This is something I read on the internet, its too good to not share
I don't think you understand what really happened today. Yes, India did win. India did win in Australia, India did win it with half their team in bandages, but it's a lot bigger than that.
The true beauty of sports lies in its mysteries. As humans, we want David to beat Goliath. It took India almost their entire cricket history, till they finally beat Australia at their home, in 2018. But then the men in Baggy Green were without Smith and Warner. This time the Aussies brought all their arsenal. They pummelled, punched, bowled out India for a shocking 36 in Adelaide. How do you recover mentally, physically, psychologically from that? Oh and your captain is unavailable for the remainder of the series.
And that is why this series is probably so much more special for India than any before.
There is a man who in the Melbourne game was racially abused by a small section of the crowd - Mohammed Siraj. Four years back when he was selected for the IPL, he had only one dream - to never let his father drive an auto again. Last month, while he was still waiting to play is first test in Australia, his father died. Siraj could not go back for the funeral. For the last few months, Siraj has been holding his father's illness, the abuse, the heckling, the insecurities regarding a youngster's selection all together. Yesterday he burst and picked five wickets in the second innings setting up the game for India. When he kissed the ground and the tears flowed, we should have known we were up for something special.
There is a man who has been criticized, heckled, trolled, made fun of in social media, by experts, almost everyone for almost one and a half years now. He scored a brilliant 97 in Melbourne and almost got India to victory. But 'almost' is not remembered in history. Today, he scored an unbeaten 89 and took India to arguably one of their greatest wins. Rishabh Pant.
There is a man who has been hit on the body a thousand times throughout the series, and when he goes into the shower tonight, there will be bruises, cuts and lumps on his arms, chest, thighs and more. He might not be celebrated half as much as Kohli, Sharma, or even Gill or Pant, but when he does hang up his boots eventually, his contribution to Indian cricket would be right at the top. Cheteshwar Pujara.
There is a boy who is just 21 years old and probably doesn't realize that it's not okay to hit 91 in the fourth innings in Gabba against the likes of Cummins, Hazelwood and Starc. Sacrilege, Shubhman Gill, sacrilege. Why does youth know no fear. Why is youth so expressive, so uninhibited.
There is a man who has captained India in the absence of Kohli, showed none of the verbal aggression that the latter does, but is every bit as passionate. He appears calm, but fought his way through a hundred demons, detractors, set up the win in Sydney and marshalled whatever players were left, superbly. Rahane.
There are two men playing their first test matches and scoring half centuries in the lower half of the Indian batting order and then picking up wickets, as if they were playing school matches, not test cricket. Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur. Who wrote your script, boys.
It is not just that India won. India did not have 11 of their main players and yet the team fought, soldiered, counter punched, resisted, took blows, and never gave up. India did not win the series because of beautiful strokes. India won it because of an incredible amount of bloody mindedness in their heads and pluck in their hearts.
What Washington, Shardul, Gill, Natarajan have done is give hope to thousands of boys in India today that some day even they can play for India. Some years back, an eleven year old boy came to Mumbai, lived in a small tent on the roadside, sold tea to survive and played cricket in the gullies. Yesterday he smoked Sreesanth for two sixes right after the bowler bowled a bouncer and gave him a death stare. His name? Yashasvi Jaiswal. He is now 19 years old, was India Under 19s best batsman in the world cup and signed a 2 crore deal with Rajsthan Royals in the IPL. What Siraj, Yashasvi have done is is give hope to thousands of poor kids that it is possible to dream.
What India did today is far more than just a game. It's what sports is all about - fighting, being fair, dreaming, surviving, and inspiring. In true Bollywood style, it took the entire two months, the last session of the last day of the last test match, to deliver a verdict. And even then for most parts of the day, we were never really sure whether India would lose, win or draw the game. All this in a stadium where Australia hasn't lost for 32 years.
For the whole day, I was frantic, nervous, tense, till Pant hit that winning four. Watching him carry the Indian flag around the ground, watching Rahane ruffle his hair and laugh, is what sports is all about no?

