IPL 2020 - Halfway Analysis

It's a cricket season again. The world's most popular cricket competition 'IPL' is underway and has reached its a half-way mark. It will be interesting to see how eight teams have performed so far and who will be likely to reach in a play-off. 

As most of you must be aware, there are eight teams in IPL and each team will get to play 14 matches and the top four will reach the play-off. Now, all teams have played seven matches. I think we can predict who will be likely to reach the top four. 

Mumbai Indians:

So far they looked more complete team in all eight teams. They have the best batting line-up and a very good bowling line-up. They have Rohit, de Cock, Surya Kumar Yadav as the top three followed by power hitters like the Pandya brothers, Pollard and Ishan Kishan. The bowling is backed by two world-class fast bowlers, Bumrah and Boult. Importantly, Pollard, Hardik and Krunal are all-rounders, which add value to their bowling department. The only weakness we can see in this team is there is no proper batsman after the number. However, in this format, you have to face only 120 balls and most of the days, seven batsmen are good enough. 

Prediction:

MI will easily reach in the top four and they will most likely to grab the first or second spot. They are the favourite to win this edition of IPL. 

Delhi Capital:

They looked promising throughout the first half of the tournament. With the 10 points in their pocket, they have to win three more matches out of the remaining seven matches to reach 16 points, a minimum requirement to reach the play-off. However, they are facing some problems with the team combination after Rishab Pant got injured. They have to replace Pant with Carey who is the foreigner cricketer and hence they have to drop Hetmyr from the playing eleven as the team can only allow four non-Indian players. 

Prediction: 

With only three wins required, they are likely to reach the play-off but their journey will be difficult. They may reach to the final if their Indian players put astonishing performance with the bat. 

Royal Challenger Bangalore:

For the last so many years this team is waiting to win this competition. They were always a powerhouse with their bats but never backed by decent bowling performance. They knew that they have a problem with their bowling and tried to address it this year. Again, the batting looks promising with the top four that includes Virat, Finch, AB Devilliers and the young batting sensation Padikkal. With Chahal and Sunder as spilling option, they looked decent at the bowling front as well. 

Prediction: 

With only three wins required, they are likely to reach the play-off. If ABD continues with the way he is playing, they have hope to win this competition for the first time. 

KKR:

This team looks good on the paper but their performance in this IPL is on and off. Their key player Andre Russel did not fire with the bat. Their captain Dinesh Kartik also had only one decent inning so far. They won two close matches because of Narayan but he has been again spotted for a suspected bowling action. If KKR wishes to reach the play-off then they would need the service of Sunil Narayan. On the positive front, young Gill is batting superbly at top and Cummins is justifying the high price tag with his super test match bowling. 

Prediction:

What KKR did well in the tournament? They won four matches out of seven irrespective of their sub-par performance. They have to win four more matches out of the remaining seven matches and they have players who can help them to achieve this feat. 

RR:

Rajastan Royals started on a great note winning the first two matches but after that they won only match in their last five matches. The team has a decent batting line-up but the top order failed to perform consistently. They are yet to sure about who will be their opening pair. The team looks good on paper but their performance on the ground does not justify this. 

Prediction:

They are on six points so they have to win at least five matches out of their remaining matches. It looks difficult for them but they are one from the bottom four who has a decent chance. 

SRH:

This team always performed well in last few IPL seasons. They always had a great bowling line up with a decent batting lineup. However, this year they look off-colour so far. With Bhuvaneshwar is not playing their bowling does not look threatening as it used to be. They mainly lack the power hitters down the order with Warner and Bairstow doing a more than decent job at the top. 

Prediction: 

Like RR, they are also on six points and have to win at least five matches out of remaining six matches. They are more likely to miss the play-off this year. 

CSK:

They were always in the top two in most of the IPL seasons. However, this year they looked totally off-colour. With Dhoni is loosing his cool with every defeat, it is the sign of everything is not well with this team. 

Prediction:

They have to win at least five matches out of remaining six matches. However, looking at the way they are playing it is very unlikely that they will qualify this year. If they do then that will be one the great escape in the IPL history. 

King's XI:

They looked promising at the start of the tournament but lost too many close matches. Their captain is a leading run scorer in this season but his team is at the bottom of the table. With Rahul and Mayank only firing at the top, the team does not look settle. 

Prediction:

With only one win in the first half they are more or less out of the tournament. They does not look like a team who can win all their remaining seven matches. 

So, on the half-way mark, we can clearly predict who will be going to be the part of the play-off. MI, Delhi Capital and Banglore Royal challenger are clearly favourite and KKR or RR will grab the last remaing spot. This is not a great sign for the viewer who would love to see more instance competition.