IPL24: League phase review of teams & preview of the final

 

IPL 2024 is going to culminate with the final match at  Chennai between two of the most bravest teams of this season , Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad . As  we look for the 2024 winner , we look at the review of the just concluded league phase as below of what has been a highly entertaining two gruelling months  .  We looked at how the teams did during the 2 month league phase . 

Chennai Super Kings :

Champions of 2023 , CSK looked well poised for a spot in the playoffs for a major part of the season but some crucial injuries specially in their bowling group affected their momentum . The chronic injury to their ace fast bowler  Dipak Chahar was crucial and then the late injury to Pathirana & the exit of Mustafizur Rahman for international duties for Bangladesh acted as a twin body blow in 5he secons half which affected CSK at the backend . Inconsistent form by some of their batters didnt help too. They needed a win over RCB in the final group match or a narrow loss but they could not attain either & crashed out of the IPL 2024. Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (583 runs performed well for them whereas Pathirana till he was fit was a handful in the end overs .

Gujarat Titans: 

The 2022 Champions and last year runners  suffered two major blows even before the IPL season started . Their captain Hardik Pandya rejoined Mumbai Indians that robbed GT of their top  allrounder and then Shami's injury robbed them of their pace bowling spearhead.  These two setbacks dented the Titans so much that they could not recover from that and had an inconsistent season . Key players & new captain Shubman Gill himself had an inconsistent run with the bat and Rashid Khan was below his best due to injury . Sai Sudharsan was their only signing light with impressive batting performances.

Lucknow Super Giants:

LSG had an impressive first half and for much of the season they looked poised for a playoffs berth . However an unsettled batting order and timid approach of captain KL Rahul specially during powerplay overs started to derail their campaign and they were just one win short at the end for a playoffs ticket . Some big margin losses also dented their net run rate . Nicholas Pooran  (499 runs , average 62 , strike rate 178 ) was their best performer and though Rahul scored highest runs (520) he suffered from slow strike rate (136) .  

Mumbai Indians:

MI was torn throughout the season with off the field matters as Hardik Pandya's elavation to captainy has not been reportedly liked by a co- players. On the field it was losses galore in most of the games with below par performances of both their key players Rohit & Hardik . There were a few sparkling performances by few of their batters like Surya, Tilak & Ishan in between inconsistencies. Jasprit Bumrah (20 wickets ) was their lone consistent performer in a disjointed team that finished last . 

Delhi Capitals :

It was a roller coaster ride for DC in this IPL season with some outstanding wins followed by a few deflating losses that dented their NRR . After a bad start DC briefly raised  hopes of a playoffs berth but could not close out the opportunity due to inconsistent show .  Ironically for Delhi there were some high powered individual performances .  Rishabh Pant (446 runs , 41 averaage , 155 strike rate ) , Stubbs (378 runs , 54 average, 191 strike rate ) had some outstanding outings and young Aussie Fraser McGurk (330 runs , 37 average, 234 strike rate ) was in devastating form with his batting firepower that set the stands on fire. However the Capitals could not translate them to a playoffs qualification situation. At the end they were a couple of wins short .

Punjab Kings:

Punjab Kings was part of some of the most exciting games . Like MI & DC  too many big margin losses and inconsistent performances was their undoing . They ironically seemed to do well in away games but was below par in home matches . Their overseas players barring a few isolated good shows were very dissappointing . Their original captain Shikhar Dhawan got injured after a few games and Sam Curran had to lead the team . Few good performances came from their 2 new finds Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma . Prabhsimran Singh played a few good knocks but overall no one translated their few good shows to a more consistent performances . They did raise faint hopes of a playoffs qualification but more big defeats than wins crushed their hopes . Shashank with 354 runs at 44 average and 164 strike rate showed a lot of promise .while Harshal Patel with 24 wickets proved to be the highest wicket taker in the group stages surpassing Bumrah and Varun Chakravarty.  

