Published: Apr 18, 2022, 03:13 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 18, 2022, 03:13 PM (IST)
As the Indian Premier League approaches the business end at a rapid pace, the new franchises – Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have lessons galore for the past masters. The lesson, while simple in theory, doesn’t seem to have been so easy for the champion teams like Mumbai Indians or Chennai Super Kings. Lead from the front is the simple mantra, adopted so well by GT skipper Hardik Pandya, his replacement Rashid Khan, and LSG top man, KL Rahul. The ability to strike hard and quick has borne sensational fruit for the two teams.
In contrast, MI captain Rohit Sharma is struggling and CSK’s new skipper Ravindra Jadeja sure looks out of place, and the results are there to see.
The same applies to the other teams as well. Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Mayank Agarwal scores, his team wins. Stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan fails, so does the side.
Among the teams on an ascending graph, only SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) are being powered by the sheer bowling velocity, namely young Umran Malik. What a find this boy is, and what a waste it would be if he doesn’t don India colours at the earliest.
Delhi Capitals (DC) are reinforced by the arrival of David Warner, but with skipper Rishabh Pant never ever looking settled, they did not find their mojo with any regularity.
Only Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis is struggling but his team is still finding points. Just an aberration. They, however have Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik to sort things out.
Highlights of the week? Without doubt, the batting of KL Rahul, the unbeaten century against MI was a master class in how to combine technique with improvisation.
Then there was Warner’s knock against RCB, Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram‘s assault on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who are struggling, again.
The culmination of the week was Umran Malik destryoing PBKS and then David Millar and Rashid Khan simply blasting CSK out of their match.
The performances of GT and LSG notwithstanding, the success story of the week for sure is of SRH. Three win have sent them rocketing up the leaderboard.
As things stand now, GT hold top spot with 10 points from six matches and a Nett Run Rate of 0.395, followed by LSG, RCB and SRH with eight points each.
The rest would do well to recover, and fast. Rajasthan Royals, KKR and PBKS stand at six points each while DC aren’t great, with four.
With the predicament of MI and CSK, one wonders if they got too complacent in their reputation instead of current facts.
In past seasons, Mumbai didn’t really bother about how many runs they conceded since they had the batting to get past most scores. That batting has let them down badly. CSK went for the “old is gold” formula but that has largely exploded in their faces so far. While MI can celebrate Dewald Brevis, there isn’t much else. CSK found some class through Shivam Dube but their bowling is struggling.
Much more to come though in IPL 2022, but its now coming to the stage that some sides will reach the point of no return soon. That is the daunting picture for this week.
(This article was first published on india.com)
