Jarrod Kimber
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Welcome to the power list, where we rank all IPL teams based on what we have seen so far. This isn’t your mum’s points table. We are peering through the looking glass at home schedules, pitch conditions, and opposition strength.
This week, we are examining teams’ batting and bowling to see where they rank. Strap in.
Rajasthan Royals
Recent record: 2-0 W @ MI & W v RCB
They look like the best team, although they still feel an injury away from falling apart. And one other issue I have is that their last three games have been three very poor teams.
Batting: Par
Only three of their batters have scored over 30. Yashasvi Jaiswal has barely made a run, Shimron Hetmyer has faced 20 balls. But because the other three have made big scores, it doesn’t matter. They only need their batting good enough to be par, but they’ll feel better if they can spread out the runs.
Bowling: Genius
They beat RCB on a flat wicket after going in with a bowler less and using Riyan Parag. Their worst bowler is probably R Ashwin, and outside of not taking wickets, he is doing fine. Avesh Khan has looked good enough as the fifth or sixth option. There are no weaknesses.
Next games: H v GT, A v PK, A v KKR
They should get by against GT at home, and then they only have to split the away games, giving themselves a 6-1 record.
Team: Chennai Super Kings
Recent record: 0-2 L @ DC, L @ SRH
They finally went on the road and lost both matches. What’s that all about? Losing to DC seems unforgivable, and has them briefly back in the pack, and it’s a messy middle. They’ll feel much better if they get up to the comfy end of the table soon. I know they have lost two on the trot, but I still rate them against the next sides. But if they lose to KKR, I am going to have a rethink.
Batting: Par
I am not really feeling their batting right now. Daryl Mitchell has not sured it up, Rachin Ravindra is not a like-for-like with Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane does not look like the 2023 model, and Ruturaj Gaikwad is yet to start. Yet, as a team, the batting isn’t bad, so I will give it a par, because I expect some of these players to do more as we go on.
Bowling: High
Their bowling is weird when you look individually, but as a team it is working. Matheesha Parthirana and Mustafizur Rahman are taking so many wickets that they are propping them up a little. But those are two plus bowlers. Ravindra Jadeja and Maheesh Theekshana aren’t going for runs. And suddenly, Tushar Deshpande has exchanged wickets for economy in what I would call the most surprising twist of the year. Deepak Chahar finding a little more early innings form would be nice.
Next games: v KKR, @ MI & @ LSG
I’m really looking forward to the KKR match, because they should be desperate in that one, and it might tell us a little bit about them. They need to go 2-1 in their next games, and this isn’t the easiest run on recent form for that.
Team: Kolkata Knight Riders
Recent record:1-0 W @ DC
It’s hard to get a real feel on KKR, as we haven’t seen them play RR or CSK yet. SRH is the only good team they have gone up against. They also just haven’t played much. Just three games – did someone forget to get them games?
Batting: So high right now
They are scoring at two runs a ball, basically, and averaging 40 runs per wicket. These things will come down. Surely, Sunil Narine can’t do this all season long. At the moment, the three leading scorers are Narine, Dre Russ, and Phil Salt. No one was expecting that. I think below the raw numbers, it’s a little more messy, but it’s working now.
Bowling: Par
They’re taking wickets at the highest rate of anyone right now. Obviously, runs per over are not on their side, as they’ve bowled on some flat pitches. But that makes their wickets more impressive. The big issues right now are Mitchell Starc and Varun Chakravarthy. They need at least one of these to be better, and probably both.
Next games: @ CSK, v LSG & v RR
Now we are talking. In just over a week, we’ll know a lot more. Is this a team that got a soft early season, or is it the real deal? But because they have three wins: if they go 1-2, they’re still 4-2 overall. But they do have two home games here, so a 2-1 would be tasty.
Team: Lucknow Super Giants
Recent record: 2-0 W @ RCB, W v GT
They beat a poor RCB side on the road and stole one against Gujarat, which had as much to do with them as it did with GT having some really poor moments. So far, I would say they have beaten the teams better than them and lost to the others.
Batting: Par
I don’t love their batting, but NIcholas Pooran in form is nice. Three more players have 100 runs as well. It is fine, but not elite.
Bowling: Above par
They are nowhere near Rajasthan, but the numbers suggest they are second best. I think they have overachieved a little. Yash Thakur is taking wickets, Krunal Pandya is having a career year, and Ravi Bishnoi hasn’t even always needed to bowl. I like their spin a lot, but worry about their seam if Naveen-ul-Haq can’t get better.
Next games: v DC & @ KKR
They should win their next match, which should be enough to get them into the playoffs. But KKR should be favourites at home. Even so, 4-2 is still really strong, especially with the CSK, SRH, PK, GT show behind them. However, their first five games are a soft start to a season.
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad
Recent record: 1-0 W v CSK
They played one game this week, but it was a very good one, knocking off CSK. That gets them up to .500, which seems about right for how they have played.
