This edition of Indian Premier League(IPL) has turned out to be West Indian Premier League(WIPL). Though Indians have managed to pull back in the last few days with some gritty and classy knocks from Rahul, Rayudu,Dhoni, Iyer, Mayank , Gill and Shikhar its the West Indians who are proving to be too hot to handle for the oppositions as their raw hitting power with the bat and raw pace bowling has taken this IPL to whole new level. This week also ensured that Russell and Dhoni are also human beings as Russell showed that he can bat at a strike rate of 113 too against CSK and not always above 200 and Dhoni who is normally termed as captain cool who hides his emotions even in extreme situations finally lost his cool and finally showed emotions due to umpiring error.
Mumbai Indians are looking like the team to beat after halfway through the competition. Their winning streak started against the defending champions CSK in their home and they never looked back thereafter. They included Alzarri Joseph in place of injured Milne and that boy made the whole world to talk about him with a dream debut against SRH with figures of 6 for 12. Then two days later its time for another West Indian Pollard who took the captaincy responsibility from Rohit who was injured and blasted Punjab bowlers with no mercy with a 31 ball 83 as Mumbai completed a record chase in Wankhede. They certainly have no problems what so ever and would be the happiest team at present.
Chennai super kings are just 2 wins away from entering another play-off and this week will be crucial for them as they have 3 back to back away games where all those wickets will have some pace and bounce which they are not used to so far in this season. So it will be interesting to see how they adapt to those wickets.
RCB has signed Dale Steyn in place of injured Nathan Coulter Nile and he will be available from April 19th but RCB have two games in between which they have to win to stay in contention for the playoffs and to make the selection of Steyn to count.
Kings XI have won 4 games so far in 7 matches and they would be aware of their second-half blues which they had last season. They defended 2 times and chased down 2 times in their 4 wins so they will be confident that they can defend as well as chase if they are asked to as they have done both successfully. Their 5 bowler theory is hurting them big time, as they don’t have a 6th bowling option they are suffering if any one of their regular bowlers is having a bad day. They will be looking to accommodate Henriques into their team as he can provide some seam-up bowling in middle overs.
Rajasthan Royals‘ management has to make some decisions if they are to make the playoffs. They definitely cannot have both Rahane and Smith in their top 3 as both are similar kind of players and both do not have attacking natural game. They are not making use of Stokes’ batting and their bowling does not seem to have the tooth in death overs and all these are costing RR big time. They have to make some bold decisions like bringing in Livingstone and turner in place of misfiring Smith and Stokes as both Livingstone and Turner are naturally attacking players and can take the game away from the opposition in no time with their power hitting.
Delhi capitals slowly getting into their groove as they are relatively in good space at the moment. They have 4 wins from 7 games which should have been 5 wins if not for their epic choke against Punjab. Shikhar Dhawan is amongst the runs and their captain is in good nick and then there is Pant and Prithvi who all are in good touch. Their bowling is looking deadly with Ishant taking the control with the new ball and Rabada and Morris restricting the opposition in death overs and Axar Patel not letting the opposition to score freely in middle overs. The only concern they would have is the pitch that is on offer in Kotla which is terrible and they will expect some good sporting tracks in their following games.
Sun risers Hyderabad, though after losing back to back games they wouldn’t be worried because they have the team which could go all the way through and they could see those losses as just a wake up call. With their captain Kane Williamson back in their ranks for the next game they should feel more confident now and they will be eager to get back to the winning games.
Kolkata Knight Riders were looking like the team with less number of worries last week but they have found themselves with lots of questions to answer this week. Their opening was looking woeful with Lynn and Narine. They promoted Gill to open the innings in their last game against DC and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands and made a classy 65 of 39 balls which will prompt them to make Gill as a regular opener in place of Lynn and once Narine returns he might pair up along with Gill and they might look to persist with Carlos or Denly for some more game. Their bowling is not looking great at the moment and slowly opponents are finding a way to restrict Russell which is a dangerous sign for KKR. Their captain is not in the best of form and their next match is against CSK. They badly need a win in their next game to get back on track
All in all a revenge week in IPL awaits us and more importantly all eyes will be on the 15 member world cup squad which will be announced on April 15th
Bala'Blog 