This season Indian stars have been outperformed by foreigners with Warner show, Bairstow show, Curran’ hat trick and Dre rus’ demolition it has been a season of Overseas players so far.
After two weeks of IPL 12, the points table more or less resembles that of IPL 11. The top four teams in this IPL in points table are CSK, KKR, SRH, and KingsXI. These were the teams which ruled the points table for the most part of last season as well until Rajasthan Royals gave a shocking entry to the playoffs by overcoming MI, RCB, and KingXI. But this season it is highly unlikely that RR will make the playoffs as they look terrible in all the departments in the field.
Though RR won their last game convincingly even without their star batsmen Sanju Samson, that would not make them happy because they defeated the RCB side who looked lost themselves this season. Their bowling is probably the weakest attack in this IPL, Obviously better than that of RCB but still they lack a go-to bowler. Jofra Archer, though came into this IPL with a lot of reputation and a chance to impress the English selectors for a spot in England’ world cup squad, he failed to create an impact this season with the ball. Though he is starting well with the new ball at the initial stages of the innings, he is failing to finish the innings well with the ball. His yorkers are being picked up easily by the batsmen and his change of pace deliveries is not up to the mark. They seriously need a bowler who can change fortunes round for them to qualify for the playoffs.
The Kohli led side have put themselves in really tough situation. After losing their first five games of the season, it is highly unlikely that they will qualify for the playoffs. Though number suggests that they can still make the playoffs, if they want to win their 8 matches from their remaining 9 matches they need some miracle to happen.
Mumbai Indians after beating their rivals CSK in Wankhede, they will feel confident and they want to make the most of their current form. The inclusion of Jason Behendorff has helped them big time but Malinga will not be available for them this week so they have to alter with their bowling line up to bring balance in the side. There have been lots of talks over Yuvraj’ form and he will have to prove his prowess for one last time against SRH on a good batting deck in Hyderabad where he spent a couple of years to continue in the team.
Delhi capitals are still Daredevils in their own way. They have a strong squad but their playing 11 hardly seem to inspire. Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer are not proactive in team selection and not staying ahead of the game. They were terrible with their tactics against SRH. On a slow wicket, their team selection was terrible. They opted for Ishant Sharma but he was underused in that match. Their shot selections were terrible, starting from Prithvi Shaw to Rabada they had no clue to SRH’ bowling attack. They are persisting with Morris who is failing time and again. Kemo Paul is best suited in pitches like Kotla as he has better cutters and slower deliveries. They should be tactically sound in their coming matches to qualify for playoffs.
Chennai super kings have found a new problem in as their premium death bowler Bravo sustained an injury during their game against Mumbai, but they should find a way to cover them up and their loss to Mumbai should just be a wake up call and they should be up and running for their game against Punjab, after all, they are Chennai super kings and led by Dhoni.
Dre rus is single-handedly taking KKR home in each and every game but the contribution from their top order with the likes of Uthappa and Rana are going unnoticed as they are the ones who are making life a bit easy for Russell who in turn is making life easy for KKR. They have a strong bowling unit and strong top order and then there is Russell. There is no reason why they will not qualify for the playoffs and even win the tournament eventually.
SRH is looking like the team to beat this season and they have all bases covered except for their middle order concerns. Another headache for them will be whom to drop if Williamson is fit. Soon we will get the answer to that.
Punjab though at the top of the points table, they are still not looking like a convincing side and they should hope that unlike last season they should finish the tournament on a high and qualify for the playoffs.
Overall another crucial and an entertaining week of IPL actions awaits us.
Bala'Blog 