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In an otherwise disappointing season for MI, Tim David stood out with his late overs hitting. Tilak Verma too grabbed his opportunity scoring 397 runs. Suryakumar Yadav again was among the runs despite being injured twice. Also, Dewald Brevis and Kumar Karthikeya Singh looked impressive in the limited opportunities that they got.
The uncapped trio of Abhishek, Tripathi and Umran Malik stood out for SRH with the latter even getting picked for the South Africa series. He was a part of an enviable bowling attack - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Marco Jansen being the others - which looks promising for years to come. While they shone in patches, more is expected of Markram and Pooran in the future.
Dhawan yet again crossed the 400-run mark dropping anchor as the others looked to attack. Livingstone finally showed his class in the IPL hitting 34 maximums (the next best for Punjab was Jitesh Sharma with 13) en route to 437 runs at a strike rate of 182.08. Jitesh Sharma showed promise in his debut season, overtaking Shahrukh Khan for the finisher’s role. Rabada was back to his best with 23 wickets. Arshdeep impressed one and all with his death bowling skills and earned an India call-up for the South Africa series.
Mukesh Choudhary, who was backed despite proving expensive initially, found his feet nicely as the tournament went further. He was excellent in the Powerplay overs and finished with 16 wickets at the end of the league stage. Devon Conway and Shivam Dube impressed with the bat in hand striking at over 145.
A rejuvenated Kuldeep Yadav took the field for the Delhi Capitals, finishing fifth in the Purple Cap race. Khaleel Ahmed was very good in the Powerplay as well as death overs. Warner single-handedly marshalled the batting department with 432 runs in 12 matches.
Rahul and de Kock proved to be the opening combination of the tournament with three centuries between them. Hooda, now with international experience, played to his potential with valuable runs in the middle overs. Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan were good with the ball, accounting for 32 dismissals between them.
Chahal had a point to prove after missing out on a World Cup spot last year. And prove he did finishing as the league’s joint-highest wicket-taker. Buttler was in red-hot form, carrying the RR batting almost single-handedly with 863 runs at an average of 57.53 and strike rate of 149.05. The Indian continent of Jaiswal, Samson, Padikkal, Ashwin and Prasidh was very impressive.
After a couple of disappointing seasons, Andre Russell once again proved his mettle in cricket’s toughest league with 335 runs and 17 wickets to his name. Sunil Narine was extremely economical despite fewer wickets. Umesh Yadav led the pace department with 16 wickets and played the role of a Powerplay enforcer. Despite featuring only in seven games, Rinku Singh gave a very good account of himself and looks set for a promising future in the middle order.
A hundred and a fifty in IPL Playoffs and 28-year-old Patidar has already won a number of hearts around the world. Coming in as an injury replacement in the squad, Patidar seems to have nailed the number three position for years to come. Hasaranga was commendable with his leg-spin getting 26 wickets. Equally good was the pair of Hazlewood and Harshal on both wickets and economy front at the death.
Gill scored runs at the top at a fair rate. Hardik was the perfect anchor in the middle overs. The duo of Miller and Tewatia made finishing innings a habit and there was always a certain Rashid Khan to do the job in case the above failed. The bowling too was formidable with each of Shami, Ferguson and Rashid producing matchwinning spells every now and then.
It's only been a few moments since Gujarat Titans won the coveted IPL trophy. The 15th edition of the T20 cricket league saw two new teams being added to the competition - Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants. In an interesting (but not shocking) turn of events, the two most successful franchises in IPL history, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, finished at the bottom of the points table. After nine weeks of enthralling cricket action, Gujarat Titans have emerged as winners. But this IPL season, like the ones before, has given us a lot of talking points, ranging from auction strategy to plan execution.
Mumbai Indians (10th)
Mumbai Indians basically had no one to support Jasprit Bumrah. Unlike previous seasons where the Mumbai team would be filled with T20 superstars, IPL 2022 saw them play Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Murugan Ashwin and Basil Thampi in their first XI. Their auction strategy was truly flawed as they failed to back their star batting lineup with effective bowlers. The lack of form of the batsmen (Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard) and selection issues in the team didn't help their cause as the five-time IPL winners finished last on the points table.
