Sunrisers Hyderabad
Strength:
Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma’s opening partnership has revolutionized T20 batting and has had a massive impact on SRH’s phenomenal success this season. No pair has added more runs than the 676 by Head-Sharma in the tournament. That they have done so at a strike rate of 229 with three hundred partnerships is a testament to how devastating they have been at the top of the order for SRH.
Weakness:
SRH don’t have a world-class spinner this season and have been the worst spin bowling unit in the tournament. Their slower bowlers have picked the fewest wickets (13), have the worst economy (11.1), and the worst bowling average (50.2) in the competition. This could pose a big problem for them at Chepauk.
X-Factor:
Travis Head is a big-match player who raises his game on the biggest stage when it matters most. He showcased this big-match temperament in two big ICC tournaments last year, hammering tons in the final of the World Test Championship and the World Cup. Head has been in menacing form this season in the IPL and is at number 3 on the aggregate list with 533 runs at a strike rate of 201.1 with one hundred and four fifties.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Strength:
The biggest strength for KKR will be their spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. They have combined to pick 33 wickets – the most for any spin unit – at the best average and strike rate in the tournament. Only their CSK counterparts, with an economy of 7.7, have been marginally more restrictive than the KKR duo (economy of 8).
Weakness:
KKR’s biggest weakness is the batting form of their skipper, Shreyas Iyer, who has mainly batted from the number 4 position in the tournament. Iyer has not been at his fluent best and scored just 287 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 135.4 with just one solitary fifty.
X-Factor:
The opening partnership of Sunil Narine and Phil Salt has provided KKR with the impetus at the top of the order and have followed the same aggressive template as Head-Sharma for SRH. Narine and Salt have added 559 runs in just 12 innings with five fifty stands and one century partnership at a startling strike-rate of 207.8.
Rajasthan Royals
Strength:
The form of skipper Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag has been the biggest strength for the Royals this season. Samson and Parag have scored in excess of 500 runs at strike rates in the 150s with nine fifties between them. With the opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler not at their peak this season, it was Samson and Parag who produced match-winning performances for the Royals in the first half of their campaign which gave them the early ascendancy in the tournament.
Weakness:
The Royals seem to have peaked too soon and won eight of their first nine matches in the season. However, they suddenly ran out of steam and have lost four of their last five matches with one washout. The Royals not only enter the playoffs with no momentum but also a tad low on confidence. The dramatic change in fortunes also meant that they finished third on the points table taking away that cushion of an extra match to make the playoffs.
X-Factor:
Trent Boult’s spell in the powerplay will be crucial for the Royals in the Eliminator against RCB in Ahmedabad. The left-armer has a knack of picking wickets with the new ball – in fact, no bowler has accounted for more dismissals in the powerplay than Boult (49) in the IPL since 2019!
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Strength:
The form of Virat Kohli at the top of the order is the biggest positive for the Challengers entering the playoffs. Kohli is the leading run-getter of the tournament with an aggregate of 708 runs in 14 innings with one hundred and five fifties. The Indian great has matched his phenomenal consistency with an aggressive intent in this edition and is scoring at a rate of 155.6, which is his highest ever in an IPL season!
Weakness:
RCB has always been a top-heavy batting unit, and that has not changed this season too. They are over-dependent on the Big 3 – Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Rajat Patidar – and should two of them fail in an encounter, it will put immense pressure on their middle and lower-order. Despite the resurgence, RCB has the third-lowest batting average for positions 5-7 in the tournament.
X-Factor:
Rajat Patidar will be the X-factor for the RCB in the playoffs, given the surfaces in Ahmedabad and Chennai will assist the slower bowlers. Patidar has been the most destructive RCB batter in their late surge in the tournament and has dominated the spinners through the season. Patidar’s strike rate of 210.9 against the spinners is the second-best in the season amongst the 26 batters who have scored a minimum of 100 runs against the slower bowlers.
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