IPL Power List Vol 3 (Team Maps!!!)
At the halfway point, it is time to look at the IPL runners and riders.
We are at the halfway point of this IPL, I think, well, near enough. The point is, we need to look at some team maps up here for our power rankings this week.
For those of you unaware, we basically break down each team in terms of each of the six most important parts of the game and give them a rating compared to the average so far. It’s a really good way to see where a team is going well, or not.
This time I have put bowling on the right, so what you want is to be inside the green average marker. On the left is batting, and so being outside the green means you are good. As always the big massive peaks are usually for average, but we know that ultimately economy is more important.
For the power list, we have this one in tiers, as there are a few teams that are basically impossible to choose between. I have five tiers, which is perhaps being nice to Delhi, who could be down on their own.
These rankings are not a points table, and they factor in things like strength of schedule, the close nature of games, and how pretty each team’s map actually looks. They are completely accurate, I checked with AI.
Tier 1
1 - Gujarat Titans
A monster with the ball. All the way through. Middle overs are a tiny bit mediocre, but even then they have them in hand. And they completely annihilate teams again at the end. With the bat, they are just killing everyone all the time as well. They do not lose any wickets at all. Like I suppose that cannot last. If I was being picky, I think they could afford to score quicker up top. But as long as they don’t lose any wickets and continue to slog wildly at the end, maybe it doesn’t matter.
It would be hard to suggest they are not in a tier of their own right now. They are 6 & 2, one of those losses was a shock last ball one against KKR as well, and their next game is Delhi, so they should be 7 & 2 very soon.
Tier 2
2 - Rajasthan Royals
This is a good-looking map. They are pretty good at bowling all the way through. They could take more death wickets, but their economy is great. They are pretty meh in the middle, but it’s not bad. With the bat they are starting really strong, their middle is a little flabby, but they more than make up for it at the end. It’s pretty tasty all the way really. They are not an inspiring second team, but they are probably the second-best team around.
The Royals are top of our tier two. In their overall records, I don’t see much between them and the fourth-placed Chennai. I thought about swapping them with LSG, but I still believe in them.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Good Areas to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.