Week one of IPL 2022 is done and dusted, and while it is too early to jump to any conclusions with all teams having played only two matches each, we have already seen some noticeable trends in the first 11 games of the season. The Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals have had a promising start to the season, while the holders of the last five titles – Mumbai and Chennai – have faltered, losing five games between them.
It has been an entertaining start to the campaign with plenty of high-scoring thrillers and last-ball finishes, and here are our five observations from the opening round of matches in season 15 of the Indian Premier League.
1. The toss will play a huge factor in Mumbai
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Of the first nine games of the season played in Mumbai – DY Patil, Brabourne, Wankhede – only two teams have successfully defended a total, Punjab and Rajasthan, while scores of 200+ have already been chased down twice. The reason for this chasing bias in Mumbai is that apart from having a fixed target to plan for, the dew which sets in during evening games significantly hampers the team bowling second. It gets difficult for the spinners to grip the wet ball, while the pitch also flattens out more, allowing the ball to come onto the bat a little more easily.
This dew effect hasn’t come into play at the MCA Stadium in Pune, but in the humid Mumbai conditions, sides will continue to prefer chasing throughout the entirety of the league phase, and the team batting first will need a super-human effort to negate the massive disadvantage of losing the toss.
2. 2020 flashbacks for CSK in 2022
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For the first time in their storied IPL history, the Chennai Super Kings have lost each of their opening three games of the season in 2022. The defending champions entered this campaign with the hope of winning a record-equalling 5th IPL title, but a mixture of injuries and a poor auction performance have tempered the Men in Yellow’s hopes. While Deepak Chahar’s injury has been a major blow, CSK have one of the weakest bowling attacks in the competition, with no frontline leg-spinner in the side and – barring Adam Milne – no one who can bowl at a high pace and pick up wickets in the powerplay.
In the batting department, CSK failed to replace Faf du Plessis’ ability to take on the pacers against the new ball, and his absence has hurt Ruturaj Gaikwad, who prefers to take his time in the powerplay and accelerate through the middle.
Having already lost three games, CSK look like they might be the first team to bow out of the playoff race, and barring any miracle, 2022 likely becomes just the second time in the IPL that the Men in Yellow fail to make the final four.
3. KKR might already rue letting go of Shubman Gill
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In the years to come, KKR’s decision to release Shubman Gill in favour of Venkatesh Iyer in 2022 might turn out to be one of the biggest mistakes in IPL history as they let go of the future face of Indian cricket after a couple of mediocre seasons as an opener.
Gill never got going as a T20 player in Kolkata, averaging 33.8 at a strike rate of 122 in 40 matches as an opener since 2019. However, while Iyer might have performed better for KKR and is a fantastic player in his own right, he may never touch the heights of Shubman Gill in white-ball cricket, who has the higher upside as a batter due to his ability to maul spinners mercilessly. Gill has already shown glimpses of that potential in just his second IPL game for his new franchise Gujarat – scoring a career-best 84 in just 46 deliveries – and if the opener continues on that trajectory, KKR might rue letting one of the biggest talents that Indian cricket has to offer slip through their fingers.
4. There is more than enough talent in Indian cricket to fit a 10-team IPL
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Before the season started, many detractors felt that the quality of IPL 2022 would be reduced by the introduction of two new teams. The argument was that the addition of 14 new domestic players to the tournament would dilute the spectacle of the world’s most entertaining T20 league.
However, the performances of young Indian stars such as Ayush Badoni, N Tilak Verma and Abhinav Manohar have quickly silenced any potential doubters, showing that there is more than enough talent and depth in Indian cricket to fill ten IPL squads. The introduction of two new franchises has also given fresh chances to experienced Indian players – Umesh Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav – who were on the periphery of IPL squads in the years gone by but are now thriving in their new environments with a renewed lease of life.
5. Powerplay party for new-ball bowlers
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Week one of the Indian Premier League has belonged to the new ball bowlers as the likes of Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, and Prasidh Krishna wreaked havoc in the powerplay with their pace and movement. With at least 15 games played on each ground this season, the curators have rightly elected to leave more grass on the wicket at the start of the season to protect the life of the pitches and ensure they last two months without crumbling.
This, in turn, has provided some favourable conditions for bowlers who can swing the new ball in the night games in Mumbai and Pune. Umesh Yadav registered figures of 2 for 12 in his three-over powerplay spells for KKR against CSK and RCB, while RR restricted SRH to the lowest powerplay score in IPL history (14-3), with Prasidh Krishna conceding just two runs in his first three overs.
[Featured Image Credit: ANI]
Shivaan Shah