In an otherwise disappointing season for MI, Tim David stood out with his late overs hitting. Tilak Verma too grabbed his opportunity scoring 397 runs. Suryakumar Yadav again was among the runs despite being injured twice. Also, Dewald Brevis and Kumar Karthikeya Singh looked impressive in the limited opportunities that they got.
The highlight of the season was Jasprit Bumrah's outstanding spell of 5/9 v KKR in a rather average IPL for the India pacer.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (8th)
SRH played some good cricket and then some bad. Sitting comfortably in the top four with five wins in seven games, their campaign went downhill with just one win in the next seven games. Captain Kane Williamson had a horrid time in the middle with a strike rate that didn’t even cross 100. Four batters (Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran) crossed the 300-run mark in IPL 2022 but their performances tapered off in the second half of the league. The Hyderabad seam-bowling lineup was filled with variety and skill but they missed an attacking spinner to complement Washington Sundar.
The uncapped trio of Abhishek, Tripathi and Umran Malik stood out for SRH with the latter even getting picked for the South Africa series. He was a part of an enviable bowling attack - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Marco Jansen being the others - which looks promising for years to come. While they shone in patches, more is expected of Markram and Pooran in the future.
Already turning heads thanks to his extreme pace, Umran Malik went a step further grabbing a five-wicket haul v GT, bamboozling batsmen with 150-plus thunderbolts.
Punjab Kings (6th)
Punjab Kings’ mantra to open an all-out attack on the opposition bowlers backfired with them finishing with sub-par totals on many occasions due to loss of wickets. Liam Livingstone and Shikhar Dhawan played their roles to perfection but the rest could not stamp their authority. Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh handled the pace department quite well but Rahul Chahar could not produce consistent results.
Dhawan yet again crossed the 400-run mark dropping anchor as the others looked to attack. Livingstone finally showed his class in the IPL hitting 34 maximums (the next best for Punjab was Jitesh Sharma with 13) en route to 437 runs at a strike rate of 182.08. Jitesh Sharma showed promise in his debut season, overtaking Shahrukh Khan for the finisher’s role. Rabada was back to his best with 23 wickets. Arshdeep impressed one and all with his death bowling skills and earned an India call-up for the South Africa series.
Livingstone’s mammoth 117-m six made the headlines in another not-so-good season for the Punjab Kings.
Chennai Super Kings (9th)
While the CSK batters had a number of impact innings to their names, they failed to fire collectively. While the openers found a bit of form towards the back end of the tournament, the middle order (except Shivam Dube) could not achieve the expected averages and strike rates. The bowling attack was cut short due to injuries to Deepak Chahar, Adam Milne and Dwayne Bravo. A mid-season captaincy change further added to the chaos as MS Dhoni (reappointed as captain) could not do much after CSK lost six of their first eight matches under Ravindra Jadeja.
Mukesh Choudhary, who was backed despite proving expensive initially, found his feet nicely as the tournament went further. He was excellent in the Powerplay overs and finished with 16 wickets at the end of the league stage. Devon Conway and Shivam Dube impressed with the bat in hand striking at over 145.
CSK’s whole captaincy situation was much talked about throughout the IPL as the franchise appointed Jadeja as the captain two days before the start of the tournament, only to reinstate Dhoni after eight matches.
Delhi Capitals (5th)
David Warner was brilliant at the top and Rovman Powell looked good in patches in the slog overs. DC’s four pre-auction retentions - Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw and Anrich Nortje had disappointing seasons. The middle-order was found wanting with the batting over-dependent on Warner. Shardul Thakur failed to step up with the ball.
A rejuvenated Kuldeep Yadav took the field for the Delhi Capitals, finishing fifth in the Purple Cap race. Khaleel Ahmed was very good in the Powerplay as well as death overs. Warner single-handedly marshalled the batting department with 432 runs in 12 matches.
Needing 36 off the last over v RR, Powell struck Obed McCoy for three sixes off the first three balls to awaken a depressed DC dugout. More drama followed as Pant decided to call off his batters after a no-ball call went against them off the third ball. Play finally continued after much deliberation as Powell failed to connect the next delivery. RR eventually won by 15 runs.
