IPL 2025: Power Rankings - Episode 6

This week, we’re looking at teams by their best batting and bowling phases.

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I regret to inform you that this is the last power list of the season. So, let’s go out with a bang. And by that I mean, we finally have enough info to make them semi-accurate. Which is the aim, I think.

For the last time, this is not a points table. It’s vibes and feels.

This week, we’re looking at teams by their best phases.

1. RCB

RCB have now won their third close game of the season – all while defending 200+ totals. They didn’t have Phil Salt and Josh Hazlewood, but Jacob Bethell and Lungi Ngidi did a great job filling in for them. Romario Shepherd also played a match-winning knock, scoring the IPL’s joint-second quickest fifty.

Tim David has been the main man for RCB from overs 17 to 20. He is yet to have a ‘failure’, and he’s also done well in tough situations. They now also have Shepherd to maximize this period of the game. Jitesh Sharma also strikes at above 160, getting out twice in 41 balls and hitting 10 boundaries.

For a minimum of 15 overs, Josh Hazlewood (7.22) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8.04) are the second and third-most economical bowlers in the first six overs of the innings. Compared to all teams, RCB have the best economy rate as well as the strike rate in this phase.

They now have 8 wins in 11 games, and they don’t play any of the top 5 teams (as of now) in their remaining games. But LSG and KKR can still make it to the playoffs, while SRH can play without the fear of failure and cause issues too. So none of these games can be taken lightly. RCB would be thinking of going at least 2-1 in these games, and ideally finishing in the top 2.

2. MI

MI demolished RR by 100 runs, and that could have been an even bigger margin had Jofra Archer not added a few runs towards the end to prolong the game. Each of their top four batters performed well, and the quicks struck five times in the powerplay.

Suryakumar Yadav has been the star for Mumbai in the middle overs, scoring 393 runs at an average of 79 and a strike rate of 184. Rohit Sharma (114 runs) and Hardik Pandya (76 runs) are their other two batters who strike in the 150s in this phase. Tilak Varma is the second-highest run-getter with 170 runs, but he strikes at 138. As a batting unit, they have the second-best average and third-best strike rate from overs 7 to 16.

Hardik Pandya has picked up 10 wickets at an economy rate of only 7.18 in the middle overs. Jasprit Bumrah also has bowling figures of 2/45 in 10 overs in this phase. But their various spinners have done really well, whether it is Will Jacks (5/68 in 10 overs), Karn Sharma (6/84 in 10 overs) or Vignesh Puthur (6/85 in 10 overs). Mitchell Santner has bowled the most overs, and even though he’s not been among the wickets, he has an economy rate of 7.57 in 23 overs.

MI have been on a six game winning streak, but they don’t have an easy road ahead. They will be up against three teams that are all in the race for the playoffs at the moment, so every game will be very crucial – not just from their perspective, but from that of the league’s. The five-time champions play two of their games at home, where they have a 4-1 record so far.

3. GT

GT’s template of the top three batters going big worked again, as they posted 224 in the first innings. Prasidh Krishna was their standout bowler. He had bowling figures of 2/19, dismissing Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen.

Gujarat aren’t the quickest-scoring side in the powerplay, but they don’t lose wickets. We’ve talked about how their batters create a significant difference in the middle overs. For a minimum of 100 balls, Jos Buttler has the best average and the fourth-best strike rate between overs 7 to 16, while Shubman Gill also has incredible numbers on both metrics. Sai Sudharsan averages just under 30, striking at 150. Sherfane Rutherford also has 83 runs off 60 balls without getting out so far.

Prasidh Krishna has been outstanding from overs 7 to 16, striking about once every 13 deliveries while conceding only 6.25 runs per over. Sai Kishore has also been really good, but he has only bowled 9.3 overs in the last six games. Rashid Khan hasn’t been at his best. He has also taken six wickets at an average of 41.5 in this period. GT have the third-best economy rate as well as the third-best strike rate in this phase of the innings.

GT have two big games coming up against Mumbai and Delhi. These will be incredibly important in shaping up the points table during the business end of the league. Can they go 1-1 in the next two, and then 2-0 after that? But LSG are still in it, and CSK can play with no pressure on them.

4. PBKS

PBKS won against LSG in their first game at Dharamsala this season. They actually ended up conceding more runs than they should have, thanks to Ayush Badoni. They chased down 191 at the Chepauk quite comfortably.

Punjab’s success this season has started from the top. The opening duo of Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya has created a massive impact for the team. In the first six overs, Prabhsimran averages 65 at a strike rate of 164, while Arya is at 32 and 188. Arya also hits a boundary almost once every three deliveries, while Prabhsimran’s balls per boundary ratio is 3.76. As a batting group, Punjab has the second-best batting strike rate from overs 1 to 6.

