Jalen
Club Captain
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2017
- Profile Flag
- Australia
I hope we have seen the last of yuvi on the cricket field as a whole.My post-mortem after the mad weekend that ensued (I am not talking about CSK in this post - just an FYI for all who are still interested to read further on this post of mine)
Mumbai Indians: They had one hell of what I would call an "unlucky tournament". I couldn't see too many wrongs in them and for me, it was just a case of them falling on the wrong side at the end of the day and they had a collection of those moments which made their playoff race incredibly tight. Yet, they continued their tradition of making a mad dash after the halfway stage to almost make it the playoffs and when the mad weekend started, they were in the best spot to make it to the playoffs due to their superior NRR, which tells you a lot about how tough a tournament they had. They might need to make a few minor tweaks here and there, but I think they have a great core to perform really well in the next 2 seasons. Wont be surprised if I see them lift the trophy again next year
Kings XI Punjab: Their middle order just let them down massively. Depended on KL Rahul too much. They either need to get rid of Gayle and have Finch at the top or get rid of Finch (while keeping Gayle in) and find some good reliable middle order players, preferably Indian. I would actually have them get rid of Gayle which is far inferior to Finch on the field and have Finch open with Rahul and have the likes of Agarwal, Nair in the Top 4. And I hope we have seen the last of Yuvraj Singh in IPL. Also as much as I know that Andrew Tye is likely to get the purple cap, I dont rate him very highly as a bowler. Somehow he seems to be easy pickings when you want to score runs. Yesterday against CSK when Mohit and Rajpoot built tremendous pressure at the beginning, Tye was brought in and released a big chunk of pressure against Raina and Faf. They need a better overseas fast bowler either to replace Tye or balance his weakness out. Ashwin and Mujeeb are fine. Ashwin needs to grow into his captaincy role and maybe he will have a better season next time. The way KXIP started this season, Ashwin can be backed.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Kohli's inconsistency cost them dearly. As Kohli himself said, too much was put on ABD's shoulders and he did almost carry them on his shoulders as he was flying supermanly towards the playoffs. I can't see too much issues with RCB's bowling as they have a nice allround attack in Umesh, Southee and Chahal. Maybe they need a second spinner (a good one; not Negi and the likes) to complement Chahal. They need to invest in Siraj as he was already showing signs of repaying the trust. For a flashy batting side, its their batting that let them down this season. They wasted McCullum and used him shabbily. Same with De Kock. Kohli should consistently open with Parthiv and give himself the best chance of playing through the innings. ABD at No. 4 or 5. They need to find proper batsmen to fill up the rest of the spots.
Delhi Daredevils: Delhi just showed in the last two games, what could have been (this season) and what can be (next season). Another side that I back to do drastically better next season. They are close to finding their formula. I heard from the commentators during their last two games that maybe Shreyas Iyer is not inspiring enough respect within the DD camp as captain, but if that's true, I hope that the victories in those last two games should hopefully bring some respect on him and when he comes back as captain for an entire season next year, he should be in a better place to command the respect. They need to relieve Maxwell who has been a disaster and maybe look at someone like Amla or Ronchi next year. Shaw, Iyer, Pant and Shankar will handle most of the batting. Maybe they can even open the batting with Shaw and Shankar and then load their middle order with some overseas batsman. Shankar is that kind of player who takes a bit of time to get going but he can get into S/R of 200 and more as he grows into the innings.
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Overall: I think the teams that missed out on the playoff spot this year should not be worrying too much from a long term perspective. From where I see them right now, I won't be surprised if 3 of the above teams make it to the playoffs next year. In fact, I am predicting MI, DD and RCB in the playoffs next season (2019) if they continue in the right direction from where they leave off this year.
Also tye is probably one of the best death bowlers in the world, they aren't going to get rid of him
