IPL 2018: Ratings of the eight participating teams

The eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) came to a grand conclusion on Sunday, May 27, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lifting the title for the third time beating spirited Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 8 wickets in the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The tournament this year had an ordinary beginning with some teams losing too many games but the latter part became more interesting with the low-ranked teams making a hard effort to return to the race for the playoffs. Eventually, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) made the playoffs along with the finalists.

Here, we look at how the eight participating teams performed this season and the ratings they get

Chennai Super Kings (9.5/10)

CSK’s title win in this edition was special because they made a comeback this year after serving two years of suspension and picked it up from just where they left in 2015. The team clicked as an overall unit and barring an inconsistent run in the later part of the league stage when they won four and lost as many matches, there was hardly any other shortcoming Dhoni’s team witnessed this year. CSK’s batsmen delivered at crunch moments while their bowlers rose to the occasion whenever it was required. CSK’s flexibility as a team and the presence of a top captain in Dhoni made them different from the rest.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (9/10)

Sunrisers looked like the champions till the final even though they lost five of their last six games. They looked one of the best teams that played this IPL, thanks to their brilliant bowling attack spearheaded by the super talented Rashid Khan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and others. Sunrisers’ only drawback this IPL was their batting but Kane Williamson, who stepped in as the captain in the absence of David Warner, stood tall to end up as the highest run-getter in the tournament. Williamson’s captaincy was equally impressive and he made a great utilisation of the talent resource he had at his disposal. SRH certainly looked best but for CSK who beat them on all four occasions in this tournament.

Kolkata Knight Riders (7/10)

Led by a new captain in Dinesh Karthik, KKR was one of the surprising sides of this IPL. Not many gave them a chance after the auction in January since they did not have too many big names in their ranks and also the depth of their reserve bench raised suspicions. But KKR were eager to prove the critics wrong and won three matches at a critical stage to advance towards the playoffs after a heavy thumping by Mumbai Indians. They ended up as the third best team of the tournament after losing out to Rashid Khan in the second qualifier but the likes of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Chris Lynn beside Karthik himself delivered well this season.

Rajasthan Royals (6/10)

Rajasthan Royals (RR) never looked threatening this tournament even though they went for an expensive team. They did not even look favourites to make the playoffs till the midway stage and it was only a late surge and the loss of some other teams in their key matches that saw Ajinkya Rahane’s side qualify but they were defeated by KKR in the eliminator. Neither RR’s batsmen nor bowlers had a commendable performance this season, with the likes of Ben Stokes and Rahane failing to live up to their expectations. The Royals definitely did not have the touch in their comeback season, unlike the Super Kings.

Kings XI Punjab (5.5/10)

If they get four out of their first five, they get just one in their next five: such awful was the finishing of Ravichandran Ashwin’s side this IPL. The Kings had a great start to the competition with the likes of KL Rahul and Chris Gayle slamming the ball at will but they suddenly slipped, managing to win just one of their last eight games to crash out of the tournament at the league stage. One would feel bad for Rahul for he single-handedly pulled the team at crucial phases but in cricket, a team matters more than an individual.

Mumbai Indians (4.5/10)

Again, it was the even-year syndrome which floored Rohit Sharma’s men. They had a disastrous start to their title defence campaign, losing five of their first six games and although they tried to salvage it by winning five of their next eight matches, they lost the crucial last game against bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils to get knocked out. MI had too many big names who were out of form this year and that includes Kieron Pollard, their effective all-rounder. Apart from the match against KKR which MI won by 102 runs, Rohit Sharma’s men did not have many moments of authority this season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (4/10)

Virat Kohli’s side also made a late surge but it was too late for RCB to make a change to their IPL misfortune. The team was also too much dependent on individuals like Kohli, AB de Villiers and Umesh Yadav – something which stopped them from becoming a team good enough to lift the cup. They also lost their crucial last game against RR because of a batting failure and crash out. For three-time finalists RCB, time is high now to make a comprehensive planning over its team building.

Delhi Daredevils (3/10)

Consistent underachievers Delhi Daredevils (DD) flopped as a team because they lacked the firepower and ended as the last team in the fray but they had some great individual performances from the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer in batting and Trent Boult in bowling. But as it was the case with MI and RCB, flash-in-the-pan performances from individuals do not make a team fit to lift a tournament like the IPL. DD failed to make the last-four stage for the sixth consecutive time this year which says enough about their IPL mess.

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