With the ball, they are at their best early in the innings. That is mainly because of Arshdeep Singh, who has picked up 8 wickets in 20 overs at an economy rate of only 7 (the best in the competition). Glenn Maxwell, Xavier Bartlett and Marco Jansen have all taken two wickets each. Jansen’s economy rate has been decent, but figures of 2/132 in 15 overs don’t really do justice to his talent. Imagine if he can do even better.

Punjab are now second on the points table with 3 games to go. They have two challenging opponents coming up, but their last game of the league stage will be against RR. If they win one of the next two and defeat Rajasthan, that means they have 19 points – which should guarantee qualification and perhaps even a top two spot depending upon other results.

5. KKR

KKR have now won two close games, and their fans might just start believing. They defeated Rajasthan by just one run, and Delhi by 14. Their batters posted 200+ in the first innings, both in Delhi and at home.

Ajinkya Rahane has been terrific in the powerplay, scoring 194 runs at a strike rate of 185. He has only been dismissed once. Sunil Narine averages almost 30 at a strike rate of 161, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi has made 72 off 40 balls without being dismissed. But Quinton de Kock struggled, averaging 13 at a strike rate of 118. He has been replaced by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who has made 52 off 38 balls and has gotten out twice in the powerplay in four innings.

In the middle overs, the spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy (7.5 ER) and Sunil Narine (7.57 ER) has 21 wickets between them in 65 overs. So they've kept the flow of runs in control, while picking up wickets consistently. Andre Russell (5/85 in 6.5 overs) and Vaibhav Arora (5/58 in 6.3 overs) have also been strike bowlers in this phase.

They have two relatively easier games coming up, so they're in a better situation right now than LSG or DC. If they win all 3 games, they will be in with a good chance to make the playoffs.

6. DC

DC probably escaped a potential loss versus SRH, but they did a decent job recovering from 29/5. Against KKR, they seemed to be well on course to chase down 205. They needed 69 runs off 41 deliveries when Axar Patel and Faf du Plessis were in the middle, but Sunil Narine got the wicket of Axar. Delhi eventually fell short by 14 runs, despite a good effort from Vipraj Nigam.

KL Rahul has faced the most deliveries for Delhi in the middle overs, scoring 246 runs at 49/144. Axar Patel has the best strike rate (157) of all DC batters with at least 50 deliveries in this period. Tristan Stubbs is the other batter who has faced over 100 deliveries, averaging 39 at a strike rate of 131.

Kuldeep Yadav has been magnificent in the ten overs after the powerplay. He has taken 11 wickets at an economy rate of just 7, recording a dismissal once every 19.6 deliveries. Vipraj Nigam has conceded 10.67 runs per over for his four wickets in 18 overs, while Axar Patel has combined bowling figures of 3/145 in 17 overs. Their pacers have done a pretty decent job as well whenever they’ve been used in this phase.

They have a very tricky road ahead, playing against three in form teams at the end of the league stage. If they win two games, they’ll have 17 points. That should give them a good chance to qualify, but if they win all three they might even have a shot at finishing in the top two if other things go their way.

7. LSG

Lucknow lost to Punjab by 37 runs, and that could have been a bigger margin if not for Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad scoring runs. They still have the worst net run rate of all teams in the top 7. So even though they were not going to win the game after losing 4 wickets for 58 runs, they would certainly take the contributions from Badoni, Samad and even Avesh Khan towards the end.

Although Lucknow’s batting has dropped off since Nicholas Pooran lost form, their best work so far this season has still come between overs 7 to 16. Pooran has scored 256 runs at an average of 37 and a strike rate of 210 in this phase. Badoni has 211 runs at 53/136. Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh both strike at over 150, but average 33 and 23 respectively.

Digvesh Rathi has been the find of the season for Lucknow. The spin bowler has been their best performer, picking up 7 wickets at an economy of 7.52, striking at less than 20 balls per dismissal. Ravi Bishnoi has bowled the most overs in this period, conceding just under 10 runs per over for his eight wickets. Avesh Khan has been decent in terms of economy rate, but hasn’t picked up a lot of wickets. Aiden Markram has done well (3/64 in 8 overs) when needed in this phase.

LSG play two of the better teams in the competition, so getting to eight wins will certainly not be easy. And even then, they have to focus on their net run rate and win by significant margins, plus hope other results go their way. If they lose a single game, they will be eliminated.

