UAE leg of IPL 7 is over & IPL is back in India. It was a great support for IPL there. Most of the matches were housefull. At some venues it felt like we are playing in India only, I think that's the advantage of having Indians in every nation you will feel that you are in India only. So thanks to UAE crowd to come in huge numbers to watch the matches of IPL 7. Now let's come on to how did the teams performed in that leg? We will go through the teams as per the points table.
KINGS XI PUNJAB (P:5 W:5 L:0)
Kings XI Punjab had a dream run in UAE as they have come to India unbeaten. They made brand new team for this season & fetched some quality Aussie players in their team. They have added one more mighty M in their team along with Miller i.e Maxwell. These 2 Mighty Ms helped KXIP in chasing 190+ total twice in their first 2 matches. It's not that only their batting has been a sensation but their bowling has also defended low scores couple of times. Now KXIP need only 3 wins to qualify for playoffs. KXIP has become team to beat in this season of IPL.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS (P:5 W:4 L:1)
CSK lost both its openers to different franchisees but I think they got better openers in return. Both of them are on song since wt20. So in IPL 7 both of them are performing their task pretty well from game 1. CSK's bowling unit has most of the new recruits but Dhoni is using them well. CSK has lost only one game in the tournament in that too they scored 200+ runs. CSK is looking strong as ever & has performed pretty well in UAE leg. Now they need only 4 wins out of 9 games to qualify for the playoffs & Dhoni won't stop until his side gets into playoffs.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS (P:5 W:3 L:2)
Rajasthan Royals has looked good so far. Senior players like Rahane, Samson, Watson, Binny & Tambe are performing their task well but new ones are still taking their time to get used to the management & team. RR is still finding the winning combination as they are not getting it right till now. UAE leg has been a mixed bag for them as they have won their last game on the basis of no of boundaries scored. Rahul Dravid is doing a superb job as a mentor trying to bring new players in their comfort zone. Now RR need to win 5 games to qualify for playoffs. RR need to work pretty hard to win these 5 matches & yes Watson should open the innings for them.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (P:5 W:2 L:3)
UAE leg has been pretty exciting for KKR as most of their matches in UAE has gone to the wire. KKR has made some really good additions in this season. Morne Morkel is strengthening their bowling while Pandey, Uthappa & Lynn stabilise their batting. Gambhir is not in best of his forms. He opened his account in the fourth game but has ended UAE with a good 40. Another worry for KKR is Yusuf Pathan this man needs to do something extra-ordinary to make his way back in the side but one man has been sensation for them & i.e Surya Kumar Yadav. Yadav is doing his job well in every situation. KKR needs 6 wins from their remaining matches & to do that they need convert close matches in to wins.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE (P:5 W:2 L:3)
RCB started this IPL with couple of comprehensive wins & all of the sudden it started looking to be a balanced side with Yuvraj back in form, bowlers rising to the occasion, Kohli leading from the front everything seemed to be falling in right place until they lost a close match against KKR. After that loss question were raised on Yuvraj for his innings but in last match he was highest scorer so he answered the questions to an extent. Now he is only struggling against the short ball outside off stump but he has atleast 9 more matches to prove himself & he will prove all critics wrong. Chahal & Aaron has come out great under the captaincy of Kohli. Now they need 6 wins to get into playoffs & I think they will get those 6 wins easily.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD (P:5 W:2 L:3)
SRH is known for its excellent bowling attack & they had same bowling attack this time too but to win matches your batsmen should perform as well. SRH has strengthen their batting by adding Finch, Warner at the top along with Dhawan & Sammy, Pathan & Karn Sharma as finishers but this startegy didn't clicked well in most of the matches as they won only 2 matches in UAE leg. Now Warner & Finch has found some form & that's great positive for them, Bhuvi & Steyn are going well so far & Sammy is finishing the games well. If all goes well then they have great chance to qualify for playoffs as it is a good team this time around.
DELHI DAREDEVILS (P:5 W:2 L:3)
Delhi Daredevils can make 2 very good teams from their squad. So it can be imagined that what kind of options are they having with them. DD is having a good head ache as they have too many options to choose from. They haven't got right combination so far as Pietersen was injured, Coulter-Nile got injured, Neesham wasn't coming good. To pick 4 foreign players they are disturbing the combination of 7 Indian players. You can't play players like Manoj Tiwari at no. 6 that's the job of Kedhar Jadhav to bat at 6. They have got the potential & players to get into playoffs atleast. JP Duminy is in great form for them & If KP got into his own then they will be unstoppable. I think they will make it into the playoffs by winning the remaining 6 matches.
MUMBAI INDIANS (P:5 W:0 L:5)
Mumbai Indians defending champions is yet to open their account in this IPL. UAE has been the worst nightmare for MI, they didn't won even a single match in that leg. MI looked the most balaced side before the start of the tournament as they retained most of their winning squad & new recruits like Hussey, Anderson & Zaheer added the charm to their squad. Nothing has gone their way so far their batting has looked ordinary despite having some big names in it. They are in all sorts of trouble now as from here on every match is do or die for them. They are virtually out of the tournament until some miraculous happens for them. All the teams except CSK has ended 7th or 8th after winning IPL. Let's see where MI ends up in this IPL.
My top four for this year will be Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore & Sunrisers Hyderabad/Delhi Daredevils. May the best team win.
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