We finally have a top five and a bottom five. How that will shake out, we have no idea. But instead of dwelling on that, we’re assembling the teams in an order that will not be replicated next week.
Welcome to the IPL Power Rankings.
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RCB (Previous Ranking: 1)
Last week: High-intent Virat Kohli looked like a million bucks against Kagiso Rabada, but went out trying to smash him. Devdutt Padikkal was the top run-scorer, but they had their third major collapse of the season. GT decided to counter attack early and once their top three went out, the hosts knocked it around. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was again the pick of RCB’s bowlers.
Best batting phase: Powerplay
Virat Kohli is solid as ever and can find fours with such ease, while the new Devdutt Padikkal is smashing sixes. Phil Salt had a couple of brisk starts too before he had to sit out after a finger injury. The question has to be, is Jacob Bethell ready to take over his role just yet?
Best bowling phase: Powerplay
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has decided to run it back to his peak years. His combination with Josh Hazlewood – who hasn’t even been at his absolute best yet – up top has been one of the biggest reasons for their recent success. And remember, they also had Jacob Duffy who won them a game against SRH earlier in the year.
Next: @ LSG (May 7), v MI (May 10, night game), v KKR (May 13)
Road ahead: They go to Lucknow next, which should suit their seamers and they have the batting quality to deal with LSG’s spicy pace attack. They play Mumbai and an on-the-rise Kolkata in Raipur, so we’ll observe how this pitch plays out. This is perhaps their best chance to push for top two, because their last two games are challenging.
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PBKS (Previous Ranking: 2)
Last week: Their seamers went for plenty while defending 222 against RR, and they were 47/5 in the 9th over batting first at Ahmedabad. But they rescued themselves from that collapse, so their depth was tested and it passed with flying colours. Suryansh Shedge scored at nearly two runs a ball in his fifth IPL knock. Remember, Marcus Stoinis also had a late flourish against RR.
Best batting phase: Powerplay
The PBKS opening pair is the fastest in the league, scoring at almost two runs an over quicker than Travishek in second place. Priyansh Arya’s strike rate is over 250, while Prabhsimran Singh is in the high 170s in the first six overs. Cooper Connolly doesn’t really go hard in this phase when he’s in.
Best bowling phase: Middle overs
Even though they haven’t really picked up too many wickets from overs 7 to 16, it’s the one period where they concede less than ten runs per over. Yuzvendra Chahal and Vyshak Vijaykumar have taken a few wickets between them, while Marco Jansen has stemmed the flow of runs.
Next: @ SRH (May 6), v DC (May 11), v MI (May 14)
Road ahead: Punjab have to play SRH on the road, after which they shall move their home base to Dharamsala. Like Raipur, it’s worth keeping an eye on how that wicket behaves too. They play two bottom table teams, two top four and one mid-table as of now to finish their league stage.
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SRH (Previous Ranking: 3)
Last week: SRH were cruising along against KKR before they collapsed hard. Their bowlers went for plenty at the Wankhede, but they actually pulled it back at the death. And then multiple batters stepped up to chase down 244. Travis Head is back, baby. Never been more back; he smacked Sunil Narine and Jasprit Bumrah.
Best batting phase: Powerplay
We may not be experiencing peak Travishek this year, especially as Head’s form had been patchy before the last couple of fixtures. But Ishan Kishan has helped cover for that. In the first six overs, Abhishek’s striking the ball at 227, Kishan 189 and a ‘not at his best’ Head at 170.
Best bowling phase: Middle overs
There are two specific games they’ve pulled back with the ball in the middle period – KKR away and CSK home. Eshan Malinga has been the main strike bowling option, while Sakib Hussain has really impressed in his first year at the IPL too. Left arm wristspinner Shivang Kumar has bowled the most for them in this period. They also have the option of Pat Cummins now.
Next: v PBKS (May 6), @ GT (May 12), @ CSK (May 18)
Road ahead: The next two games at incredibly important, because both teams are at exactly six wins as we speak. This is the point where teams take points off each other. Also, their final league stage game is against RCB. We said last time that they play two out of form teams, and they went 1-1, which isn’t ideal.
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RR (Previous Ranking: 4)
Last week: They lost their openers early against Delhi, but Riyan Parag finally had a say. The big question was if they should have sent Donovan Ferreira before Ravindra Jadeja. Delhi pretty much cruised through the chase. Against Punjab, their spinners had a decent game but the quicks didn’t. Crucially for them, they finished incredibly well with Ferreira and Shubham Dubey.
Best batting phase: Powerplay
Of the opening pairs to have faced at least 7 innings this year, JaiSoorya are only behind PrabhArya and Travishek. It’s ridiculous that Jaiswal’s strike rate of 168 in the first six overs feels pedestrian, because it’s compared to Vaibhav’s 245. The 15-year-old prodigy has brought up a half-century thrice in this phase.
Best bowling phase: Powerplay
Jofra Archer has nine wickets in this period at an economy of 8.7, and yet it feels that he’s bowled better than that. Nandre Burger was also performing well, but he’s dropped off in the last three games. Ravi Bishnoi has also snapped a couple when he’s had a go.
Next: v GT (May 9), @ DC (May 17, night game), v LSG (May 19)
Road ahead: Rajasthan have two decisive games coming up, but their last two are Lucknow at home and Mumbai away. If they can win one of the next two and the final two, they can push for a top two spot. But the bottom tables sides might end up playing without the fear of failure, so there are no guaranteed wins even in the ‘easy’ games.
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GT (Previous Ranking: 5)
Last week: They’ve downed the finalists of last year and table toppers of this one back to back at home. RCB seemed to be going good before they took a load of wickets. Punjab was the other way round – early wickets, followed by a strong rebuild. Both were pretty much comfortable chases, though maybe Punjab got too close for their liking. Employee of the week? Jason Holder, by a mile.
Best batting phase: Powerplay
Last year, Gujarat took their time in the first six overs and then gradually got faster in the middle overs. However, this season it’s the former. While they’re not uber-attacking like some other teams, they’re certainly solid. Shubman Gill has upped his strike rate, going at almost 170. Jos Buttler is also around that mark. Sai Sudharsan is in the 140s.
Best bowling phase: Powerplay
If we are going purely by season performances so far, it’s completely fair to go with their middle overs bowling. But the defensive excellence of Mohammed Siraj combined with Kagiso Rabada’s wicket-taking threat means I would be more worried about them if I am in the opposition camp, especially as Prasidh Krishna has not played the last three matches.
Next: @ RR (May 9), v SRH (May 12), @ KKR (May 16)
Road ahead: They have their tail up now after beating two strong teams, but they play Rajasthan away and then Sunrisers again at home. If they get one win here and they beat both KKR and CSK, that sets them up nicely.