Biggest hits and flops of IPL 2024 so far. Hardik Pandya's Captaincy, Mitchell Starc's returns are some of the flops while Andre Russell's hammering, CSK's roaring start are some of the hits from the first week.
IPL 2024 has had a great first week, with a couple of last-ball finishes. There were also a few stars failing to live up to expectations, while a few lesser-known players made their mark in just five matches played so far this season. Here is a quick look at some of the biggest hits and flops of IPL 2024 so far.
Biggest flops of IPL 2024 so far
Hardik Pandya’s captaincy
There was already a lot of criticism going around Mumbai Indians’ captaincy situation after its five-time winning captain Rohit Sharma was replaced by Hardik Pandya. Pandya returned to his old franchise after leading Gujarat Titans for the last two seasons. He had big shoes to fill, but his captaincy fell flat in critical junctures of the game against his previous franchise Gujarat Titans.
Opening the bowling in place of Bumrah
He opened the bowling when a world-class bowler Jasprit Bumrah was in the line-up. Pandya, who was making a comeback to competitive cricket, looked rusty as he gave away 20 runs in his first two overs in the powerplay. When Bumrah finally got the ball in the fourth over, Gujarat had raced to 27. He made an immediate impact, dismissing Wriddhiman Saha, giving away just 4 runs.
Poor handling of Rohit Sharma
Pandya’s handling of former captain Rohit Sharma also came under criticism as the latter was made to run all across the field. Although Rohit duly complied with all instructions from Pandya, the handling of the senior player cut a sorry figure, and looked ‘all is not well’ in Mumbai’s camp as they endure a leadership transition.
Coming in too late during the chase
Later, Mumbai botched up a chase that should have been a cakewalk for them. When Rohit was dismissed in the 13th over, Mumbai needed 62 runs in 41 balls. But instead of leading from the front and going ahead in the batting order, as he did with Gujarat Titans in the previous two seasons, Pandya held himself back till No 7. He came to bat when the asking rate had climbed to 14 runs per over. Although he did try his best to get the job done in the last over, it was too little too late.
RCB batting unit
RCB boast of a strong batting line-up comprising Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green. But except for du Plessis, who played a quick knock of 35, the rest of the star-studded line-up came a cropper. Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell were out for ducks, while Kohli and Green struggled to force the pace, and were dismissed in quick succession.
If it had not been for the young Anuj Rawat (48) and veteran Dinesh Karthik (38 not out) with their stand of 95 runs in 8.2 overs, RCB innings would have been restricted far below the 173 they managed. But it was too small a target on a good batting track at Chennai, and CSK chased it down with ease. With RCB bowling thin on prowess, it is their star-studded batting line-up that has to do the bulk of the work. But their batting flattered to deceive in their opening match against CSK.
Costliest buy Mitchell Starc hammered
KKR broke the bank to buy the services of Aussie left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc for Rs 24.75 crore, but they will be rueing their purchase after the pacer’s showing in the first match. Not only Starc failed to get a single wicket, he conceded 53 runs in his 4 overs. Known for his accurate and unplayable yorkers in the death overs, Starc lost all his magic when he conceded 4 sixes in the 19th over bowled by him, and almost handed the match to SRH on a platter. Even when bowling in the powerplay, Starc conceded 22 runs in his 2 overs. He might get a few more games. But, if he is not back to taking wickets, he might see himself sidelined from the playing XI.
Read More: IPL 2024, KKR vs SRH: Russell Power marginally outweighs Klaasen Might in Eden Gardens run-fest
Biggest hits of IPL 2024 so far
CSK make a roaring start to their title defence
Chennai Super Kings’ record at their home ground in Chennai is almost invincible. And they faced an opposition in RCB who have never beaten them in their home ground. CSK started favourites but with a new captain in Ruturaj Gaikwad. They had their former teammate Faf du Plessis, now RCB captain, going after their bowling attack, but CSK came back brilliantly through their new buy Mustafizur Rahman to restrict them to 173/6.
CSK batters then made the chase a walk in the park as all the top batters contributed to the target, with Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube finishing off the chase with an unbeaten stand of 66 runs. Most importantly, the captaincy transition looked in order, with Ruturaj keeping things calm, and taking input and advice from MS Dhoni regularly. He also let Dhoni set the field as the keeper had a better view of the field settings.
KKR and the Andre Russell show
KKR are the team to watch this season as they have immense depth in their batting and bowling. They were first reduced to 51/4 before Andre Russell and Rinku Singh combined to put a stand of 81 runs in just 5.2 overs to take the team beyond 200. It was Russell’s show as he cracked 7 sixes in his 25-ball 64*.
Moreover, Russell came back to take two wickets. However, KKR still looked to be losing the game from the jaws of victory as SRH’s Heinrich Klaasen went after the bowling, especially Mitchell Starc, to take his team within 13 runs of victory off 6 balls. However, KKR’s depth in bowling took the team home as they found a hero in Harshit Rana who bowled with great variations on the last 5 balls of the match to stop Klaasen on his tracks.
Heinrich Klaasen, you beauty!
SRH was staring at defeat when 76 runs were needed off the last 4 overs. It came down to 60 off 18 balls. There was only one man who could do the job then for SRH. Heinrich Klaasen, who was then batting on 22 off 17 rose to the occasion, launching two massive sixes off the next over bowled by Varun Chakravarthy. The target boiled down to 39 off 12 balls, with Aussie star bowler Mitchell Starc asked to bowl the penultimate over. Starc got his length wrong, and Klaasen cracked 3 sixes off five balls to not only race to a well-made fifty but also keep SRH in the hunt for a victory.
It finally came down to 13 off 12 balls, and the victory looked certain when Klaasen smacked the first ball from Harshit Rana for six. But Rana came back strongly to dismiss Klaasen and close out the win for KKR. Nevertheless, Klaasen almost overshadowed KKR and Russell during his epic innings.
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