Cricket | T20 | IPL | CSK | SRH | MI | DC | KKR | RCB
In this cricket article, I have analysed successful IPL franchises during the 2018-21 period, including but not limited to title winners. Potentially answering the question: How to win the toughest T20 league in the world?, this piece presents what sort of things have actually worked for the teams. Keeping relevance in mind, I have decided to limit my analysis to the latest four-year cycle of the cricket league.
A Prolific Top Order
CSK (IPL 2018, IPL 2021)
Both the times the Chennai Super Kings have won the IPL in the last four-year cycle, one constant has been the huge amount of runs scored by their top order. Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad and to an extent Suresh Raina have contributed heavily with the bat in CSK's title-winning runs.
Cut to 2021, Watson had retired and Rayudu had been moved down the order. But that didn't stop the Super Kings from having excellent partnerships at the top, with Gaikwad announcing himself to the world in an Orange Cap-winning season (635 runs @ 136.26 and 45.35), beating his partner du Plessis by just two runs (633 runs @ 138.20 and 45.21). They were consistently giving good starts to the men in yellow, which the explosive middle order further built on. Together they scored 756 runs, third-most by a pair in an IPL season.
SRH (IPL 2018, IPL 2019)
The story for the Sunrisers in the past few IPL seasons has been a fiery top order followed by a mediocre middle order, which undid the contributions of the former. With David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson, the SRH top order was filled with international cricket stars and they produced the results despite the lack of support from others.
One year later, the Sunrisers Hyderabad had an irresistible opening partnership as Warner joined hands with Bairstow, and together they demolished bowling attacks. They scored four century stands and three other half-century stands in ten innings together. Going at 143.86 and 157.24 respectively, they were responsible for 48% of the team's runs. Their brutal ball-striking left the oppositions reeling.
MI (IPL 2019, IPL 2020)
During the four-year cycle, MI made some smart top order picks in the form of Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. These were players who were under-utilised by their previous franchises. But when given role clarity, they formed one of the most consistent top four in the IPL along with Rohit Sharma and played some high-quality cricket.
IPL 2020 saw the best of Ishan Kishan as he piled on runs in an unfamiliar position. He had an enviable record with 516 runs in 13 innings, with an average and strike rate of 57.33 and 145.6 respectively. The highlight of the season was his 99 against RCB, where he hit nine sixes and helped his team tie the match. MI eventually lost the Super Over but Kishan played his heart out that day as he and Pollard smashed 78 runs off the last four overs. de Kock and Surya were consistent as always and scored close to 500 runs with strike rates in excess of 140. Rohit too had a 300 runs-plus season as the men in blue showcased what an ideal top-four should look like in T20 cricket.
DC (IPL 2019, IPL 2020, IPL 2021)
With Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, the Delhi Capitals had a strong Indian top-order which resulted in the team's improved performances from 2018 to 2021.
The former three continued to make merry the next season as well with Dhawan going a mile further to cross the 600-run mark with two consecutive centuries in the league stages. Iyer (519) and Pant (343) again provided good support acts and Shaw provided quick starts despite failing to make big scores.
Dhawan continued to impress with another 500 runs-plus season in 2021. But this time he had Shaw in tremendous form to partner him and together they laid the platform for numerous Delhi victories. While Iyer and Pant had average seasons, Shaw attacked the opposition bowlers from the word go, finishing the season with 479 runs @ 31.93 and 159.13.
KKR (IPL 2021)
Explosive Personnel
KKR (IPL 2018)
MI (IPL 2019, IPL 2020)
With Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers in their ranks, the Mumbai-based franchise had one of the most fearsome middle-order. Add to that the ever improving Ishan Kishan, and that explains MI's recent success in cricket's toughest league.
Come 2020, the duo of Hardik and Pollard took six-hitting to the next level along with Ishan Kishan. MI hit 137 sixes in the season, 34 more than the next team. The chief wrecker was Kishan, who launched 30 maximums en route to his 516 runs (strike rate 145). Following the West Indies template, a greater emphasis was laid on six-hitting and the results were there to be seen. Each of Hardik and Pollard hit a six every six balls, with the former challenging Kishan for the most number of sixes despite facing much fewer deliveries. Pollard finished the season with the highest strike rate among all (191).
RCB (IPL 2021)
RCB shelled out a mammoth 14.25 crores to acquire the services of Glenn Maxwell, in a bid ease the dependency on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Despite being a T20I superstar for Australia, Maxwell had never quite set the IPL on fire except for the 2014 season. But Bangalore managed to unlock his potential as he formed a potent middle and death-overs pair with de Villiers. Batting mostly at four and five, these two star cricketers dominated the post-powerplay overs with their inventive strokes and wonderful hitting. Just to put things into perspective, Maxwell scored 513 runs @ 144.10 while de Villiers struck at 148.34 for his 411 runs. Between them, they played a number of game-defining innings such as 59(41), 78(49), 57(33), 76*(34), 75*(42) and 48(27) among others. On pitches that most batters struggled to get going, the two Bangalore boys were extremely skillful in accumulating runs at a good rate. As a result, RCB finished third in the points table at the end of the league stage.
