IPL 2016: The Team Analysis

So another fantastic season of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) has come to an end. This remained, without doubt, one of the most closely fought IPL seasons ever with no real outright and dominating team seen through the tourney. Even the final between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore was decided only in the last over of the tournament which Sunrisers eventually won by 8 runs and were crowned IPL 2016 champions for the first time. In all, the ninth season of the IPL will be remembered for some glorious and brutal individual and team performances peppered with some heart-stopping moments. Here, we have a look at the final analysis of all the eight teams in the tournament for the season. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): Sunrisers Hyderabad. (Photo Source: BCCI) The new champions of the IPL were the quintessential dark horses before the tournament began and they proved their worth in gold just when it mattered the most. Captain David Warner led from the front scoring 848 runs in the season and was the reason his team crossed the line on most occasions. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Moses Henriques did lend him good company every now and then, but what really was Hyderabad’s X-factor was their bowling. In Mustafizur Rahman, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra, they had one of the best bowling line-ups in the championship and even though Nehra missed the last few games due to injury, the others put their hands up and delivered admirably. Yuvraj Singh, who had missed the first half of the tournament due to injury, came back and bolstered the Sunrisers’ middle-order with some crucial knocks. All in all, it can be said that the Sunrisers Hyderabad may not have had the best team in IPL 2016 but the way they gelled together and got the best out of smaller heroes like Ben Cutting and Bipul Sharma, among others, illustrated that they truly were deserving champions. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Royal Challengers Bangalore. (Photo Source: BCCI) With unquestionably the best batting line up in the IPL by a fair distance, RCB came tantalizingly close to the finishing hurdle this year but just fell short. Captain Virat Kohli, who had an extraordinary year with a whopping 973 runs in the season, along with AB de Villiers who got 687 runs, led RCB’s resurgence this year and looked set to destroy everyone in their way. What didn’t help the RCB, though, was that apart from these two, and K L Rahul who scored close to 400 runs, the others could not support them on a regular basis. Their bowling, despite being inconsistent and fairly expensive on most occasions, became settled eventually as Shane Watson and Yuzvendra Chahal were always among the wickets. Despite some amazing and remarkable individual performances, RCB could not cross the finishing line this time because somewhere they lacked what SRH had: a strong cohesive unit backing with even smaller players contributing something in the larger cause. Gujarat Lions (GL): Gujarat Lions. (Photo Source: BCCI) One of the new entrants in this year’s IPL, the Gujarat Lions had a fairly good season as they topped the table but could not make it to the finals. In Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith and captain Suresh Raina himself, Gujarat had a spectacular batting side which also had the likes of Dinesh Karthik in it. On most occasions Gujarat would get a sensational opening and would be aided well by their bowling unit having Dwayne Bravo and Praveen Kumar. However, Gujarat, despite the great openings, would often flounder in being consistent through the innings. Plus Raina had an average season with the bat and his lackluster captaincy too, where he kept changing his batting order for unfathomable reasons, affected his team. All in all, a very good season for Gujarat but they sure would like some more responsibility from their local talents next year. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Kolkata Knight Riders. (Photo Source: BCCI) They had the most balanced side in the tournament and yet, somehow, two-time champions KKR just could not manage to maintain consistency this year. Led by the bull-headed Gautam Gambhir who had 501 runs in the season, the real heroes for the team this year were Andre Russell, with his stunning late hits and effective bowling, along with Yusuf Pathan’s responsible hitting through the season. However, the likes of Robin Uthappa, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Morne Morkel and even the ever-reliable Sunil Narine were very inconsistent throughout the season which hurt KKR badly. Also, Russell missing out KKR’s last few crucial matches really dampened their chances. The team has all the resources and all the boxes ticked and what they would hope for next season is a little more consistency in all the departments. Mumbai Indians (MI): Bengaluru: Mumbai Indians celebrate fall of a wicket during an IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 11, 2016. (Photo Source: IANS) Last year’s champs Mumbai Indians had a pretty off-colour season this time as they failed to make the playoffs and won only seven games. Apart from captain Rohit Sharma and to an extent Ambati Rayudu, hardly any of the other players could make any consistent impact. Rohit scored 489 runs but never really got able support from the other batsmen as Parthiv Patel, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, among others, floundered regularly. They did discover a star in all-rounder Krunal Pandya who was truly a revelation but the inconsistency bug did Mumbai in too as even reliable bowlers like Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah failed after a bright beginning. Delhi Daredevils (DD): Delhi Daredevils. (Photo Source: BCCI) Delhi had an amazing first half in IPL 2016 as they won five of their first seven games but too much chopping and changing to the side cost them dear. Led ably by Zaheer Khan who was in his elements, Delhi had several performers this season: Quinton de Cock, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Rishabh Pant and Carlos Brathwaite to name a few. However, none of the players got a long run and were regularly moved around from the side which resulted in erratic performances from the otherwise reliable players like JP Duminy, Imran Tahir and Sanju Samson. Youngsters Pawan Negi and Karun Nair failed to make an impact and Delhi would really need to find a settled unit if they wish to progress further next season. Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS): Rising Pune Supergiants. (Photo Source: BCCI) Never in living memory has a side been plagued with so many injuries as was the case with Pune this season. Even before they could settle into the season Pune lost Kevin Pietersen, followed by Faf du Plessis and Mitchell Marsh due to injuries. What was the biggest blow was when they soon lost Steven Smith who was just beginning to get into his groove with a spectacular hundred. The Pune journey completely derailed after that as save Ajinkya Rahane no one else could shoulder the responsibility to give the side good scores. What made matters worse was that Pune had probably the worst performing bowling unit; Ishant Sharma, R.P. Singh Thisara Perera leaking runs continuously. Adam Zampa and Ashok Dida did shine in a few games but it was too little too late as Pune could manage only five wins in the season. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni too was off-colour most of the season and took some bizarre decisions. He did redeem himself, though, in Pune’s last game against Punjab where he pulled off a miraculous victory by walloping 23 runs in the last over. Pune does have the talent and if they remain injury free and if the players take up more responsibility next season, then they might just shine. Kings XI Punjab (KXIP): Kings XI Punjab. (Photo Source: BCCI) This is now the third time (twice in two seasons) that Punjab have ended up right at the bottom of the league table and they really need to do some serious thinking about their team for the next season. The problem with them is that they depend wholly on Glen Maxwell and David Miller to take them through like they did in 2014; both of who had a horrible season. None of the others too could take up the initiative and hence Punjab struggled. What didn’t help was that Miller, who was the captain initially, was removed from the position mid-way and Murali Vijay was instated for the job instead. Although Vijay did really well, scoring 453 runs, not many supported him. Axar Patel with 13 wickets and some crucial runs and Sandeep Sharma with 15 wickets were the other performers from the squad. The remaining bunch was either inconsistent or just dismal. Some serious revamp is required for them now.

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