Qualifier 1 (N), Indian Premier League at Dubai (DSC), Nov 5 2020

Tournament : | Results | Table | Fixtures | Statistics |
Match : Thread | Cricinfo | Reddit-Stream

Innings	Score
Mumbai Indians	200/5
Delhi Capitals	143/8 (20 ov, target 201)

Delhi Capitals

Batter	Runs		Bowler	Wickets
Marcus Stoinis	65		Ravichandran Ashwin	3
Axar Patel	42		Marcus Stoinis	1
Kagiso Rabada	15		Anrich Nortje	1

Mumbai Indians

Batter	Runs		Bowler	Wickets
Ishan Kishan	55		Jasprit Bumrah	4
Suryakumar Yadav	51		Trent Boult	2
Quinton de Kock	40		Krunal Pandya	1

Mum Indians won by 57 runs
Jasprit Bumrah, Man of the Match and the purple cap holder now: "I am okay with not getting wickets and winning the tournament. I don't look at the wickets. I have been given a role, and I try to execute that. Take it ball by ball. I felt the opening yorker was very important. I had decided I was going to do that. When it comes off like that, it feels great. Early wickets are important especially with the dew coming in. I usually don't focus on the end result. Whenever I have tried to focus on the end result, it goes downhill. This is the first time I have played with Trent, our conversations have been very good. He is a very skilful bowler. We discuss different fields, the different ways to bowl, and what to do in different situations. I am not great on awards."
Rohit Sharma: "I guess this was our best so far. The way we came out with the intent. The way de Kock and Surya batted after we lost a wicket in the second over, the way we closed out, and then the clinical bowling. We never had any target in mind because we are a different team, and we want to play in a different. We wanted to play as it comes. We wanted to start well. Losing my wicket in the second over was great, but then de Kock and Surya turned the momentum towards us. In T20 we always talk about momentum. We never want the momentum to shift towards the opposition. Ishan has been in great form so we wanted him to be positive. So the message was clear to him in the timeout. Please don't be afraid to put the pressure back. Back your instinct. Having such a versatile squad it gives me the luxury to change the batting order and rotate the bowlers. I have not seen Trent yet but he looks okay. It is a big game coming up but we just wanted him to be okay for the next game. He looks okay. I am sure he will be on the park on the 10th. When you have bowlers like Bumrah, it makes your life easy. And Bumrah and Boult are in top form. When they play for different countries and franchises, they have different plans. Hats off to them for buying into our plans and executing them so well."
Shreyas Iyer: "Very tough. I don't want to talk anything negative about the side, but going forward we have to make sure we come out with a solid mindset. We were on top of the game especially in that phase when we got two wickets, and they were 110 for in 13 or 14 overs. That is when we should have capitalised more. We could have chased 170 on this wicket. It is part and parcel of the game. Every night can't be yours. We just talk about the opportunities we have. It is not easy to be in the bubble and follow the same routine every day. The practice we have put in, the hard work, it is really tremendous. Ashwin was brilliant. He is always there, offering something for the team. He plays with the batsmen's minds. Great to have his inputs as a captain. All the batsmen in their team are in great touch, especially when Hardik and Pollard come down the order, and their top-order batsmen have full freedom and are in great form. So it is not easy to control them."
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I have been a Delhi fan since 2008. And I truly felt this was the year.
Before I begin my rant, I want to give my opinion on what I think is the key to success in the IPL.
The IPL has a very simple formula for success but the intangibles and execution on the day is incredibly tough. That too when every team boasts of talent and match winners.
Formula for Success: 1 ) Ensure you have the highest number of Indian international level players possible.2) Select Foreign international Superstars who complete the squad requirements for what you don’t posses in Indian players.
The math is simple. There are 8 teams and each team must play at least 7 Indian players in the starting XI. That’s a minimum of 56 Indians that will play in the tournament. There are only so many top-class players in the country. Just to work things out, there are about 20 players who are within the Indian t20 and ODI set up and about 15 more who are maybe near that level of talent and experience on the fringe of the team or have recently retired but not old enough to be out of touch for a 20 over game. The rest are players with potential but are either very young and early in their careers or mid-tier players.
Since each team can only play 4 foreigners and the pool for selection is so large as players from most countries are available, all of them should be superstars and be covering the weak aspects of the team. If you can put up a team following this criterion, you are bound to find success in the long term.
Based on what I have just saidI truly felt this was our year and the first half of the IPL and Delhi’s results were a testament to that.
Delhi Capitals are the Philadelphia 76s of the IPL. They have been mediocre for a long time. They have lacked quality Indian and foreign players in the past. The team core has also been chopped and changed year after year. Just like the 76s, they have invested in young talent. They have kept them over the years, managed them, and now they are developed and international level.
Their batting core is all Indian and the top 4 is stable in terms of talent and execution. Prithvi Shaw is the future. He has already made a cracking test debut for India. Shikhar Dhawan is the present. He is experienced and a proven match winner. Sreyas Iyer has now also debuted for India. He is the anchor in the squad. A touch player who can also accelerate and play the big shots as well as holding an end. Rishabh Pant has already proven himself in the IPL as a big hitter who can take the game away from the opposition whenever he comes out to bat. He has made the Indian test keeping spot all his by scoring centuries against England and Australia. Thanks to Dravid for grooming them and now Ponting for developing them.
Rabada has been a great addition. He is one of the best fast bowlers in the world and shows his class day in day out. Nortje has impressed and adds to DC’s bowling strength on the other end with Rabada. What we couldn’t get Indian players for we covered with internationals. Top order batting and fast bowling fully taken care of.
Since there are no other prominent Indian batsmen in the team, the spots Delhi needed to be filled by foreign players were lower middle order big hitters/finishers and quality spinners. Stoinis, Hetmeyer, Ashwin, and Axar took care of that.
A fully balanced side with no real weak links. Quality Indian players and proven foreign players for positions that we don’t have good Indian players for. To top it off, the guy leading the charge is Ricky Ponting. The best you can get. One of the most sharpest, tactically competent, and intuitive readers of the game.
But what the fuck do you do when your whole team just loses form. Body language has gone to shit. We were 7-2 and now we are 7-7. There is no Fucking excuse. After years of agony, not only were we killing it but the team was genuinely a good side. A side that is capable and well balanced. You could tell thought and planning had gone into creating a very potent 11. Not like RCB where it’s Kohli AB and Chahal and the rest are unproven and if someone like Padikkal comes through it is a bonus. We are only second to Mumbai when it comes to team quality and balance imho.
We have just become a team that is a perennial loser. The Tottenham Hotspur of the IPL. The league started 12 years ago and we are yet to make a final.
I still have serious hope. Win the next game and we can turn this around. It would just be nice to have one genuinely good season.

