Features by Om Kulpe

KKR: Another Lucky Year?

For the second consecutive time this IPL season, KKR have managed to defend a score quite comfortably ( v SRH and v MI ). They say defending a total is the most difficult aspect of T20 cricket which is why most captains have opted to bowl first in previous editions of the IPL. Yesterday KKR captain Shreyas Iyer opted to bat first and that I think set the tone for rest of the match. KKR looked very strong after the completion of the IPL Auction 2022. They turned that into performances winning three of their first four matches before suffering a five-match losing streak, before winning v RR . Cricket, or rather sport in general, is all about momentum and Kolkata had clearly lost it midway through the tournament. Their top order was failing, Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana were inconsistent and most of their bowlers leaked runs. While people like Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Umesh Yadav had been excellent, other international cricketers like Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch produced ordinary ...

A Look Behind Gujarat Titans' Excellent Record

Cricket | T20 | IPL | IPL 2022 | Gujarat Titans At the end of IPL Auction 2022, I too like other cricket pundits started writing down the best XIs for every IPL team. When I came to the Gujarat Titans squad, I asked myself, "Is Gujarat Titans a good team?" That is when a few thoughts crept up in my mind. Who was going to bat at 3? Will Hardik Pandya be forced to bat out of position? Are Rahul Tewatia and David Miller good enough to take them over the finish line every time? They have got Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson and Rashid Khan, but what after them? Like many, I too discounted the team from 2022 IPL Playoffs contention and focused on stronger looking teams. But today, I stand corrected. Hemant Brar summed up Gujarat Titans' campaign quite nicely for me:" If Tewatia won't, David Miller will. If Miller won't, Rashid Khan will. If Rashid won't, someone else surely will. " That's been the story for the Gujarat Titans this season. They have fo...

What it Takes to Win the IPL🏆?

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. Though many were skeptical of Rayudu 's inclusion in the CSK squad, MS Dhoni was confident in his ability to hit both pace and spin as he had a wonderful I...

The Fourth Innings

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