most occasions and teams batting first have won on most occasions. While some young guns have fired, some big names in the International Cricket are yet to make a mark in this year’s IPL. Big guns like MS Dhoni, Glenn Maxwell, Andre Russell and Kuldeep Yadav have not been able to play up to their standards. Ravi Bishnoi, Ishan Kishan, Riyan Parag, Shivam Mavi, T Natrajan, Shubhman Gill, Varun Chakravarty, Rahul Chahar and Devdutt Padikkal have given some amazing performances so far.
Which team is more balanced?
Based on the performances so far, three teams, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals seems to have found their balance. Mumbai Indians like always has the best all-rounders in the team in form of Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya and Keiron Pollard. Their pace attack is also the best which comprises Trent Boult, James Pattinson and Jasprit Bumrah. Delhi capitals on the other hand have the best batting unit comprising Pritvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Risabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Marcus Stoinis. Rabada and Nortje have performed well in the fast bowling department apart from decent performances of Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra. RCB has not looked better than they are right now. Devdutt Padikkal has given them good starts which has been converted into a good total by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Navdeep Saini, Chris Morris, Yuzvendra Chahal and Washinton Sundar have performed well in the bowling department.
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Kolkata Knight Riders despite having many talented young players, haven’t been able to find the best 11. Their best bowlers Pat Cummins has been good in bits and pieces and Sunil Narine’s action has been reported. Andre Russell has not found his mojo in the batting yet. The Captain himself seems to be out of form apart from one performance against Kings Eleven Punjab. Still, their young players, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarty, Shubhman Gill and Kamlesh Nagarkoti have performed well and helped their team to win 4 out of 7 matches.
Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals have been inconsistent in their performances. The batting unit of CSK, especially the middle order has failed to impress so far. Rajasthan is missing a good finisher in their team despite having Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in their team. Sunrisers Hyderabad has no one to head their inexperienced bowling unit after the departure of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Hopes for Kings Eleven Punjab to make into the final four are very thin as they have won only one match in 1 matches. They have to win everything from here to make into the playoffs.
Points table
Mumbai Indians are comfortably sitting on the top with 10 points in 7 matches, which is tied by Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mumbai Indians are on top because they have the best net run rate in the season so far. It won’t be too much to expect Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals to make into playoffs this season. They need to win just 3 matches each in their rest 7 matches. RCB too have the same equation but they have always been a team which has choked at the wrong time. So, it would be too early to say that Virat’s team can qualify easily for the playoffs. Same goes with the KKR team. Despite having so much talent in their team, they have not been able to perform. Russellmania has not yet started.
Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals are more likely to qualify for the playoffs. The other two main contenders could be Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. But these two teams can expect a fight from the MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings, Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad and Steve Smith led- Rajasthan Royals.
Which players are likely to fire in the second half?
We all have been expecting MS Dhoni to fire but he has failed so far. But as the tournament progresses, we might see some breathtaking sixes from the Captain Cool. We did see a glimpse of vintage Dhoni when he hit T Natrajan for a mammoth 102 meter in 29th match. We could also expect Andre Russell to fire with the bat. He has been okay with the ball, but the batting magic has been missing. Although pitches are going to become slower, still it’s just a matter of time when Russel starts demolishing bowlers.
Sam Curran was promoted to open in the last match against Sunrisers, so we can expect him to open in upcoming matches. This will give him enough time to score big runs. Ben Stokes has played only one match so far and that also in not-so-comfortable position at the top. He is expected to do some World-Cup magic for the Rajasthan Royals soon.
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