A Collective Bowling Effort
SRH (IPL 2018, 2020)
"Batsmen win you games, bowlers win you tournaments." The Sunrisers are a franchise who have built their teams on this mantra. They have had some very effective bowlers such as Sandeep Sharma, Siddhart Kaul, T Natarajan, Jason Holder, Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammed Nabi to go with the outstanding Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Regarded as 'the best bowling side' on a number of occasions, SRH have made a habit of defending low scores.
Of all the Hyderabad bowlers to bowl more than 40 overs in the 2018 season, no one had a higher economy rate than Kaul's 8.28. He along with Rashid was the standout with 21 wickets each. 118, 132, 151, 174, 146 were some of the totals defended by them that year as each of their bowlers played their role to perfection. Bhuvi was brilliant at the front and the back-end, Sandeep bowled good lines and lengths, Kaul put his slower balls and variations to good use and Rashid ruled the middle-overs with economical Shakib. If not for Shane Watson's epic century in the final, SRH could have deservingly added a second I trophy to their cabinet.
Two years later, new heroes were found in the form of Jason Holder and T Natarajan as they teamed up with Rashid and Sandeep to form a formidable attack (Bhuvi was ruled out after the first four games due to injury). At the end of the league stage, SRH and eventual champions MI were the only teams whose four bowlers had ten or more wickets. Yorker-king Natarajan was outstanding at the death conceding just 57 off 71 deliveries bowled in that period. His wicket of de Villiers in the Eliminator was a game-changing moment as he looked set for a big finish, only to be thwarted by a searing yorker. Rashid Khan once again led the charts with 20 wickets followed by Natarajan(16), Holder(14) and Sandeep(14). Holder was particularly brilliant in his seven matches, returning an average of 16.64.
MI (IPL 2019, IPL 2020)
During their consecutive IPL victories in 2019 and 2020, MI possessed a fine bowling attack comprising of Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya. Once again like the batting front, everyone was given specific roles and that led to effective execution of skills and expected results.
The major contributors towards Mumbai's success in IPL 2019 were their bowlers. Bumrah and Chahar were the frontrunners with 19 wickets at 6.63 rpo and 13 wickets at 6.55 rpo respectively. Chahar emerged as a sensation and was later fast-tracked into the Indian side. He was excellent in the middle-overs delivering key breakthroughs while keeping the run rate in check. Malinga and Hardik too chipped in with 30 wickets between them, while Pattinson, Krunal and Coulter-Nile were good too. In the final, Bumrah and Chahar returned frugal figures of 2/14 each before Malinga outfoxed Shardul Thakur with a slower ball to seal the championship, defending nine runs in the final over.
MI struggled to complete their fifth bowler's quota in 2020 due to Hardik's injury but the other four in Bumrah, Boult, Chahar and Pattinson were up to the mark. Bumrah finished as the second leading wicket-taker of the season behind Kagiso Rabada, with an economy of 6.73 and average of 14.96. Boult was not far behind with 25 scalps, excelling in his role of a powerplay specialist. With him at the top, the captain could afford to save Bumrah for the latter stages, where he was at his best. Chahar and Pattinson provided good support with 15 and 11 wickets respectively and ensured that the opposition didn't get away. While the "fifth bowler" gave MI some headaches, the other four were good enough to take them to their fifth IPL title, making them the most successful franchise in the history of the cricket league.
CSK (IPL 2019, IPL 2021)
Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Josh Hazlewood, Dwayne Bravo, Imran Tahir, Ravidra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh and so on. These are bowlers who don't strike you as T20 cricket superstars (except Tahir maybe) but are quite effective on the field. CSK managed to get a nice combination of youth and experience for their bowling attack during the four-year cycle. People like Chahar, Thakur and Tahir made outstanding contributions with the ball in hand while the others provided good support.
At 40 years of age, Imran Tahir emerged as the leader of the bowling during the 2019 season. He beat Kagiso Rabada to become the Purple Cap holder with 26 wickets. After just six games in the previous season, he really thrived on the spin-friendly Chepauk pitches with an economy rate of 6.70. Chahar was not too far behind as he scalped 22 wickets, bowling the most number of dot balls in the powerplay for anyone. Harbhajan was brilliant against the left-handers while Jadeja and Bravo chipped in nicely with 26 wickets between them.
To go with some top-order brilliance, Chennai's bowlers stepped up in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League. Shardul Thakur led the way with 21 wickets, striking every 17 balls. Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Ravindra Jadeja and Josh Hazlewood too stepped up with 52 wickets between them at close too eight runs per over. They were marshalled brilliantly by MS Dhoni. Chahar and Hazlewood were excellent in the powerplay with Chahar bowling a couple of match-defing spells against PBKS and KKR. While Shardul provided crucial breakthroughs in the middle and Jadeja bowled accurate line and lengths, Bravo excelled in the death overs keeping the opposition restricted. The same bowling attack came to CSK's rescue in the final after the Kolkata openers raced off to 91 for no loss in 10.3 overs. Chasing 193, KKR were finally restricted to 165/9 courtesy Shardul's 3/38.
