Gujarat Titans remained strong from the beginning
Gujarat Titans, captained by Hartik Patel, maintained their dominance from the very beginning. By winning their first five matches, Gujarat team took the first position and till the end it did not show any change. In the middle of the league phase, Lucknow Supergiants were seen challenging a few times, but fell behind in the final round. Many Gujarat Titans matches were so one-sided that there was not much doubt about the result after the first 20 overs.
Dangal missing from points table
Not only Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Supergiants and Rajasthan Royals also remained in the top four consistently in the points table from the start of the tournament. Since the end of the half-match of the league phase, there was no doubt about their reaching the playoffs. This year the points table did not see the same reversal that was seen in the earlier seasons and after every match, the order of all the teams was changed from top to the end. The reason for this was that this year the winning teams kept on winning and the losing teams kept on losing.
Big teams already out
Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders – only these three teams have won the title more than once in the history of IPL. This time these three teams were out of the title round long back. Mumbai Indians, who were five-time champions, started preparing for the next season only after half the matches of the league phase. More or less the same was the case with Chennai as well. Kolkata’s team was involved in the race for the playoffs for a short time, but compared to the last week of the league phase, it was only a formality for them. The poor performance of these three took a toll on the tournament, as these three teams know how to win and are adept at making upsets.
no secret superstar
No one has emerged as a secret superstar in this season of IPL. Umran Malik definitely surprised the speed of his balls and was successful in getting a place in Team India too, but he was discussed only after last season. Ravindra Jadeja played 14 out of 16 matches for his team in the first season of the tournament. He bowled only 2.1 overs in the entire season. In batting too, he was able to show only once when he scored 33 runs in 19 balls against Kolkata, but seeing his fielding, the demand for his inclusion in the Indian team started. Similarly, in 2009, Manish Pandey became a star by becoming the first Indian batsman to score a century. Last year also Harshal Patel wreaked havoc with his slow and cutter balls that went straight to Team India. No such player appeared this year. RCB’s Rajat Patidar did stake the claim, but he didn’t get enough chances.
monotonous final
The most monotonous match of the entire season was seen in the final. Rajasthan Royals, who reached the final after winning the second eliminator, looked under pressure from the beginning. After a good start in the powerplay while batting, the team was shattered. Jos Buttler struggled for some time, but after his dismissal, none of the team’s batsmen showed the will to fight. When it came to bowling, the same situation was seen. It seemed as if after scoring 130, the Rajasthan team had accepted its defeat. Had the team shown the spirit of fighting, the result could have been different. In 2017, Mumbai Indians was successful in winning the title by scoring the same score in the final.
Source: navbharattimes.indiatimes.com
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