Batting: Huge
They have the second-best average and runs per over. Some of the RPO is because of the record-setting wickets they’ve been on. But they have four guys with over 100 runs, so it’s very well spread out. Also, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen look in match-winning touch.
Bowling: Way down
T Natarajan and Pat Cummins are both doing very well. The rest of their bowling is not. Bhuvneshwar Kumar can’t get a wicket, Mayank Markande and Jaydev Unadkat seem to be set to struggle. And they have already cycled through Umran Malik, Washington Sundar and Marco Jansen for poor results. Not having Wanindu Hasaranga available at all during the IPL is a huge loss.
Next games: @ PK & @ RCB
They have two games in 15 days after their CSK match. And they’re both away. But they’re against two of the poorer sides. I would like them to go 2-0, but I think 1-1 is more likely, which leaves them exactly where they are right now.
Team: Gujarat Titans
Recent record: 0-2 L v PK & L @ LSG
They lost the game to PK, which is bad twice because it gave another team near them a break and caused them to lose at home when they were well on top. Actually, they lost three times because they were in front for two matches and lost both.
Batting: Poor
They have so many guys who get stuck, and I feel like David Miller and Shubman Gill need to do almost all the work. Not sure how they fix this without Gill scoring 600 and Miller 450.
Bowling: Above par
Love their death bowling and Noor Ahmad. But they need to find a way to take wickets early on.
Next games: @ RR & v DC
They are playing the best team away, coming off a loss, I expect them to be 2-4 coming into the match against Delhi that they should win. Therefore pulling them back to 3-4.
Team: Punjab Kings
Recent record: 1-1 L @ GT, W @ LSG
They stole the LSG game with a late flourish, giving their record some balance. However, their loss against RCB early in the season looks worse by the day. They are .500 with only one home game.
Batting: Par
I would put it as just holding in there. It’s kind of working how they planned it. Shikhar Dhawan batting long, and everyone else making a couple of runs but quickly. I still don’t feel great about it.
Bowling: Slightly under par
The overall numbers hold up well for par, but they have three bowlers with good numbers and three with terrible. Two of their front liners are allowing over 11 runs per over.
Next games: v SRH, RR & MI
They have played three home games in a row. If they can squeeze by SRH and take down MI, they are 4-3. They would take that, and I think that’s very doable if they keep playing like this.
Team: Mumbai Indians
Recent record:1-1 L v RR, W v DC
They beat the poor team and lost to the good one. That puts them at 1-3, but if you think about the GT game that they should have won, they are not that far from a .500 team. If you are a Mumbai fan, it probably doesn’t feel like that, though.
Batting: Sub-par
They are set up to hit sixes, and they are trying, but none of them can stay in. They also have hitters who have gotten stuck a few times. I think it can still come good. Suryakumar Yadav has basically not played. But it hasn’t quite worked as they want it to right now.
Bowling: Terrible
Going at ten runs an over and not taking wickets. With Jasprit Bumrah going for no runs and Gerald Coetzee taking wickets. They have burnt two left-arm quicks and don’t have spin.
Next games: v RCB, v CSK & @ PK
Two home games are nice, and even the one against PK is gettable. I can see them going 2-1 here as a real possibility. But it will have to be from hitting sixes, which is a high-risk strategy.
Team: Royal Challengers Bangalore
Recent record: 0-2 L v LSG & L @ RR
It’s over, right? They have played three games at home and have a losing record. But they have played many teams at the top of the table, so I expect some wins from here. It might be too late, though.
Batting: Sub-par
Virat Kohli has 300 runs, and Faf du Plessis has 100. No one else has any runs, but Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthilk have looked good. But it’s not pretty. They need to make a lot of runs, and they are not.
Bowling: Awful
They have no spin, an allrounder who is being overbowled, and Mohammed Siraj not turning up. They are going at 9.4 runs per over and, with no wickets, averaging 40. At least they dropped Alzarri Joseph after making him bowl bouncers in the first few games.
Next games: @ MI, v SRH, @ KKR
It would be hard to see how they go 2-1 in this lot with two games on the road. Let’s say they get their act together and take down MI. Can they split the other two? It seems unlikely.
Team: Delhi Capitals
Recent record: 1-2 W v CSK, L @ KKR & L @ MI
I love that they only won a single match, and it was against CSK. But they look poor. KKR hammered them, and Tristan Stubbs made the game against MI look closer than it was. But they were out of the game for a long time.
Batting: Low
They lose a wicket every 24 runs, which puts them dead last. They score quickly, but they need their batters to stay a lot longer. They will be happy with Stubbs’s form, and picking Prithvi Shaw has certainly helped.
Bowling: Lower than low
They go at over ten runs an over and don’t take wickets. Anrich Nortje can’t bowl at the death, and they have one spinner until Kuldeep Yadav returns. I honestly don’t know how they can take wickets without Kuldeep, and their bowling is not strong with him.
Next games: @ LSG, @ GT & v SRH
There are two away games and three tricky games. Their season is probably over, but we’re wondering now if their batting can cause issues for teams with poor bowling lineups. The SRH game might be one to note.