This is something I read on the internet, its too good to not share
I don't think you understand what really happened today. Yes, India did win. India did win in Australia, India did win it with half their team in bandages, but it's a lot bigger than that.
The true beauty of sports lies in its mysteries. As humans, we want David to beat Goliath. It took India almost their entire cricket history, till they finally beat Australia at their home, in 2018. But then the men in Baggy Green were without Smith and Warner. This time the Aussies brought all their arsenal. They pummelled, punched, bowled out India for a shocking 36 in Adelaide. How do you recover mentally, physically, psychologically from that? Oh and your captain is unavailable for the remainder of the series.
And that is why this series is probably so much more special for India than any before.
There is a man who in the Melbourne game was racially abused by a small section of the crowd - Mohammed Siraj. Four years back when he was selected for the IPL, he had only one dream - to never let his father drive an auto again. Last month, while he was still waiting to play is first test in Australia, his father died. Siraj could not go back for the funeral. For the last few months, Siraj has been holding his father's illness, the abuse, the heckling, the insecurities regarding a youngster's selection all together. Yesterday he burst and picked five wickets in the second innings setting up the game for India. When he kissed the ground and the tears flowed, we should have known we were up for something special.
There is a man who has been criticized, heckled, trolled, made fun of in social media, by experts, almost everyone for almost one and a half years now. He scored a brilliant 97 in Melbourne and almost got India to victory. But 'almost' is not remembered in history. Today, he scored an unbeaten 89 and took India to arguably one of their greatest wins. Rishabh Pant.
There is a man who has been hit on the body a thousand times throughout the series, and when he goes into the shower tonight, there will be bruises, cuts and lumps on his arms, chest, thighs and more. He might not be celebrated half as much as Kohli, Sharma, or even Gill or Pant, but when he does hang up his boots eventually, his contribution to Indian cricket would be right at the top. Cheteshwar Pujara.
There is a boy who is just 21 years old and probably doesn't realize that it's not okay to hit 91 in the fourth innings in Gabba against the likes of Cummins, Hazelwood and Starc. Sacrilege, Shubhman Gill, sacrilege. Why does youth know no fear. Why is youth so expressive, so uninhibited.
There is a man who has captained India in the absence of Kohli, showed none of the verbal aggression that the latter does, but is every bit as passionate. He appears calm, but fought his way through a hundred demons, detractors, set up the win in Sydney and marshalled whatever players were left, superbly. Rahane.
There are two men playing their first test matches and scoring half centuries in the lower half of the Indian batting order and then picking up wickets, as if they were playing school matches, not test cricket. Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur. Who wrote your script, boys.
It is not just that India won. India did not have 11 of their main players and yet the team fought, soldiered, counter punched, resisted, took blows, and never gave up. India did not win the series because of beautiful strokes. India won it because of an incredible amount of bloody mindedness in their heads and pluck in their hearts.
What Washington, Shardul, Gill, Natarajan have done is give hope to thousands of boys in India today that some day even they can play for India. Some years back, an eleven year old boy came to Mumbai, lived in a small tent on the roadside, sold tea to survive and played cricket in the gullies. Yesterday he smoked Sreesanth for two sixes right after the bowler bowled a bouncer and gave him a death stare. His name? Yashasvi Jaiswal. He is now 19 years old, was India Under 19s best batsman in the world cup and signed a 2 crore deal with Rajsthan Royals in the IPL. What Siraj, Yashasvi have done is is give hope to thousands of poor kids that it is possible to dream.
What India did today is far more than just a game. It's what sports is all about - fighting, being fair, dreaming, surviving, and inspiring. In true Bollywood style, it took the entire two months, the last session of the last day of the last test match, to deliver a verdict. And even then for most parts of the day, we were never really sure whether India would lose, win or draw the game. All this in a stadium where Australia hasn't lost for 32 years.
For the whole day, I was frantic, nervous, tense, till Pant hit that winning four. Watching him carry the Indian flag around the ground, watching Rahane ruffle his hair and laugh, is what sports is all about no?

