We are three weeks into the IPL. We’ve had every team win a match, what more you can wish for? So let us make sense of it the only way we know, with our power list.
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RCB (Previous Ranking: 1)
Last week: RCB beat Lucknow quite comfortably, and took Delhi to the last over before David Miller finished it off. Both the wickets were a bit tricky, so we didn’t see loads of runs.
One player doing well: Bhuvneshwar Kumar
It’s hard to pinpoint an objectively bad game for him. He’s been among the top wicket-takers, and nobody has scored off him either.
One player doing badly: Jitesh Sharma
In both chases, he came in without having much left to do. But he’s gotten stuck a couple of times batting first, most noticeably against Delhi.
Next: v GT (Apr 24), @ DC (Apr 27), @ GT (Apr 30)
Road ahead: RCB were 4-2 in 6 games and 5-3 in 8 last season too. So a 2-1 split in three should work. They’re in a streak of playing LSG, DC and GT home and away for six games, so far it’s 1-1 in two.
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PBKS (Previous Ranking: 2)
Last week: Mumbai seemed to be on course to set a huge total after the early wickets, but Punjab were able to restrict them before gunning it down comfortably. Lucknow was a mauling.
One player doing well: Cooper Connolly
Cooper Connolly has been really impressive this IPL. He’s now stepped up in three of the five innings. Despite getting stuck in the powerplay versus LSG, he broke free and ended up playing a ridiculous knock.
One player doing badly: Nehal Wadhera
It’s obviously nitpicking when we’re talking about a team like Punjab. But Wadhera has been far from his best. He’s at 41.7% dot balls, compared to 31.3 last season, plus he’s not found many fours either.
Next: @ DC (Apr 25, afternoon game), v RR (Apr 28), @ GT (May 3)
Road ahead: They’re unbeaten so far, but the teams coming up should give them more competition. Even 2-1 sets them up nicely for the playoffs.
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RR (Previous Ranking: 3)
Last week: If Nandre Burger takes that sitter, we might be having a different conversation. But Ravindra Jadeja was 2/8 in 3 overs, and didn’t bowl out too. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had another solid game, but their middle order didn’t perform again.
One player doing well: Ravi Bishnoi
Ravi Bishnoi has already taken one wicket more than last season. He’s attacking the stumps more. Yes, in the last couple of games he’s conceded a few, but his bowling has definitely been a difference compared to their spinners from last year.
One player doing badly: Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag had two solid IPL seasons, and now he has the full-time captaincy too. There have been enough chances for him to make an impact, but it has been a terrible year for him so far.
Next: @ LSG (Apr 22), v SRH (Apr 25, night game), @ PBKS (Apr 28)
Road ahead: RR have two games on the road, and SRH at home is sandwiched between those. They should still back themselves to go 2-1, and they could always learn from the mistakes they made against SRH in the away fixture.
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DC (Previous Ranking: 6)
Last week: Their bowlers pulled the game back in the first innings before the batters took it deep in the run-chase versus RCB. KL Rahul batted with high-intent despite early wickets, and Tristan Stubbs played the finishing anchor.
One player doing well: Lungi Ngidi
Ngidi’s pace-off deliveries have lit up the IPL too. In the final five overs, he is going for only 7.5 econ and even in the Powerplay he’s not conceded too many.
One player doing badly: Error 404
It’s a batting lineup with an incredibly high floor and the bowling attack is solid. Someone like Nitish Rana, who had three bad games, has been dropped now.
Next: @ SRH (Apr 21), v PBKS (Apr 25, afternoon game), v RCB (Apr 27)
Road ahead: They face an on the rise SRH and then two strong teams in three days. So it’s certainly not an easy ride ahead. A 2-1 split here means they’d have done pretty well.
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GT (Previous Ranking: 4)
Last week: Gujarat did well to restrict KKR to 180 in the first innings, and never really looked out of control during the chase. But against MI, it was the opposite; the hosts scored 96 in the last six and had them 55/5 in the eighth over.
One player doing well: Rashid Khan
Rashid has six wickets in as many games, but crucially he’s going at only 7.7 runs per over. His performances in the middle overs with Prasidh Krishna and Ashok Sharma allow GT to keep the lid on batting teams.
One player doing badly: Sai Sudharsan
In 2025, Sai Sudharsan ended the season with the most runs. He was extremely critical to their top-heavy strategy. He did have a solid game against RR, albeit in a close loss. But he’s only made 62 in the other five innings combined.
Next: @ RCB (Apr 24), v CSK (Apr 26, afternoon game), v RCB (Apr 30)
Road ahead: They are 3-3 currently, and two of their next three games are against RCB. If they can come out of this with 2-1, they shouldn’t be too disappointed. That is certainly possible if their bowling unit clicks at Chinnaswamy.