IPL 2016 review: 5 talking points from the first quarter of the group stage

Summary

The first quarter of the group stage of the 2016 Indian Premier League is complete. The first 14 games have seen high scores, low scores, big wins and close encounters. There are also a number of new players on show for the first time, as well as two new teams.

The suspended duo of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have in turn paved the way for the two new sides to try their luck on the big stage. Defending champions Mumbai Indians have gotten off to an inconsistent start, whereas there are the usual problems for the likes of the Royal Challengers, Kings XI and Sunrisers.

Below, I take a look at five talking points that I have picked out from the opening quarter of the group stage.

1) New franchise report

The two new teams that have replaced the Royals and the Super Kings have settled into the IPL life at different rates. The Rising Pune Supergiants kicked off their tournament, and indeed the tournament as a whole, in the opening night match against reigning champions Mumbai Indians. It was a clinical performance from Pune as they cantered to a nine wicket victory at the Wankhede Stadium. They got early breakthroughs via Ishant Sharma, before Mitchell Marsh picked up Hardik Pandya and Jos Buttler. Rajat Bhatia (4-1-10-1) and Murugan Ashwin on debut (4-0-16-1) contained the Mumbai batsmen and set up a simple run chase. Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis brought the score to 78 inside ten overs before du Plessis was bowled by Harbhajan Singh for 34. Rahane and Kevin Pietersen then eased the Supergiants to victory with 32 balls to spare.

du Plessis has been the star for the Rising Pune
Supergiants so far (PHOTO: Sajjad Hussain)

Gujarat Lions travelled to Mohali for their first game to take on the Kings XI Punjab. Despite Pradeep Sangwan, James Faulkner and Sarabjit Ladda going at around ten an over, Praveen Kumar (4-0-25-0) and the superb Dwayne Bravo (4-0-22-4) quashed any hope of Punjab putting on a genuinely challenging total. In response, Brendon McCullum departed early, but Aaron Finch was in fine fettle on his way to 74, before Dinesh Karthik saw the Lions home with an unbeaten 41 with 14 balls.

Game six saw the new sides come together for the first time in their respective second games in the Lions' home in Rajkot. du Plessis was again in good form and he consolidated with Pietersen after Rahane departed at the end of the fourth over for 21. The duo put on 86 for the second wicket before Pietersen was bowled by Bravo for 37. Du Plessis followed soon after for 69 as Supergiants' captain MS Dhoni scored a quickfire 22 to set Gujarat 164 to win. The destructive opening partnership of Finch and McCullum put on 85 before Finch departed for 50. Raina and McCullum saw the Lions to within 50 of their target before the New Zealander fell one short of his fifty. Bravo was unbeaten at the end on 22 as the Lions made it two from two with two overs to spare against their fellow newcomers.

Finch has been a key component in all three of
Gujarat's wins (PHOTO: Indranil Mukherjee)

It was a tighter affair in the Lions' next game, as they scraped home by three wickets against the Mumbai Indians. Again, Finch was the mainstay of the innings, carrying his bat for an unbeaten 67 to see his side home on the last ball. Earlier, Dhawal Kulkarni (4-1-19-1) excelled with the ball, before spinners Pravin Tambe (2-0-12-2) and Shadab Jakati (3-0-13-1) further put the brakes on Mumbai. Following the departure of Raina at 65-2, a batting collapse threatened to put a halt to the Lions' 100% record. However, Finch's calm head and a brave boundary struck by number nine Kulkarni saw them home.

Finally, in the Supergiants' third game, they once again failed to get enough runs on the board. Du Plessis was again the star as he hit 67, with Steve Smith providing backup with 38 from 26 balls. It wasn't to prove enough, however, as the Kings XI knocked off the runs with six wickets and eight balls to spare. Murugan Ashwin (4-0-36-3) impressed again but he and the Supergiants were on the receiving end of a finishing masterclass from Glenn Maxwell who struck an unbeaten 32 from 14 balls.

2) The rise of the Delhi Daredevils?

The Delhi Daredevils have struggled somewhat in recent years, finishing bottom in 2013 and 2014 and second bottom in 2015. This year, however, with the help of yet another overhaul they look like breaking the shackles. 

South African Quinton de Kock looks in sublime form and he was the mastermind behind their impressive chase of 192 against the Royal Challengers. The left hander stuck a brilliant 108 off just 51 balls, containing 15 fours and three sixes as he almost single-handedly took Delhi to victory. 

Delhi have won their last two games after a
disappointing opener (PHOTO: Sajjad Hussain)

He was not alone, however, and it was one of the young Indian players that Delhi have brought in who provided support. Karun Nair played a fine hand, finishing unbeaten on 54 from 42 balls. He is one of a number of young, talented Indian players in the Daredevils setup. Shreyas Iyer, Daredevils' top scorer last year, has struggled thus far but has proven his quality at the top of the order. The same can be said of 21-year-old Sanju Samson who has impressed with the Rajasthan Royals in past years. Pawan Negi is another player that Delhi have benefited from signing following the suspension of Chennai Super Kings. Negi was picked in India's World t20 squad and also used to play for Delhi before signing for CSK. He is part of an exciting young quartet of Indian talent in this Daredevils side.