So it's pretty clear that Rajasthan have not exactly had the best of seasons, with our few wins mainly being a result of perfomances from our new Lord Rahul "Bevan" Tewatia showing his grace upon us.
But joking aside, the team has been a little...confused in terms of its management and the roles of players. This is mainly the case with our batting - we've tried something like 6 opening combinations this season and shunted players all over the order rather than having specific roles for each player, and I think that the Royals' management will have to start making a clear plan for next season about who does what. The reason that teams like Mumbai, Dehli and even Bangalore recently are successful is because they have stable lineups with minimal change (which is only usually influenced by conditions) . Rajasthan have not being doing that, constantly trying new things with them not working because the team cohesion just isn't there. Smith's captaincy also hasn't been that inspiring and he often tends to panic if things start going against him and make hasty decisions.
Stokes should not be opening, his best performances for England have come batting in the middle order from 4-6 and that's where he should stay, and given that the only time that he's opened has been a one-off to get quick runs, I don't see why RR are trying to turn him into something which he is not. Let him bat in the middle order, maybe at 4 if he does need to take his time a bit.
As for the rest of the batting, I can understand that they moved Buttler down be cause of his versatility but honestly he's far better up top where he gets to face a lot of balls, and can turn matches upside down by getting that exposure unlike today. Smith has been incredibly inconsistent this season which is unlike him, though of course he has been batting in a multitude of positions as well which again, means that he has to play as a batsman which he isn't. He should be the stabiliser at number 3. Samson was looking good out there today, but he has also been inconsistent and I have no doubt that the fact that he's surrounded by such an unstable batting line-up isn't doing his batting any good. In my opinion he should be opening but I guess that for team balance he can do well at 4. Parag is quite young and I reckon that he's done the best that he could in the situations that he was put into, even winning a match from the brink so he needs to be persisted with in the middle order and given chances. Tewatia has probably been our most consistent batsman and acts as a good finisher, along with Archer who can hit the long ball. And then there's Jaiswal, who was only given like two or three matches before being dropped which is a shame given how good he was at the U19 WC. Given that Rajastan probably won't qualify I'd like to see him get a few games.
Now the bowling. We've been carried so hard by Archer that it's ridiculous. He's been sensational and almost a one man army as shown by his bowling today (he'd better be retained), but unfortunately he doesn't really have anyone else to back him up. That second seamer has also been an area of concern, with all 3 of Unadkat, Rajput and Aaron being tried and not yielding good returns, and it's definitely something that Rajastan need to invest in at the auction. Tewatia and Gopal are tidy spinners by all accounts and while not on the level of someone like Rashid Khan, they do a decent enough job. Tyagi had a poor outing today but is a talent who needs to be developed and get the experience to deliver in crunch situations. Even Bumrah was kinda crap for a few years in the IPL before really becoming a quality bowler.
So for the rest of the season, the lineup should probably be:
Buttler
Jaiswal/Uthappa
Smith (c)
Samson (wk)
Stokes
Parag
Tewatia
Archer
Gopal
Tyagi
Rajput
Gotta feel for David Miller though, one match this season and was runout without facing a ball. In fact I think that the team would work far better if he came in place of Smith, and batted at 5, with Stokes at 4, Samson at 3 and Buttler taking the captaincy, as that way our middle order would actually be pretty competent, but clearly that's not a wise thing to do before the season ends. So ideally next season, the lineup could be:
Jaiswal
Buttler (c)
Samson (wk)
Stokes
Miller
Parag
Tewatia
Archer
Gopal
Tyagi
(Another seam bowler)