Royal Challengers Bangalore 

RCB  had a horrendous start losing 7 of the first 8 matches they played and looked virtually out of the reckoning . However they had an outstanding second half winning 6 successive matches to raise the playoff hopes . Their powerhouse batting lineup gelled supremely in the second half with Virat Kohli who was in excellent nick in the whole event leading the way with a staggering 741 runs at 65 average and 154 strike rate . The bowling which looked flat in the first half suddenly gelled in the second half as their pacers performed and RCB started to win their matches in style to script an excellent comeback that culminated in a rousing win over CSK in their last league game to scrape through into the playoffs where however they went down to Rajasthan  Royals and thus conpleted yet another  year without their much awaited trophy like DC & PBKS  . Apart from Kohli,  Dinesh Karthik (326 runs at 36 average and 187 strike rate ) , Cameron Green (255 runs  , 32 average , 143 strike rate , 10 wickets at 8.61 economy ) and Rajat Patidar ( 395 runs , 177 strike rate) were other impressive contributors. 

Rajasthan Royals  : 

Rajasthan Royals with their well balanced team started as one of the strong favourites to win this season and started very well in their first 10 matches winning almost everything to reach 16 points.  Their bowling looked awesome and batting looked solid as they looked in cruise control but they lost momentum at the back end to lose 4 matches on the trot  . Jos Buttler leaving early for England duty did dent their opening combo with Jaiswal not at his best form this season . With no wins in May Rajasthan Royals faced a vibrant RCB in the  eliminator and beat them with a solid performance to reach the Qualifier 2 where however they went down to SRH and thus flattered to deceive after raising such great hopes of lifting the trophy with a solid team . They failed to be clinical in the crucial run chase in Qualifier 2 . For RR  , Riyan Parag (573 runs , 52 average, 149 strike rate ) had an outstanding season while skipper Samson (533 runs , 48 runs , 153 strike rate ) looked in fine form . Boult (16 wickets) , Avesh Khan (19 wickets ) and Yuzi Chahal (18 wickets) had their bowling moments but another year without lifting the trophy will leave the Rajasthan Royals fanbase gutted.

Sunrisers Hyderabad 

SRH proved to be the most exciting team of IPL2024.  Led by Pat Cummins, doubts were there about how the team will perform this season after the last season dissappointment . However Cummins introduced the aggressive mindset which was brilliantly implemented by the two openers  Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma who always came out all guns blazing in the powerplay and has been the trendsetter of this IPL with super aggressive powerplay approach as they plundered 70 plus in powerplays multiple times which has been a big success story in this IPL . Then they had Heinrich Klaasen in the middle order to llynder runs in the second half of the innings . Sunrisers always were in the range for the playoffs with their consistent performances  though they did falter whenever the openers and Klaasen flopped as the batting strength outsid those big three were mediocre . SRH made their home their fortress and won enough away games to reach playoffs as number two team . Their bowling lacked pedigreed spinners but their quicks did enough to get them over the line abd they always looked more dangerous when setting targets . Though the got thrashed by KKR in the first Qualifier, they found a way to beat a formidable Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 to reach the final. For them so far , Travis Head ( 567 runs , 44 average, 192 strike rate ) , Abhishek Sharma ( 482 runs , 34 average and 208 strike rate ) and Heinrich Klaasen (462 runs , 43 average and 176 strike rate ) batted supremely while Natarajan (19 wickets) and Cummins (17 wickets ) were the chief wreakers . 

Kolkata Knight Riders:

KKR right through the season looked the most powerful team , best balanced, and the most clinical in executing their skills. They managed to win some close games too with their greatee mental strength iver other teams and look the favourites to lift the cup reaching the playoffs with ease with 20 points in style . Their opening combo of Salt and Narine like the SRH openers were super aggresive at the start and scored astronomical totals in powerplay overs . The middle order has looked settled with insane firepower with several options and the bowling has looked incisive with the spinners calling the shots . Even the highly expensive Mitchell Starc who was earlier struggling for form and rhytm has finally got into his momentum in the playoffs with a match winning show vs SRH . All in all KKR had an outstanding league phase and looks the favourites to lift the IPL 2024 .

The Final preview 

KKR  looks stronger team with more batting depth & better quality bowling attack specially spinners and the Chennai pitch may suit their bowling . 

SRH relies as lot on their openers & Klaasen ..rest of the batting has looked average . Bowling doesnt have the variety of KKR .

So KKR  strong favourites & SRH are underdogs .  Both teams played brave cricket  thats why they are in final and deserve to be so .

It looks 60-40 favouring KKR  but cannot count out a team that has the Aussies  Cummins & Head  who knows how to win big games.