It is not just youth, though. 37-year-old Zaheer Khan is captaining the side this year as well as leading the attack and 33-year-old Amit Mishra is still bamboozling batsmen with his leg spin and respective googlies. Delhi also have pacer Mohammad Shami available having missed the 2015 season through injury and 37-year-old Imran Tahir offers another experienced option.

There is a fresh look to the Daredevils this year, with a good blend of quality youth, all-rounders and experience throughout the side. Despite a typical Delhi performance in their opener against Kolkata Knight Riders, they have shown in their last two games a vast improvement. The presence of Carlos Brathwaite and Chris Morris in the bowling lineup and in the lower order provides a significant depth with both players proven match winners. JP Duminy and de Kock are reliable performers at the top of the order, too. 

It looks promising for the Daredevils - can they sustain their good early form?

3) You bat second, you win the game.. pretty much

This IPL season has followed a pattern and a disappointingly predictable pattern at that. Only one game in the opening 14 has been won by the team batting first and that was in the fourth game when the Royal Challengers smashed 227 at the Chinnaswamy thanks to Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan. 

18-year-old Sarfaraz helped RCB to a mammoth 227 with an
incredible 35* off 10 balls (PHOTO: PTI via Indian Express) 

Only five of the 13 wins from the chasing side have seen the match go into the last two overs, with just three going to the final over. 

Furthermore, three of those 13 wins have been finished before 15 overs have been bowled. The games so far have often been one-sided which doesn't provide much of a spectacle, unfortunately.

4) Form players

Early on in this season of the IPL, there are a number of players who have shown themselves to be in great form. Kohli has continued his sparkling form from the World t20 and has brought it into the early stages of the tournament, along with his teammate de Villiers.

Gambhir has led from the front with some consistent
early runs (PHOTO: Dibyangshu Sarkar)

The aforementioned de Kock has also continued his impressive touch, with his compatriot du Plessis also heavily amongst the runs. The KKR opening pair of Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir, particularly the latter, have also been scoring heavily, providing consistent starts.

The Australians are also out in force, with David Warner proving his best position is right up the top of the order after his dismal showing in the World t20 batting at three and four. He is Mr Consistent for the Sunrisers and there is a sense that there is a slight over-reliance on him to produce. 

Warner, like his compatriot Finch, has been consistent at
the top of the order for his side (PHOTO: Noah Seelam)

Warner's compatriot Aaron Finch is also well up in terms of runs scored. Finch has scored three fifties in his first three innings and looks in top notch. There may also arguably be a reliance on Finch in the early stages for Gujarat, with McCullum and Raina failing to reach fifty thus far - in fact Finch is the only Lions batsman to fifty so far, not that's it mattered.. so far.

There have been some fine bowling performances so far, too. Mitchell McClenaghan leads the wickets column on seven, although he has been expensive at times. Murugan Ashwin has six wickets and an economy of under seven in his first three games of his IPL career, while fellow leg spinner Amit Mishra has five wickets in three games, conceding just a run a ball. Mustafizur Rahman is another name to have produced the goods with the ball thus far, taking four wickets with an economy of a shade over seven - plenty more where that came from, you feel.

5) Same old.. same old?

In a lot of cases, a lot has not changed in the last year or two in the early stages of IPL 9. Kings XI Punjab currently sit rock bottom of the table, having finished in last place in the previous tournament. The frailties that they showed last year have resurfaced and they will need to bounce back in some style if they are to get back to their 2014 form. 

Kings XI have started poorly again, winning once
 in their first three (PHOTO: Sajjab Hussain)

The 2014 winners Kolkata Knight Riders have started strongly. They have a solid opening partnership with the aforementioned Gambhir and Uthappa, along with a host of strong hitters down the order. They also have huge variety in their bowling attack - after 16 overs against KXIP, Umesh Yadav and Andre Russell had bowled just one over between them. They have the pace duo of Yadav and Morne Morkel up top, with the quality spin of Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla, as well as the all-round ability of Russell and Shakib Al-Hasan. It is a strong side and one that has started ominously.

Once again, Mumbai Indians have made a slow start. In their title-winning year last season, they lost their opening four games and five of their first six. The previous season they lost four out of their first five. This year has seen a mild improvement, winning two of their first four. They have been shaky, however, and it was arguably because of a tactical innovation that saw McClenaghan up to number four that won them the game against the Knight Riders. However, they do look more settled now and are beginning to look like defending champions - the introduction of Krunal Pandya has so far worked wonders.

Mumbai have started better this year than they have
in previous seasons (PHOTO: Noah Seelam)

And finally, the Royal Challengers once again have one of, if not the, strongest batting lineups, with Messrs Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers joined by Shane Watson. It will be difficult for them to fail with the bat, given they have considerable batting to come in Sarfaraz and Stuart Binny, for example. Once again, though, their bowling leaves a bit to be desired. They failed to defend 191 against the Delhi Daredevils and 170 against Mumbai - although the batsmen did score enough against Sunrisers, as 227 proved plenty for the bowlers to defend.



*statistics correct up to end of Match 14, April 20th*