With 48 matches done and majority of the group stage matches played, usually we’d have a fair sense of who the final four would be but not this time. Rather, it’s anybody’s game now with the points table being so congested. GT has now virtually booked its Top 4 spot by scoring 14 points in their 10 games, whereas the next 6 teams are all on 10 or 11 points. Now comes the tricky part, the bottom 3, i.e. KKR, SRH and DC, with all of them virtually still having a chance to try for the top 4 and KKR having the best chance out of them all because of their NRR.
If we are to look at the story of IPL 2023 till now, it’s a very unusual one for the reason that there is no one team (maybe other than GT) which has looked very consistent. All of the teams have almost lost 50% of the games that they’ve played and we haven’t seen any proper consistent play. It’s like a team will probably win one game then lose one then win a couple and lose a couple and on and on. That does not mean that this hasn’t been an entertaining season because we’ve kind of seen it all already. From defending scores as low as 130 to even chasing down 213 and just yesterday we saw GT restricting RR to a measly 118 and chasing it down quite easily.
Coming onto the main issue that is what is going to happen next and which teams will be more likely to qualify for the semis?
Like I previously said GT has virtually already booked its slot in the semis because not only are they the highest point scorers on the table, they are also the only team who have somewhat looked consistent in terms of playing and winning.
The next spot or rather the next two spots may well be CSK’s or LSG’s considering that they are each a point above the congestion and depending upon how they play their next games. But I’ll say the same for MI and RCB who are currently on 10 points each having only played 9 games each. So for example if MI beats CSK, which is very likely considering MI’s red hot form, then they will have an upper hand over CSK and LSG in the points table and the same goes for RCB.
Now talking about RR and PBKS. These are two teams who started out very well but haven’t looked their best over the last few games. With both of these teams having 10 points off 10 games, the future margin for error is very thin if either of them even want to qualify. Honestly their level of cricket and consistency has been pretty average this season because even though they did have a few good games, unless you have a team which performs consistently then even if you do qualify, the chance that you’ll actually win the cup is very less as is the case with both RR and PBKS.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let us finally come to the curious cases of IPL, the current bottom 3, KKR, SRH and DC. These are the teams who play so spectacularly one year and then the next year, they’re nowhere near the qualification scenario. The only team who has a chance to get into the top 4 from these three teams is KKR and is only because of their good NRR in comparison to the other 2. This also means that SRH and DC are virtually knocked out even though they might have the same points as KKR just because of their low NRR. The only scenario where KKR does qualify is when they win the next 4 games they play and SRH and DC play spoilsport to other team’s chances. If and only if this happens and luckily if there’s a spot remaining at the points table will KKR qualify, an instance somewhat relatable to the 2014 IPL when they had only won 2 games out 7 in the first leg and then won all the rest of the matches in the second leg to the semis. However, in the current scenario KKR have lost 6 games whereas in the 2014 season, KKR had lost only 5 in total. So, while KKR might qualify because of nothing short of a miracle, it’ll be a miracle worth watching.
In conclusion, we are in for a hell of a remainder of the tournament with so much to gain and so much to lose for so many teams. It’ll undoubtedly be the best time to watch IPL.
That’s it for today folks, do let me know what you thought of the article and what type of written content would you like to see in the future. I am as excited as you to see what happens next in this year’s edition of Tata IPL. See you soon!
p.s. This article was written post the RR V GT game in the 5th of May, 2023