IPL 2020: Rating all teams based on their performances in the first week

The first week of IPL has come to a close with some enthralling and intense cricket. We have witnessed some nail-biting cricket matches thanks to an equal presence of brilliance and mediocrity. All the teams seem to have certain things going for them while there are also a few chinks in most of their armours.

At this point, all the teams have played at least two games (except Rajasthan Royals which has played one) and while it may be a bit too early to start evaluating their teams, all of us definitely have an idea of what the teams have done right and what they can improve on.

So based on the performances of the first week of the IPL 2020, let us rate all the 8 teams:

8) Chennai Super Kings – 6/10

A team which was being touted as one of the favourites, Chennai Super Kings have been very underwhelming so far. They started off on a positive note winning their opening encounter against Mumbai Indians but since then, it has been a downward spiral for them, first losing to Rajasthan Royals and then Delhi Capitals, both times, comprehensively.

There have been a couple of positives for them. Sam Curran seems to be a great addition and has performed with the ball and whenever he got an opportunity with the bat. Faf du Plessis has batted with a lot of responsibility and has successfully played the big shots as well. But there have clearly been more downs than ups for CSK till now.

The most important aspect CSK is lagging in is the opening partnership. Shane Watson and Murali Vijay are just not being able to provide good starts which can inject momentum into the innings. With the absence of Ambati Rayudu in the last two games, their middle order also has looked unimpressive. MS Dhoni has been hesitant to come up the order and his rustiness has been evident.

Add to that their biggest strength, spin bowling, has let them down. Ravindra Jadeja has gone for more than 40 runs in 3 consecutive games while Piyush Chawla just never looks threatening enough. The CSK outfit carries a tired look this season and have performed very poorly in the first week. They will hope the return of Ambati Rayudu and Dwayne Bravo bolsters their line up and they can put up a performance that CSK is usually known for going forward.

7) Royal Challengers Bangalore – 6.5/10

Royal Challengers Bangalore, like every season, came into this tournament being one of the most talked about teams with a lot of hype surrounding them. After a decent auction, it seemed as though they finally had assembled a winning unit. The win in the first game against Sunrisers Hyderabad would have made them believe the same. But the way they unravelled against Kings XI Punjab will surely bring back the past doubts.

Yuzvendra Chahal has been the knight in shining armour for RCB. He single-handedly turned the game around for RCB against SRH with a three-wicket haul and against KXIP, looked the only bowler who would take wickets. Devdutt Padikkal’s debut was an impressive one, and AB de Villiers too has looked fluent. But that’s about it.

RCB’s age old problem came back to haunt them once again against KXIP. Umesh Yadav and Dale Steyn have been hugely disappointing. They will need Chris Morris to be fit as soon as possible. Despite adding the likes of Finch to the squad, there still seems to over reliance on Kohli and ABD. Finch hasn’t looked very comfortable and Joshua Philippe, batting out of position, hasn’t been able to do much.

They also seem to have not got the team combinations right yet. And their main man, Virat Kohli has also looked tentative in the two games played. RCB will have to quickly look to iron out these flaws else they could be in for another unsuccessful season.

6)Sunrisers Hyderabad – 7/10

Sunrisers Hyderabad will be kicking themselves for not winning the game against RCB. However, the same cannot be said about their second game against KKR where they were comprehensively beaten. Although they possess the same core like last year where they qualified for the playoffs, they somehow just seem to be not in the best of forms individually to help SRH win and are the only team yet to win a game.

The positive for SRH in terms of individual performance has been Manish Pandey. He has scored 85 runs in 2 games including a 50 and has looked comfortable at the crease. Bairstow also played a good innings against RCB and Warner seems to be one game away from a massive innings.

However, apart from these 3, SRH hasn’t quite been up to the mark. They have a very brittle middle order which lacks explosiveness. Their batting seems to be done after the top 3. Their bowling too hasn’t looked as penetrative as it has in the last few years. While Rashid Khan hasn’t been at his absolute best, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has looked quite off colour.

They will really need to infuse some young, aggressive talent in their middle order and perhaps rejig their bowling line up a bit. They seem to be over reliant on the opening partnership for runs. They will have to find out a way to make SRH a well-oiled machine once again so they can play the way they have in the last few years.

5) Kolkata Knight Riders – 8/10

Kolkata Knight Riders has had a mixed start to the tournament losing one and winning one but they are a side which has looked good. They had a bad start to the season, with their bowling attack going for plenty and no batsman taking responsibility. But they came back well with a much more convincing performance in the game against SRH.

Sunil Narine has emerged as a concern at the top of the order. He has had a couple of successful seasons as a pinch hitter opening the batting but this season seems to have been found out and has been dismissed cheaply both the times.. Kuldeep Yadav’s form is also a concern. He hasn’t been at his best for quite some time now, but that will have to change as going forward, he will be very important for KKR.

On the positive note, their fast bowling looks threatening with the experience of Cummins and Russell and youth and exuberance of Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkotti. Shubman Gill proved why he’s been rated so highly with a sensible knock against SRH. While their middle order hasn’t fired as such, Morgan seems to be finding form and DK had a decent 30 as well. KKR is one of the most exciting teams on paper and will surely look to carry the momentum now in the upcoming games.

