The 2023 IPL reached its halfway stage with Match 35 on Tuesday. We take a look at what has made each team tick and what has not worked with seven games played by each team. CricViz’s Batting & Bowling Impact for each team has been used to break it down to analyse.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Impact Rank Batting – Overall – 1, Powerplay – 1, Middle Overs – 3, Final Overs – 4
Impact Rank Bowling – Overall – 6, Powerplay – 10, Middle Overs – 3, Final Overs – 1
Table toppers at the halfway stage, CSK have by far been the best batting unit this season. They are the quickest team in the powerplay scoring at 9.88 runs per over, losing only 5 wickets in 7 innings. They have been carried by their in-form top order batters who have scored 67% of the runs. Deepak Chahar’s unavailability due to injury has dealt a blow to their powerplay bowling. Skipper MS Dhoni though with his clever use of spin has controlled the middle overs while the defensive skills of Sri Lanka duo Matheesha Pathirana and Mahesh Theekshana and attacking use of Tushar Deshpande has made them formidable in the final overs.
Gujarat Titans (GT)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 4, Powerplay – 6, Middle Overs – 6, Final Overs – 1
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 1, Powerplay – 2, Middle Overs – 6, Final Overs – 3
The holders, like last season, still boast the best bowling unit with the quality of bowlers deployed in all three phases. The pace attack is their biggest strength, allowing them to dominate the powerplay and final overs, with leg-spinner Rashid Khan controlling the middle overs. They’ve taken at least two powerplay wickets in 5 of the 7 games. In terms of batting, they’ve struggled to increase the tempo from the powerplay to the middle overs, scoring at 7.55 runs per over in the middle overs. The strength of the unit has come to the fore in the final overs with all their batters in the phase striking at more than 150, led by David Miller who has scored almost 30% of the team’s runs in the final phase.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 2 : Powerplay – 2, Middle Overs – 8, Final Overs – 3
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 3 : Powerplay – 3, Middle Overs – 9, Final Overs – 2
Rajasthan Royals have benefited in the powerplay from the excellent opening partnership with Yashaswi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler completing each other brilliantly. The range of their attacking shots has made them the best boundary-scoring team in the powerplay with a boundary percentage of 27%. Sanju Samson has been the lone performer in the middle overs, making them a little susceptible to collapses with wickets falling at the other end. In the last five overs, Shimron Hetmyer (striking at 192) and Dhruv Jorel (striking at 188) have made up for lost ground in the middle overs. Constant new ball wickets from Trent Boult and clever use of Sandeep Sharma’s variations in the final overs have made them a very competent bowling attack.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 3, Powerplay – 4, Middle Overs – 2, Final Overs – 8
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 2, Powerplay – 8, Middle Overs – 1, Final Overs – 5
LSG’s engine room in both the batting & bowling units has been in the middle overs. Led by Nicolas Pooran (striking at 213) with able support from Marcus Stoinis (striking at 156) they have been able to kick on in the middle overs after cautious starts in the powerplay. In the first 7 games, they’ve lost only 7 wickets in the powerplay and scored at 7.88 runs per over. Without a recognised, in-form finisher, they have struggled to close out the innings scoring at 9.25 runs per over in the last five overs – the second slowest, after Delhi Capitals. In bowling, spinners have dominated the middle overs with 12 of the 17 wickets, led by Ravi Bishnoi and Krunal Pandya. With Avesh Khan yet to hit top form, they’ve struggled to pick wickets regularly in the powerplay.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 6, Powerplay – 3, Middle Overs – 7, Final Overs – 9
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 7, Powerplay – 1, Middle Overs – 10, Final Overs – 8
RCB have aced the powerplay in batting and bowling, but have struggled after powerplay, especially with the bowling unit. Led by Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, they’ve scored 473 runs for the opening partnership, the highest of all teams this season. Besides the openers, they’ve had key contributions from Glenn Maxwell, but nothing consistent from the other batters. Led by Mohammed Siraj, they have dominated the powerplay with 18 wickets at an economy rate of 7. In the middle overs, they’ve been the most expensive, conceding at 10.1 runs per over, way above the tournament average of 8.25 — essentially conceding 18 runs more than the average each game in the middle overs.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 7, Powerplay – 7, Middle Overs – 4, Final Overs – 2
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 8, Powerplay – 7, Middle Overs – 8, Final Overs – 4
Punjab Kings suffered a big blow with skipper Shikhar Dhawan injured in the game versus Gujarat Titans, forcing him to miss the next three games. Dhawan’s absence made the Kings top order very inexperienced. The biggest positive for the team this season has been the form of their lower order with Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma and Shahrukh Khan chipping in in the final overs. They’ve scored at 11.23 runs per over in the phase, third best after Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals. The lack of wicket-taking ability of their spin attack has been their biggest issue with only 9 wickets in 7 games so far, the lowest of all teams.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 5, Powerplay – 5, Middle Overs – 5, Final Overs – 5
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 10, Powerplay – 6, Middle Overs – 7, Final Overs – 10
Injuries to Jasprit Bumrah pre-season, the limited availability of Jofra Archer and the lack of a quality spinner has made MI the least potent bowling attack till the halfway mark. They’ve conceded at 9.02 runs per over in the powerplay, 8.68 runs per over in the middle overs and 12.44 runs per over in the final overs – essentially lacking any sort of control in each phase. Their batting has been just above par with no clear leading performer. Tilak Verma is the leading run-scorer with a tally of 219 runs, followed by Cameron Green (199), Ishan Kishan (183) Rohit Sharma (181). The lack of form of Suryakumar Yadav, the fulcrum of this batting unit, has been MI’s key issue.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 8 : Powerplay – 10, Middle Overs – 1, Final Overs – 7
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 9 : Powerplay – 9, Middle Overs – 4, Final Overs – 7
KKR’s biggest issue with the bat has been their unsettled top order. In their first 7 games, they’ve had five different opening combinations. They’ve lost 17 wickets in the powerplay – averaging 19.3 runs per dismissal. Their poor starts in the powerplay goes back to 2022 IPL when they had the lowest batting average in the opening phase. In their bowling unit, their pace attack has failed to deliver, having taken only 11 wickets at an average of 59.3 and conceded at 11.64 runs per over. Their spinners have fared far better with 27 wickets at 23.3 average and conceding at 8.0 runs per over.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 9, Powerplay – 8, Middle Overs – 9, Final Overs – 6
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 5, Powerplay – 5, Middle Overs – 5, Final Overs – 6
SRH’s misfiring batting unit has been their biggest negative in this season so far. They’ve scored at 7.02 runs per over in the powerplay – the slowest of all teams, 7.49 runs per over in the middle overs – the second slowest, after DC, and 9.59 runs per over in the final overs. None of their batters has scored more than 170 this season and only five have managed to score more than 100 runs.Traditionally, bowling has been their stronger suit and the trend has continued this season too. Mayank Markande has impressed as their lead spinner in the middle overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s return to form has made their powerplay & final overs bowling formidable.
Delhi Capitals (DC)
Impact Rank – Batting – Overall – 10 : Powerplay – 9, Middle Overs – 10, Final Overs – 10
Impact Rank – Bowling – Overall – 4 : Powerplay – 4, Middle Overs – 2, Final Overs – 9