The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League is now a week old and already has already seen some exciting cricket and intense matches amongst 10 well-balanced teams. Most of the first week was dominated by the news off the ground as a host of injuries and unavailability of players due to other commitments impacted almost all the teams significantly. The introduction of the ‘Impact Substitution’ was also a big talking point.
Injury and unavailability
Players like Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant, and Jonny Bairstow withdrew their names from the IPL even before a ball was bowled in the tournament. However, in the last week a host of players also joined the list. The two biggest names are Kane Williamson from Gujarat Titans and Shakib Al Hasan from Kolkata Knight Riders. Williamson injured his knee in the very first match of the tournament and will require a surgery that may take him even out of the World Cup 2023 which will be a huge blow for New Zealand. Shakib, on the other hand,decided to withdraw his name due to other commitments as Bangladesh Cricket Board is not so keen to provide the NOC to their star player keeping in mind the scheduled matches. Dasun Shanaka and Jason Roy replaced Williamson and Shakib respectively in their respective teams. There were also injuries to players like Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Reece Topley, Mohsin Khan, and Mukesh Choudhary who will not take any part in this tournament this year.
New inclusions
On the other hand, there will be a group of players who are now available or will be soon available after completing their international commitments. A bunch of South Africans like Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram, Anrich Nortje, and SisandaMagala have just recently joined their team. Some of the Sri Lankan players including WaninduHasaranga will also join their respective teams within next few days.
Impact Player
The Impact sub rule has proved to be an interesting one thus far. It resulted in teams effective playing with 12 players. As a result, the need for including all-rounders in the playing elevens are decreasing. Till now two performances stood out from the Impact subs; the bowling spell ofSuyash Sharma from Kolkata Knight Riders (3/30) and Dhruv Jurel’s 15-ball 32 for Rajasthan Royals.
Team reviews
Top three: Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants
If we talk about ‘cricket’, it was top class and two teams, Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings currently have 100% win records currently after two matches each. The Titans clearly looked the strongest outfit with most of the basse covered. The Hardik Pandya-led franchise played like a well-oiled machine where Shubhman Gill, WriddhimanSaha, and young Sai Sudharsanare taking care of the top order and Hardik himself along with David Miller and Rahul Tewatia managing the finishing job. Their bowling is also in form with Mohammad Shami, Alzarri Joseph, and Rashid Khan leading the way.
Punjab Kings also won two matches however, there are still few gaps to be filled for them. With players like Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada expected to be back in next few days, their performances should move towards up. In Nathan Ellis, they have found a very good back up bowler.
Lucknow Super Giants also won two out of their three matches. There are quite a few strong areas for them especially their batting and spin bowling. Kyle Mayers only played due to the unavailability of de Kock but he grabbed the opportunity by both hands with two attacking half-centuries at the top and provided the Super Giants team management a happy headache.
Next in queue: Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore
Four teams, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore now have one win from two matches. Among them, Rajasthan Royals looked the strongest. They were the runners-up from last year and kept most of their core players. In Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, they have three most explosive batters in their top-order and the introduction of their impact substitute Dhruv Jurel almost won them their second match. In bowling they have the experienced Trent Boult and Yuzvendra Chahal to lead the way.
KKR did not look too strong as their top-order faltered in both matches. They will be happy with the performance of RahmanullahGurbaz but may need to bring in Narayan Jagadeesan in place of Mandeep Singh or Venkatesh Iyer. However, their spinners looked in form. If they stick to their three-spinner formula with Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and young Suyash Sharma, then Eden Gardens can become a fortress for them. They would also be happy with all-round performance of Shardul Thakur and will hope that Andre Russell joins the party soon.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is the standout star for MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. Their aged players perform would be a concern for them but the early form shown by Shivam Dubey, Devon Conway, and Moeen Ali will give them comfort.
Royal Challengers Bangalore also will be happy with their batters, especially Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. The loss of Rajat Patidar will be a big blow for them but they will hope Glenn Maxwell gets some form and contributions come from the finishers like Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Anuj Rawat. The exit of Reece Topley is a problem for them but the return of Hasaranga will be a big boost.
Bottom three: Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians
Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mumbai Indians are the three teams yet to open their experience. There are some gaping holes in all three teams, and they would look to overcome them as soon as possible. The Capitals have a good bowling attack and the return of Anrich Nortje will be a big advantage for them. However, they need their top-order of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw to fire.
Mumbai on the other hand, have a strong batting line-up but are missing Bumrah dearly. They would expect Jofra Archer to lead their bowling and some good support for him.Sunrisers Hyderabad looked the most underwhelming till now but they also have some good players in Markram, Umran Malik, and Rahul Tripathi. They need to pull them up if they want to compete for top four.
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