IPL 2023 Mid-Season Review

                          IPL 2023 Mid-Season Review

IPL 2023 has reached the halfway mark, where exactly 35 of the 70 league matches have been played, with each team playing exactly seven matches each.

In this article, I am going to review the performance, future team combinations, and chances to reach the playoffs of three teams, namely the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Capitals. 

 

If you have noticed, I have selected the top team, the bottom team, and a middle team according to the mid-season points table. I will be reviewing other teams in a separate blog post soon.

 

I am going to start off with my favourite team and current table-toppers, the Chennai Super Kings.

Chennai Super Kings

Many cricket followers were surprised to see the performances of the Chennai Super Kings so far in this IPL. However, I wasn't surprised at all to see this performance. 

 

If you don't believe me, check out my blog post, which I did way before the IPL started. 

https://cricencyclopedia.blogspot.com/2023/03/6-reasons-why-csk-can-win-its-5th-ipl.html

Why is CSK at the top of the table?

 

1) Quality foreigners

 

CSK has the second-best foreign combination after the Lucknow Super Giants, who can even afford to drop QDK. 

With Ben Stokes being ruled out for 2-3 weeks, CSK replaced him with Ajinkya Rahane for batting and brought a foreign bowler in the form of Magala.

 

However, Magala too got injured while taking a catch in the match against the Rajasthan Royals, which actually became a blessing in disguise for CSK and Dhoni as they could unearth the potential of Pathirana.

 

There is still Mitchell Santner is sitting on the bench. 

 

Even if Ben Stokes, the costliest buy for CSK ever in IPL history, regains match fitness, it will be really difficult for him to enter the playing 11.

 

2) Players are punching above their weight.

 

Lesser-known players like Akash Singh and Tushar Deshpande have done considerably better in terms of controlling the opposition batters so far, these two have stepped up in the absence of seasoned opening bowler Deepak Charar.

 

More than these two, everyone is astonished to see the Bahubali version of Ajinkya Rahane, who is showing the world his repertoire of new shots he has added to his T20 game. 

Rahane has the highest strike rate so far for players who have scored at least 100 runs in this IPL so far.

 

3) Thala Influence

 

When you talk about CSK, you can never stop without talking about MS Dhoni's influence on the team, He has backed players like Dube who has been given a clear role within the team as the designated spin hitter.

 

Thala MS Dhoni's demeanour on the ground this season shows that he is pretty relaxed and happy with the resources he is having to win the fifth title for CSK this season.

 

 

Team combinations from hereon

MS Dhoni doesn't like to tinker too much, especially if the team has been doing well.

 

Deepak Charar will replace Akash Singh when he regains match fitness, and when Ben Stokes gains match fitness, two of Stokes, Moeen, or Theekshana will play depending on the conditions.

Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians have had a mediocre tournament so far, winning three games from their seven games played. 

Their batting looks scary on paper, but on the field, more often than not, the batters haven't been able to translate that into performance. 

 

Mumbai Indians bowling has been a worry for Rohit Sharma, especially the fast bowlers, who have been consistently leaking runs in the last five overs. 

 Why is MI in the middle of the table?

 

1) Absence of quality bowlers

 

On paper, seeing Mumbai Indians bowlers, namely Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Riley Meredith, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, and Hrithik Shokeen, doesn't inspire any confidence.

 

However, their bowlers have done well in parts to give the Mumbai Indians their three wins in the tournament so far. 

 

Piyush Chawla has been the standout bowler for the Mumbai Indians so far, with Arjun and Behrendorff doing well in the powerplay.

 

Their slog-over bowling has been a concern, as they conceded 95 runs against Punjab and 75 runs against the Gujarat Titans.

 

If the Mumbai Indians have to reach someplace close to the top four, injury-free Jofra Archer has to arrive, and their other bowlers will have to punch above their weight like CSK bowlers.

 

 

2) Inconsistent performance from batters

 

Mumbai Indians batters have only shown glimpses of what they can do. This batting lineup, which consists of SKY, Tim David, and Tilak Verma in the middle, can chase even 220 with ease.

 

However, as a group, the batters haven't produced much, with Rohit scoring only one fifty and Ishan Kishan performing well only in Wankhade. 

Green and David have shown their potential, but not as a team yet. Tilak Verma has withered his good start to the IPL.

 

If the Mumbai Indians batters score as much as they are capable of on paper, their bowlers will have enough to defend and win games consistently. 

 

Team combinations from hereon

There is no need for Rohit to change the batting combinations, as this combo will come good soon in the later stages of the tournament.

 

However, in the bowling department, Rohit will be hoping for a fully fit Jofra Archer soon, and other bowlers to chip in whenever necessary.

 

Ramandeep Singh, who had a good second half last season, can replace Arjun Tendulkar if the master blaster's son doesn't inspire much.

 

Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals is languishing at the bottom of the table with just two wins from their seven games.

However, their back-to-back wins after having suffered their first five straight losses will be a major boost to their second half of the season.

 

 Why are tactics going wrong for DC?

A) Constant Chopping of Foreigner Slots

 

Dehi Capitals started with 1 foreign bowler and 3 foreign batters, then went to 2 foreign bowlers in the form of Mustafizur Rahman and Anrich Nortje. 

 

Now, in the last two matches, they have gone back to their old combination of three foreign batters and one foreign bowler.

 

However, I feel the Delhi Capitals should still try to include Rovman Powell, who was in tremendous form in various leagues this year. With him adding medium-paced bowling to his repertoire, he should replace Philip Salt as soon as possible if the Delhi Capitals dream of reaching the playoffs from here.

 

B) Form of Indian batters

 

The scrutiny of David Warner's strike rate and the pressure on other foreign batters like Marsh are mainly due to the lack of runs from Indian batters.

 

The Capitals are certainly missing Rishabh Pant at No. 4. In his place, they have tried Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Abhishek Porel, etc. 

Finally, the Capitals got some solace with Manish Pandey doing well for them in the middle. However, he is still struggling to make an impact like Rishab Pant.

 

C) Missing aggressive batting at the top

 

With Prithvi Shaw completely out of form, the Capitals haven't gotten the start they would have liked in any matches. 

Constantly losing two or three wickets in the power play has actually lowered David Warner's strike rate and put batting pressure on Mitchell Marsh.

 

Except for Warner and Axar Patel, all the other Delhi batters haven't lived up to their potential.

 

 

Team combinations from hereon

The Delhi Capitals might still go with Philip Salt at the top, with him doing keeping duties. Ricky Ponting and Warner would be hoping for Salt to come good in the second half of the season. 

If Salt too doesn't fire, Delhi will have to replace Salt with Powell or Rossouw, with Marsh opening with Warner.

 

In the bowling department, the Delhi Capitals seem to be well settled. They have their worthy spin duo, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, doing well. 

In the pace department, Nortje, Ishant, Mukesh, and Khaleel have been doing reasonably well for them.

 

If the Delhi Capitals have to reach the playoffs from here, they need their batters to step up and score freely.