IPL 2021 Hits and Misses, Week 2: RCB Continue Winning Streak, Dhawan The Aggressor & Top-Order Failures For RR, PBKS And KKR

Another interesting week in the 2021 edition of the IPL comes to an end. After eight more matches in the competition, with all the teams having played 4 games each, the Challengers sit pretty at the top with four wins making it the best start they have had in any season of the IPL. The Chennai Super Kings seem to have redeemed themselves after a terrible 2020 in the UAE while it is pretty much the same story for the Rajasthan Royals as last year – promising start but then a sudden decline.

We look at the trends and patterns and interesting numbers from week 2 of IPL 2021.

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A GREAT START FOR RCB

RCB is now firing on all cylinders. They have won their first four matches this season with contributions from most players. Glenn Maxwell’s return to top form has been the story from their camp this season – he is the second-highest scorer of IPL 2021 with 176 runs in three innings at a strike rate touching 150! AB de Villiers has already played two match-winning knocks and is striking at almost 190. Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal announced themselves in the competition with high power knocks in a thumping 10-wicket chase against the Royals.

Harshal Patel has been the fast bowler of the season so far – he is the leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets. Mohammed Siraj has also been impressive with the new ball. He has been very restrictive with an economy rate of 6.06.

CSK – THE BATTING IS DELIVERING

One of the major reasons for CSK’s poor show in IPL 2020 was the terrible show by their top and middle order with the exception of Faf du Plessis. The franchise seems to be redeeming themselves this season and after a slow start against the Capitals have won their other three matches in the competition. What stands out for CSK this season is the fact that their batting is delivering. They have already posted three 180-plus totals and won two of these encounters.

Du Plessis continues to be their most dominant batsman and has scored 164 runs in 4 innings at a rate of 145.13 per 100 deliveries. Ruturaj Gaikwad got a classy fifty against KKR while Moeen Ali has provided the cameos batting at number three. Suresh Raina got some runs in the first encounter while Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja have provided the flourish at the death. Even MSD showed glimpses of his destructive prowess against KKR.

THE FAILURE OF THE TOP ORDER – SIMILAR STORY FOR KKR, PBKS & RR

The three teams find themselves at the bottom of the table with one win and three losses from 4 matches. The over dependence of Punjab Kings on KL Rahul is seeing their fortunes decline after a winning start in IPL 2021. They have witnessed two top-middle order collapses after his early exit. However, the their top three showed signs of revival after their bowlers handed them a relatively easy target of 132, but against a strong bowling unit of Mumbai Indians and they were up to the task, winning the match by 9 wickets and 16 balls to spare.

Sanju Samson’s tournament is following a similar script as last year. After starting the edition with a stunning hundred against the Punjab Kings he has registered scores of 4, 1 and 21. Manan Vohra has failed in all the four matches and has an aggregate of 42. There are individual sparks but the Royals are not clicking as a collective.

Shubman Gill has had a bad start for KKR this season. The opener has just managed to score 69 runs in 4 matches. Skipper, Eoin Morgan has also not done much with just 45 runs in 4 innings at a strike rate of 112.5.

DHAWAN – THE AGGRESSOR AT THE TOP OF THE RUN CHARTS

Shikhar Dhawan seems to have learnt from the last two editions and has started the tournament in a different avatar this season. Unlike the last two seasons where he started as anchor and then mid-way spectacularly transformed himself into a destructive match-winner, Dhawan has begun this year as aggressor. His scores this season include knocks of 92 (49 balls) and 85 (54 balls). Not surprising that the Capitals have won three of their first four matches.

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HARDIK PANDYA – NOT TAKEN OFF THIS YEAR

Another big talking point after the first two weeks this season is the continuous failure of Hardik Pandya in the lower middle order for Mumbai Indians. Hardik was crucial in the team’s title triumphs in 2019 and 2020 hammering at the second-highest strike rate in both the editions.

Just like in week 1, Hardik flopped this week too with the bat registering scores of 7, 0 and 1.

CHASING NOT AN ADVANTAGE THIS WEEK TOO

Chasing has historically been an advantage in the IPL but that is not the case, at least for the time being in this edition. Like in week 1, it is 4-4 to setting a target and chasing this week too. Amazingly, the toss was again not a factor this week. Just like week 1, the side winning the toss won 4 matches and lost 4 in week 2 too.

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