4) Mumbai Indians – 8.5/10

Mumbai Indians, the four-time IPL champions, assembled a good squad before the tournament and were expected to do well again. While they started off on a disappointing note losing their opening game to CSK, they came back strongly to thump KKR by 49 runs. They look a solid unit with most bases covered but they will also be looking to address the smaller concerns to become even more ruthless.

The lower middle order of Mumbai Indians is yet to fire. While Hardik Pandya has looked in good hitting form, he hasn’t been able to convert his starts into something substantial as of now. Kieron Pollard too hasn’t got going the way he can. But their biggest concern will be Krunal Pandya’s batting and bowling form. He looks uncomfortable with the bat and hasn’t been able to extract much from the Abu Dhabi pitch yet.

Mumbai will be hoping for him to hit top form soon. The only other concern for Mumbai would be the number 4 spot. While Saurabh Tiwary has done decently, with his poor fitness standards, he doesn’t look like a long-term prospect and Mumbai will have to think whether they should persist with him or bring in the more explosive but inexperienced Ishan Kishan

On the positive aspect, Mumbai will be pleased with Rohit Sharma finding form against KKR. He hasn’t been at his best with the bat for a few seasons for MI but his form this season will be very vital for MI. The pace department also seems to be getting into the groove. James Pattinson, Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah made up for their slightly ordinary performance in game 1 and came back with a bang against KKR.

Mumbai has traditionally been slow starters and haven’t yet looked as dominating but they will be satisfied with the performances in the first week.

3) Rajasthan Royals – 8.5/10

Rajasthan Royals is the only team to have played just one game in the first week of the IPL. They beat the Chennai Super Kings by 16 runs to register an impressive victory in the sole game they played. In whatever was on display, Rajasthan looks to be a well-balanced team and perhaps will end up performing better than what most people expected them to.

In the only game they played, one obvious flaw was the presence of a disoriented middle order. After an explosive top order, RR have Robin Uthappa, who has predominantly been a top order batsman, Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia to follow. In the absence of Ben Stokes, this lower middle order definitely presents a weak look.

On the other hand, while their bowling did well to defend 216 on a small ground, apart from Archer, nobody really looked threatening as such. When the opposition isn’t under the pressure of run rate, the bowlers of RR may not end up being very effective. However, the positives outweighed the negatives. Sanju Samson, a long-standing player for Rajasthan once again started the tournament with a bang scoring 74 of 32 balls.

RR will hope he carries the form further into the tournament. Steve Smith, their captain and Jofra Archer also seem to have hit their straps early in the tournament. RR ended up making 216 in the absence of Jos Buttler, and now the England keeper coming back will further bolster their batting. Rajasthan is certainly a team to watch out for. They may not be the flashiest team in the tournament but surely possess the ability to go all the way.

2) Kings XI Punjab – 9/10

Kings XI Punjab will be kicking themselves for not having won both their games, gifting away their first match to Delhi Capitals in a couple of brain fade moments. Nevertheless, KXIP demolished RCB by 97 runs in the next game and played some exceptional cricket through the first week.

The only thing KXIP will be concerned about is their middle order. Their overseas stars, Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell haven’t done much yet and the likes of Sarfraz Khan and Karun Nair haven’t got much of an opportunity. Both their games have seen powerful top order performances and KXIP will surely be hoping for their middle order to fire going forward.

Apart from that, KXIP look like a force to reckon with. Their openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal have each played one brilliant innings already. Rahul especially looks to be in great nick. Their pace bowling has hit top form with Sheldon Cottrell and Mohammed Shami doing exceedingly well in both games.

Their young leggie Ravi Bishnoi has also come to the party and hasn’t look fazed at the big stage. KXIP also has a hungry Chris Gayle in the dugout raring to go. KXIP played some commendable cricket in the first week and as a result have looked a very good unit.

1) Delhi Capitals – 9.5/10

Delhi capitals, a team which seemed to be one of the strongest even before the IPL started, hasn’t disappointed in the first week. They might have got slightly lucky in the first game but their win against CSK was as comprehensive as it gets and unlike in earlier seasons where Delhi seemed to be a team which could lose from any position, they have now found ways to win.

There didn’t seem to be any particular weakness in this Delhi outfit at least in the first week. That is a bold statement to make but in both the matches, different set of players stepped up for them and there seems to be a perfect blend of experience and youth in this squad. They will just be hoping for Ishant Sharma to come back so that their third seamer spot is occupied by an experienced player as well.

While it was the lower middle order which rescued Delhi in the first match with a brilliant all round performance coming from Marcus Stoinis, in the second game the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant led the charge. They have a potent pace attack and Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were excellent in both the games.

Add to that their spin attack, having the likes of Ravi Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra and someone like Sandeep Lamichanne on the bench, Delhi has sure looked a team to beat this season and if they play with calm and composure throughout, they can certainly go a step further from last year and win the title.