Given that neither Mumbai or Delhi have any Englishmen in their squads, the season is over in terms of Pom representation. So, here’s a summary on how the English lads got on for anyone who didn’t watch the tournament or for those who just like to look at stats.
Moeen Ali (3 matches): 12 runs at an Average of 4.00 and a Strike Rate of 75.00. 1 wicket at an Average of 42.00 and an Economy of 8.40. Can’t really criticise Mo too much due to how little he played, however he really does look a long way off what he’s capable of and I think he’s going to struggle to get into the T20 World Cup squad. The fact that he managed to get run out first ball off a free hit in the playoff game was emblematic of his recent difficulties.
Jofra Archer (14 matches): 113 runs, Ave 18.83, SR 179.36. 20 wickets, Ave 18.25, Econ 6.55. Had an amazing season and it’s made more impressive considering the lack of support he had from the rest of the Rajasthan attack, his batting was more than handy too.
Jonny Bairstow (11 matches): 345 runs, Ave 31.36, SR 126.83. Didn’t quite hit the heights of last year but nevertheless played a few good innings, including a 97. Got dropped towards the end of the group stages due to Hyderabad rejigging their team, which was a bit of a shame for him.
Tom Banton (2 matches): 18 runs, Ave 9.00, SR 90.00. Never really got given a proper go so not much point making any judgements, especially as he didn’t open in one of those games.
Jos Buttler (13 matches) 328 runs, Ave 32.80, SR 144.49. Similar to Bairstow in that he didn’t do as well as in previous seasons but overall did okay. He got a lot of brisk scores of around 20 but couldn‘t convert them into something more substantial. I‘m still not really sure whether he’s better opening or in the middle order so it’ll be interesting to see what they do in SA.
Sam Curran (14 matches): 186 runs, Ave 23.25, SR 131.91. 13 wickets, Ave 26.46, Econ 8.19. Surprisingly solid year, he was one of the few players at Chennai who played consistently well, his bowling is more effective than it has any right to be and his batting is extremely useful down the order. Pretty impressive overall.
Tom Curran (5 matches): 83 runs, Ave 83.00, SR 133.87. 3 wickets, Ave 69.33, Econ 11.44. His batting average is obviously inflated by not outs but he was quite good with the bat this year. His bowling is another matter, he’s just too easy to hit at the death. In his defence he played most of his games at a tiny Sharjah ground with what was at the time a flat wicket so everyone struggled, needs to improve though.
Chris Jordan (9 matches): 29 runs, Ave 9.86, SR 93.54. 9 wickets, Ave 33.77, Econ 9.65. He was in and out of the Punjab team a lot and I think he struggled to settle a bit. When he’s on song his death bowling is up there with the best but on a bad day he can go for a lot of runs. Average season.
Eoin Morgan (14 matches): 418 runs, Ave 41.80, SR 138.41. Had a slightly sluggish start but began to really get into his stride as the tournament went on, despite only getting one fifty due to coming in quite low. Captained decently too after being given the job halfway through the season. All things considered, he was pretty good.
Ben Stokes (8 matches): 285 runs, Ave 40.71, SR 142.50. 2 wickets, Ave 77.00, Econ 10.26. After arriving late due to his dad’s ill health looked a bit rusty initially but soon got going. Scored a century opening the batting which makes it even more difficult to decide who should open for England, realistically though I’d leave him in the middle order. His bowling should be used only in dire situations when desperate for a wicket, under normal circumstances he’s got the potential to be very expensive.

