पिक्चर अभी बाक़ी है

This season of the IPL is more than ⅓ done. This time there have been quite a few low scoring games this IPL already. Out of 21 games played, 9 games have been under the score of 150 runs scored by the team batting first. In the previous season ,11 out of 60 games were under the score of 150 by the team batting first. There is a huge difference in the way the Indian Pitches are playing versus the UAE pitches. 6 out of the 9 games of the low scores were played in Chennai however in the 2019 season only 3 out of 8 games played in the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium was lower than that score. So have the conditions changed or are the bowlers getting better and better. While 150 is not a bad total, it is below par to what these batsmen could do. Also In 2021,3 out of those 9 games were won by the team batting first despite setting the low total. Hence if the batsmen are unable to chase these totals too,this means that the bowlers are doing a good job which makes the season even more exciting to watch. Cricket is surely a batsman’s game so watching bowlers do well makes it that much more special. This was something interesting in the season I have seen in the season so far. Let me know in the comments below what you found interesting. Now let me talk about the top 4 teams in the table as of 27th of March. I will talk about the rest of the 4 teams in part two of this blog.

This season RCB is at the top of the table. RCB has impressed again with a brilliant start to their season. They had a few close calls however despite having a bad reputation of choking in those pressure situations have come out strong. They won against Delhi Capitals with just one run and defending 14 runs in the final over.Their only loss has been against CSK in that extremely one sided match which I mentioned earlier. Glenn Maxwell was their big buy this season and there were a lot of question marks against his name and the price tag attached to his name especially because of the previous meagre seasons he had. It was always frustrating to see a player with such potential to destroy bowlers single handedly not doing that. However he seems to fit in well with RCB and has performed better than he did in the previous seasons and is also their leading run getter at the moment. He has had the chance to come higher in the order and also the freedom to take a little bit of time and play his shots as they have AB De Villiers at the end to hold fort. Wow AB De Villiers has never ceased to impress me with his incredible batting! He has not played cricket year round and just comes to IPL and with pure genius takes games away with brilliant shots all around the ground. He is the second highest run getter for RCB so far and comes at number 5 or 6 to bat! There has been a lot of buzz around him to perhaps come out of his retirement to play the T20 world cup this year for South Africa and if he does he is going to give everyone a run for their money. Their bowling has surely picked up too which also owes to their success so far. Harshal Patel has been their strike bowler and is the current purple cap holder with 15 wickets to his name.

This season, CSK have made a strong comeback after a below par previous season. They have lost only one out of their 5. The team is finally coming together and playing as a unit unlike the previous season where they looked very scattered and unclear. A huge plus for them has been the comeback of Suresh Raina into the squad. He brings a lot of stability to their team as he can maneuver through the middle overs very well. Another thing is that they aren’t dependent on one player to fire, each game there is someone new who is stepping up and winning them games. In their last match, Jadeja Single Handedly won them their match by doing most of the work in batting, bowling and fielding. Not only that they have won the other matches , they have won quite decisively. They are winning matches with big margins.They stopped RCB’s dream run of winning their first 4 matches on the trot and beat them by 69 runs! It was a great win because of the red hot form RCB was in.

Delhi Capitals is next on the list and it is a team that keeps on getting better each year. This year under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant, they too have been on fire. They have won 4 out of their 6 games with two big score chases which they chased down very comfortably, a low scoring game in which they bowled brilliantly to keep Mumbai to only 137 and also had a small hiccup when they were a part of a super over however they came out on top. They lost against RCB after getting very close due to the valiant innings of Shimron Hetmyr. It was heartbreaking but other than that there have been multiple things that are in their favour. Delhi’s batting has been a big plus with Shikhar Dhawan who is the orange cap holder ( most runs in the season) in great form along with the young Prithvi Shaw who has looked in great touch. Rishabh Pant has stepped up very well to his new role of captain and given finishing touches to the team. They have a great bowling with the likes of Rabada and the experienced Amit Mishra. However they have had a setback with the exit of Ravichandran Ashwin from IPL. Still they have challenged all the sides with an all round performance and I am excited to see what the season will bring for them.

Now Mumbai Indians, the team that I support in IPL. The defending Champions are tied at 4 points with 3 other teams however is higher in the table due to a superior net run rate which is still in the negative. It is the only team in the top 4 that looks not that confident and iffy. They have had quite a few problems but mostly with their middle order. Mumbai Indians like CSK have not changed their team much and they had a pretty solid Middle order with the Pandya Brothers, Pollard , Ishan Kishan. They have been batting first in all of their matches so far and only 2 times been able to cross the score of 150 in which also they managed just 159 and 152. Out of that too, they have won 2 matches and almost come close in 3 matches. So I don’t see a big problem with their bowling and how can I. They have Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and also Rahul Chahar who has been doing amazing and is their leading wicket taker. Their batting needs to fire up to give something to the bowlers to defend. Rohit Sharma is their leading run scorer with 201 runs under his belt and Suryakumar Yadav second with 154. Their other players are world class players however have just not been able to capitalise even after a good start by the openers. If their batting performs as they usually do, this team will look different. Then they can pull off a hat trick of IPL Victories.

In my family, we have rivalries between my grandma, dad and me. All the three generations support different teams but we get closer during this time by trash talking and making fun of each other's team performance. I am sure a lot of you relate to these rivalries not only with your family but your friends too .

It is my grandmother’s birthday too and she would want no other gift than her favourite team CSK winning tonight, while on the other hand her son (my dad) is supporting SRH. So the rivalry today in my family is pretty high today.

These are the top 4 teams as of 27th of April. I will be covering the next 4 teams in part two of this blog. Comment below the team you support and any interesting prediction you would want to make.