8. SRH

If not for rain, SRH could have defeated Delhi and gained another point. Against GT they lost by 38 runs in a chase of 225. Apart from Abhishek Sharma, none of the top five batters were impactful enough. Four of the six wickets they took came in the last 10 deliveries of the innings. So they were neither able to stop the batters from scoring quickly, nor could they pick up wickets early enough.

SRH’s batters haven’t really had a good season, especially compared to 2024. Relatively, their best phase is perhaps from overs 7 to 16. Heinrich Klaasen has faced the most deliveries in this period of the game, scoring 211 runs at an average of 35 and a strike rate of 142. Aniket Verma has 136 runs at 27/160 in seven innings. The talented Nitish Reddy has been unimpressive this year. Abhishek Sharma actually has brilliant numbers (139 runs off 64 balls, two dismissals), but he has only batted three times after the powerplay this season.

It was tricky to determine if there is a single phase with the ball where SRH have had a positive impact. But comparatively, maybe their best period has been the first six overs. They have the joint third-best bowling strike rate with Mumbai Indians, but they have the second-worst economy rate – north of 10. The two bowlers that have bowled the most overs for them are Pat Cummins and Mohammed Shami. Cummins has taken the most wickets (7) at an economy of 8.89, though three of those came in the last match. Shami has bowling figures of 5/226 in 22 overs.

SRH are the third team to be eliminated from the playoffs race. They will be up against three teams that are still in the reckoning, so they have the opportunity to play with freedom and make things hard for the other teams.

9. RR

Rajasthan will look back at the season and think they could have won at least two or three, if not all of the four close losses that they’ve suffered. The one run loss against KKR is the latest addition to the list. They lost by 100 runs against Mumbai at home, which knocked them out of the competition.

Their only bright phase with the bat has been in the powerplay. In fact, they might even have a case for being the best batting team in the first six overs this season. As a matter of fact, they are the quickest-scoring team, while averaging less than only GT’s frankly ridiculous 92.33. Yashasvi Jaiswal is the highest run-getter, scoring 289 runs at 58/168. Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Riyan Parag and Nitish Rana have also performed really well in this phase of the innings.

RR don’t take a lot of wickets in any phase of the innings. They are also expensive in the middle overs and at the death. However, they are decent in the powerplay when it comes to saving runs. They have an economy rate of 9.14, which is ranked fourth of all ten teams, but they take less than a wicket per game in the first six overs. Jofra Archer has 6 wickets at an economy of 8.12 and a strike rate of 25. Sandeep Sharma has taken only two wickets in 12 overs, but has conceded just 82 runs. Maheesh Theekshana has bowling figures of 1/145 in 15 overs during the field restrictions. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Tushar Deshpande have neither picked up a wicket, nor controlled the flow of runs.

They play CSK away and Punjab at home next. Of course, they have been eliminated from the tournament. But they can use these two games to figure out the players they may want to retain for the next season. Also, can they spoil Punjab’s party?

10. CSK

CSK were one hit away from winning the game against RCB, but they couldn’t close it after the equation was 6 off 3 balls. It was, however, one of their better performances this season. They put up a good performance with the bat against Punjab too, but failed to defend it.

It is honestly hard to say what Chennai’s best phase with the bat has been. They are clearly the worst batting side in the powerplay on strike rate and second-worst on average. From overs 7 to 16, they are again in the bottom three on both the metrics. At the death, they are again the slowest-scoring team.

So let’s just look at their biggest positives with the bat this season. 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre has now scored 163 runs in four innings at an average of 41 and a strike rate of 185. They have also signed the talented South African, Dewald Brevis – who played an exciting knock against SRH on his CSK debut. Those are two players they can look at for the future.

Just as their batting has shown some signs of improvement, their bowling has clearly regressed in the last four games. Again, it is hard to tell which phase of the innings they’ve been at their best in. But their middle overs bowling has been somewhat decent. Their spinners have done well in this phase, especially Noor Ahmad. Noor has taken 13 wickets at an economy of 8.19 between overs 7 to 16, while R Ashwin (3/125 in 16 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (6/219 in 26.1 overs) have also been relatively economical.

Like Rajasthan, they can also look at various team combinations that could work next season. Also, they have nothing to lose, so they can play with freedom. Can they play spoilsport for KKR and GT?

Let’s look at our power rankings for this week:

RCB still feel like the most settled team. I need to see Mumbai against better teams to be sure, but I wouldn’t want to play them in the finals. GT and PBKS are very close to me, but am leaning Titans now. I think KKR are probably better than DC, but the Capitals have more points. LSG have dropped out of the playoff tier entirely for me.

The bottom three teams are in this order because I think SRH can still play but their form has been terrible. CSK might be better than Rajasthan next year, but the Royals should have won more games this season .

That is it, we are powering down from the power list. See you in the playoffs.