Since there are apparently trades allowed mid season here are some trades I think teams would like.
​
KKR and KXIP
Lockie Ferguson for Mujeeb
this is a trade that heavily favors both teams. Ferguson will struggle to get a game with KKR being the deepest fast bowling team with cummins and maybe even harry gurney ahead of him. He will likely start games asap at Punjab and immediately Punjabs bowling looks a lot worse. Meanwhile Mujeeb isnt getting a chance at punjab at all and would likely share games or maybe even start outright over narine who has been pretty awful in bowling so far. A win- win for both teams.
​
CSK and DC
Ajinkya Rahane for Piyush Chawla and kedar jadhav
Rahane would greatly improve CSK's batting while DC would be getting a leg spinner to replace the recently injured mishra as well as getting more batting depth which they really do not need at this point though. Jadhav could easily perform the same role that rahane does for delhi though which is just be a backup.
​
RCB and SRH
Vijay Shankar and Basil Thampi for Mohammad Siraj and Gurkeerat Singh
After Bhuvis injury SRH really have a poor pace bowling attack and drafting in Siraj would improve it more than the new guy they drafted. Siraj hasnt played much for rcb and they have Saini and morris+ udana coming in which really improves their bowling but their main weakness would be middle order after ABD and Shankar would offer some solidity at safety over their only other option who is Gurkeerat. Thampi and Gurkeerat are basically fillers.
​
RR and KKR
Kuldeep yadav for shreyas gopal
I couldnt really find a trade for mumbai who are really well settled so I needed to just find a trade for RR who really need a good spinner since their main options are gopal and tewatia. KKR arent likely to play Kuldeep after dropping him could afford to have gopal as he is an all rounder but this doesnt really benefit KKR as much
​
Id like to hear more trade ideas from you guys. Thank you.