KKR (IPL 2021)
With just two wins in the first seven matches, KKR's bowling went unnoticed largely because of their misfiring top and middle orders. However, in a COVID-affected season, the team came storming back in the second half of the league to finish fourth on the table and eventually finish runner-ups. With a rejuvenated batting effort, the bowlers' contributions came to the fore as Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Shakib Al Hasan were instrumental in limiting the opposition to low scores. They expertly strangled batters on the dry UAE pitches and returned economy rates of 6.58, 6.44 and 7.19. Chakravarthy and Narine finished with 18 and 16 wickets respecticely. In the pace department, Prasidh Krishna and Pat Cummins had 21 wickets between them despite proving a bit expensive. Come the second half, Lockie Ferguson and Shivam Mavi took over and were outstanding (24 wickets at less than 7.5 rpo) in support of the spin trio. As a result, Kolkata made a miraculous comeback and went on to play the finals against Chennai.
DC (IPL 2021)
Delhi Capitals made up for their misfiring middle order (except Hetmyer) with a fine bowling performance, with Avesh Khan emerging as India's latest pace sensation. He returned 24 wickets in 15 matches, second only to the eventual Purple Cap holder, Harshal Patel. Anrich Nortje too was excellent in the second-half (12 wickets in 8 games) and formed a formidable pace trio with Avesh and Kagiso Rabada. The spin department was led by Axar Patel, who bowled in tandem with Ravichandran Ashwin, together getting 22 batters out. Rabada's 8.14 was the highest economy of the five. In the Qualifier 2, the DC bowlers almost managed to defend a mere 11 runs of the last four overs before their dream was shattered by a certain Rahul Tripathi. Their never-say-die attitude stood apart throughout the tournament.
Individual Brilliances
CSK (IPL 2018, IPL 2019)
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MS Dhoni turned back the clock on his team's return in 2018 as he smashed 455 runs in 16 matches. He was key to CSK's death overs batting as the team finished with the second best run rate in overs 16-20. Hitting 24 sixes in the death overs alone, Dhoni showcased the art of six-hitting on his way to another IPL title.
While Chennai had a firing opening combination to fall back upon in 2018, their 2019 campaign was overly-dependent on their captain. He struck 416 runs at an impressive average of 83.20 with scores of 84*(48) against the Royal Challengers and 75*(46) against the Royals. In the Bangalore match, he almost single-handedly won his team the match. Needing 26 of the final over, he hit Umesh Yadav for three sixes and a four in the first five balls before being run-out off the final delivery. It was a welcome performance before the all important Cricket World Cup.
RCB (IPL 2021)
"Honestly, I didn't expect it to happen, but they must have seen something in me to give me such a massive responsibility. It could have also backfired for them if I'd not done what I did", said Harshal Patel, when asked about him being RCB's designated death-overs bowler. He repaid their trust with an outstanding season, finishing as the tournament's highest wicket-taker(32) and making his India debut soon after. His magnificient season included a fifer and a hattrick against the Mumbai Indians, on separate occasions. He was well ahead of the pack, with 14 more wickets than the next best for RCB.
Conclusion
Summing up, we arrive at the following data pertaining to what led to successful IPL campaigns:
- CSK, IPL 2018 - Rayudu-Watson being dominating at the top and Dhoni adding finishing touches
- SRH, IPL 2018 - Williamson and Dhawan helping post par scores and a brilliant bowling attack defending them
- KKR, IPL 2018 - Explosive batting taking the game away from the opposition
- MI, IPL 2019 - A consistent top three, powerful finishes and wicket-taking bowlers
- CSK, IPL 2019 - Dhoni yet again finishing the innings and marshalling a good bowling lineup
- DC, IPL 2019 - Top order runs
- SRH, IPL 2019 - The enviable Warner-Bairstow partnership
- MI, IPL 2020 - Once again a very good top order, a six-hitting masterclass lower down and wicket-taking bowlers
- DC, IPL 2020 - Dhawan leading a brilliant top order with two centuries to his name
- SRH, IPL 2020 - An effective bowling attack
- CSK, IPL 2021 - Gaikwad and du Plessis' record-breaking season and once again bowlers performing beyond their potential
- KKR, IPL 2021 - Young guns firing at the top and spinners strangling the opposition
- RCB, IPL 2021 - Maxwell and de Villiers bossing overs 7-20 and Harshal Patel's 32-wicket season
What stands out in most successful IPL campaigns is the presence of an all-round bowling attack, be it Mumbai, Chennai or Hyderabad. That shows the importance of having quality bowlers at your disposal in order for prolonged success. Having a consistent top-order follows as shown by the analysis above. Teams have relied on steady scorers rather than bashers at the top, thus implying the need of technically-correct batters in this evolving format. Having an explosive middle-order is something that teams like Mumbai and Kolkata have enjoyed to demolish the opposition with a free-scoring approach. Finally, there have been instances of individuals taking care of a particular department with noteworthy performances. The team that stands out among all this is the Mumbai Indians team of 2020, excelling in every department of the game. Rightly proclaimed by some as the "best T20 side ever assembled", the MI 2020 side truly portrays what it takes to suceed in the toughest T20 league in the game of cricket.
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