Royal Challengers Bangalore were joint pre-season favourites alongside Mumbai Indians. But with play offs around the corner, the story of these two teams is a study in contrast. Mumbai Indians, after the Saturday night thriller against Gujarat Lions, are sitting pretty at number 2 in the points table. RCB, on the other hand, are second from the bottom.
RCB skipper Virat Kohli appears flummoxed by his team's seemingly unstoppable batting meltdown. A 49 all out was followed by a 96-9. A team, which is so top-heavy, is breaking down while chasing achievable totals like158 set by Rising Pune Supergiant on Saturday evening. It has left Kohli fuming and frothing. But his strong words and urgings to his team are not making the same impact like Kolkata Knight Riders skipper's threat to his teammates to shape up or ship out did.
The top three teams—Kolkata Knight Riders, MI and SunRisers Hyderabad—appear pretty much assured of their place in play offs even with some matches remaining till play offs.
KKR, MI and SRH have raced ahead with convincing wins. This has left the remaining five teams including the least Delhi Daredevils vying for the play off spot. It is no secret, a team needs to win only five, maximum six matches to slither its way into pay offs in the IPL.
MI's Jasprit Bumrah's super over that snatched victory from Gujarat Lions has pushed the doom and gloom surrounding RCB to the back. Solid performances by Gambhir, Sunil Narain's impactful promotion as opener and Robin Uthappa's prolificacy in middle overs have been key to KKR's strong show till now. Given skipper Gambhir's intensity and 'play to win' approach, his team will show no let up.
SRH have shown remarkable balance with bat and ball. They have been unbeatable at home till now and Rashid Khan has ably supported Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra in bowling.
MI's success have had multiple heroes. Be it young Nitish Rana's batting feats in current season, Pandya brothers'—Krunal and Hardik—performance with both bat and ball or experienced Harbhajan Singh's cameos with tight off spin, the team has witnessed important contribution from all its players.
Fast bowler Andrew Tyle from Western Australia playing for Gujarat Lions and his knuckle ball bowling drew attention but not more than a subdued Ravindra Jadeja who joined the team post a short break after the long home season. Wins have been scarce for this team and Jadeja is yet to return to soaring form. Skipper Suresh Raina has found the going hard but his top order consisting of Brendon McCullum, Aron Finch, Dinesh Karthik and himself are slowly clicking together.
For RPS, it continues a fight to improve on last year's performance. It is also a struggle to prove that it is a team not overshadowed by M.S. Dhoni's presence. But it stays well in the mix to get into play offs and then it will be a stage for Dhoni to reassert his class.
The next week will be crucial for the middle and bottom ranked teams. Changes will be there in outcomes, but this is IPL. Nothing is shocking yet everything can be surprising.