Lucknow Supergiants (4th)
One of the most balanced teams in IPL 2022, the Lucknow Supergiants had a commendable run in their debut season. The opening pair of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock was brilliant with both scoring over 500 runs. Deepak Hooda provided ideal support but the middle order of Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis and Krunal Pandya failed to produce impactful innings. The bowling had a well-rounded look to it with as many as five bowlers taking ten or more wickets.
Rahul and de Kock proved to be the opening combination of the tournament with three centuries between them. Hooda, now with international experience, played to his potential with valuable runs in the middle overs. Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan were good with the ball, accounting for 32 dismissals between them.
de Kock played the innings of the tournament smashing his way to an unbeaten 140 v KKR. He also broke the record for the most runs scored by a batsman in the last five overs of an IPL innings.
Rajasthan Royals (Runner-ups)
A strategy revolving around six proper batsmen and six proper bowlers worked wonders for the Royals as they entered their first IPL final after their heroics in the inaugural edition. Jos Buttler took the world by storm with a record-equalling four centuries in the season. Others like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer stepped up at various points in the league giving the team’s batting a strong look. The bowling was not far behind, with Yuzvendra Chahal leading the way with 27 wickets. Prasidh Krishna and Trent Boult paired up nicely at the top accounting for a number of batsmen between them. Ravichandran Ashwin was used in a variety of roles by Samson but he responded brilliantly with 191 runs and 12 wickets.
Chahal had a point to prove after missing out on a World Cup spot last year. And prove he did finishing as the league’s joint-highest wicket-taker. Buttler was in red-hot form, carrying the RR batting almost single-handedly with 863 runs at an average of 57.53 and strike rate of 149.05. The Indian continent of Jaiswal, Samson, Padikkal, Ashwin and Prasidh was very impressive.
Kolkata Knight Riders (7th)
A lot of chopping and changing thanks to injuries and poor form resulted in a mid-table finish for the Knight Riders in IPL 2022. Their two middle-order mainstays - Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana - could not put on runs consistently. Also, the bowling unit struggled with wickets and runs in the middle and death overs respectively. Two of their retentions in Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy had a disappointing season.
After a couple of disappointing seasons, Andre Russell once again proved his mettle in cricket’s toughest league with 335 runs and 17 wickets to his name. Sunil Narine was extremely economical despite fewer wickets. Umesh Yadav led the pace department with 16 wickets and played the role of a Powerplay enforcer. Despite featuring only in seven games, Rinku Singh gave a very good account of himself and looks set for a promising future in the middle order.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (3rd)
RCB had a very good team after the mega auction this year with a perfect mix of experience and youth. The holes in their middle order were ably filled by Rajat Patidar, Mahipal Lomror and Shahbaz Ahmed. Dinesh Karthik had a season to remember striking at 183.33 (highest for the season). But more was expected of the famed trio of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell. In bowling, Wanindu Hasaranga filled in nicely for Yuzvendra Chahal finishing as their leading wicket-taker. Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel were brilliant at the death but RCB missed getting early wickets, particularly with Mohammed Siraj proving expensive.
A hundred and a fifty in IPL Playoffs and 28-year-old Patidar has already won a number of hearts around the world. Coming in as an injury replacement in the squad, Patidar seems to have nailed the number three position for years to come. Hasaranga was commendable with his leg-spin getting 26 wickets. Equally good was the pair of Hazlewood and Harshal on both wickets and economy front at the death.
The standout moment came in the Eliminator as Patidar brought up his maiden IPL century coming in at a precarious situation and helping RCB post a matchwinning total.
Gujarat Titans (Winners)
As I wrote earlier, this team relied on individual brilliances for winning matches, sometimes from improbable situations. All of Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami and Lockie Ferguson were sensational on their day making sure the team got over the finish line. Their auction picks surprised a lot of people but the Gujarat Titans somehow brought the best out of their players. A lot of players spoke about how a lighter dressing room and freedom from the captain and coach helped them believe they could deliver on the field.
Gill scored runs at the top at a fair rate. Hardik was the perfect anchor in the middle overs. The duo of Miller and Tewatia made finishing innings a habit and there was always a certain Rashid Khan to do the job in case the above failed. The bowling too was formidable with each of Shami, Ferguson and Rashid producing matchwinning spells every now and then.
I am not exaggerating when I say there were many. But nothing can beat the moment you lift the IPL trophy. Sorry, Rahul Tewatia.
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