IPL 2016 Weekly Roundup: Week 5

Another week is done with in IPL 2016 and we yet again witnessed some breathtaking performances and some tepid ones; both by the teams and the players. As we now enter the last week of the league phase of the competition, here is looking at some of the high points of the week gone by in it.

The Kohli-AB annihilation:

We have seen a lot of brutal attacks by batsmen in the IPL in the past, but this was something else. This was two of the best batsmen in the world showing off their outstanding skills to the world together. The Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers show against Gujarat this Saturday will be remembered for a very long time to come. It was brutal, it was savage; it was a complete annihilation. No bowler was spared and sixes and fours were hit with such nonchalance that it felt too easy for the batsmen. Both the batsmen started slowly and worked around for a few overs before suddenly unleashing themselves after the 14th over and taking 112 runs in the last 5. They scored 229 runs together – an IPL record – while making outstanding individual hundreds themselves: Kohli 109 (55) and de Villiers 129 * (52). Bangalore eventually scored 248 in their 20 overs and won by a whopping 144 runs.

Pune and Punjab out of the race:

After struggling and stumbling throughout the tourney, Pune and Punjab finally withered out and are now out of the playoff race. While Punjab has fought on bravely after Murali Vijay was instated as the captain, Pune’s wheels have completely come off. They now lie at the bottom of the table with three wins from 12 games, with absolutely no scope of redemption as both their batting and bowling has just imploded. Punjab, meanwhile, have four wins from 12 games and are only marginally better with their batting looking a little better. If only they had Miller and Maxwell in form, they could have scripted a different story.

MS Dhoni’s woes:

Never has Mahendra Singh Dhoni looked so forlorn and so out of touch. His batting firepower seems to have evaporated as he has just 220 runs at a strike rate of 123 in IPL 2016 and his 8 of 22 balls against Kolkata this Saturday – one of the slowest innings in the IPL  – further demonstrated the fact. His captaincy too has been jaded and strange – the consistent non-inclusion of Irfan Pathan being a case in point. This will be the first IPL that Dhoni, as a captain, will not be leading his team to the last four stage. Perhaps the man really needs a long break and good rest to recharge himself.

Inconsistent Gujarat:

Gujarat had started tremendously well and seemed like the team to beat in the IPL this season. They were well on their way to the playoffs after about 6-7 games. However, they have become very inconsistent of late. They win one game formidably and then go on to lose the next one meekly. And this has been happening for a few games now. At present, Gujarat has 14 points from 12 matches, but their net run-rate stands at – 0.747 – one of the worst in the championship. They really need to get their act together before the almost certain playoff berth slips out of their grips.

Bhuvi returns to form:

One of the best news for India from this IPL has been the form of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. The seamer, battling injuries and poor form for a few months prior to the competition, has quietly but surely come back to his best this IPL. With 16 wickets from 12 matches at an economy rate of 7.71, Bhuvi is among the top five bowlers in the tournament and is improving with each game. His line and lengths have been very good and he is swinging the ball consistently. He rarely goes for a lot of runs and is also bowling good yorkers and slower ones at the death. One hopes to see Bhuvi return to his best for Team India too very soon.

KL Rahul comes of age:

Another good thing for Indian cricket was to see K L Rahul perform so impressively this season of the IPL. Rahul, who has been known as a solid Test player, has garnered 332 runs from 9 matches for his team Bangalore this year. He has scored four 50s and has a splendid strike-rate of 143. Rahul had never scored a single fifty on all his previous appearances in the championship but has looked very comfortable and has played several crucial knocks for his team at the top of the order. In a team that comprises of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Shane Watson, Rahul has done remarkably well to leave his mark.

The points table conundrum:

So even after 47 matches, we do not have an assured top four. Although Hyderabad, with 16 points, has almost made it and unless Kolkata, with 14 points, does something disastrously bad in their next three matches, they too should make it. Now the race should be between Mumbai (14 points in 13 games), Gujarat (14 points in 12 games), Delhi 12 points in 11 games) and Bangalore (10 points in 11 games) to take the last two spots. This being the last week of the league phase of the tournament, we should then get some intense and cut-throat matches as these teams battle it out brutally to cross the finishing line.

What were the best moments of the week? – IPL 2016: Top 10 moments of week 5