SRH has had problems with its Indian batsmen for a while. But with most of the top Indian batsmen already playing for other teams, they've had to rely on a pool of domestic players, and this has so far not paid off. Finding truly high-quality talent from the many, many young Indian domestic players is incredibly difficult and unpredictable. To illustrate, take the example of Shreyas Iyer. His first IPL season was 2015. However, prior to the 2015 IPL, he played in the 2015 SMA Trophy, which is essentially a training ground for new IPL players. While his Ranji Trophy performances were good, in the SMA Trophy, his performance was rather mediocre and included several low scores by getting out unrenowned bowlers (such as this and this). He ended up getting dropped by the Mumbai side towards the end of this tournament, which happened just weeks before IPL 2015. However, just weeks later, he did this, against a quality attack comprising of Steyn and Bhuvi. He would finish the tournament with over 400 runs at a strike rate of about 130, brilliant stuff from a first-time player. Who would've thought that he would've done this given his inexperience and prior poor T20 performances? On the contrary, you have several players who did well in domestic cricket but failed in the IPL.
Credit must go to TA Sekhar, the scout who discovered Iyer's talent and gave him the valuable opening slot in the Delhi line-up. Coincidentally, he's the same scout who helped get Warner fast-tracked into the Australian team. Iyer's example is just one of the many examples of quality talent that were found in the IPL through persistence and belief in the players.
SRH's problem with its young players lies in its lack of persistence in these players and in the rigidity of its batting line-up. Last season, the number 5 and 6 spots were essentially a game of musical chairs between Shakib, Nabi, Yusuf, Abhishek, and Hooda. Whenever one of these players would fail, they'd get dropped and replaced by another one. Rinse and repeat. Additionally, given the strength of the openers, these players would often come out when there's just 3-4 overs remaining or during very high-pressure situation when the top order fails. They simply lacked game time before coming out to bat, and when expected to score at 12 RPO against death bowlers, they failed and were dropped.
With the loss of Shakib, Hooda, and Yusuf, SRH's options are even more limited this season, with P. Garg, V. Singh, A. Sharma, and A. Samad being our Indian batsmen. Saha is a proven mediocre player after many seasons and needs to be left aside. SRH needs to persist with one or more of those batsmen. More importantly, they need some relatively low-pressure game time before being expected to thrive in pressure-cooker situations. This can only be achieved by occasionally altering the batting order. Yes, the openers are set in stone. But why not try out Abhishek at 4 if the score reads 140-2 after 15? Why not try out Garg or Singh at 3 if an opener gets out in the 3rd over when batting first? MI and CSK have been doing this for years.
Is this approach guaranteed to work? Of course not. There are many domestic batsmen who have failed in the IPL and are now forgotten. However, SRH has very limited options, and who knows, this could result in the discovery of some top-quality talent. Worst case, we play with two passengers. But we already won 2016 with passengers like Hooda and Naman Ojha.
TL;DR SRH needs to persist with its Indian domestic batsmen because the options are very limited. These batsmen need to get some game time in relatively low-pressure situations before being asked to finish games.

So, RCB seems to have big names and emerging players in their batting line-up. But why does it always fail? Let's compare how other playoff teams don't face this problem.
Opening :
David Warner - Great opener, plays long and deep, SRH has one of the highest Powerplay scores.
Qdk - Great opener as well, opens destructive with Rohit, plays defensive with Ishan. Does play deep, provides good Powerplay.
DDP - Good opener, good footwork. But can't take it deep, and loses on a risky shot
Wriddhiman Saha - Good partner with Warner, can make a decent opening partnership.
Ishan Kishan - (Let's put aside Rohit) Explosive opener, can play on no.4 as well. Plays faster than DDP.
No consistent second opener for RCB. Philipe is good, but the chemistry is yet to be tested.
3&4 : The important Spin players
Manish Pandey & Kane Williamson - Pandey is a powerhitter, can accelerate innings. Kane Williamson, well... He can take responsibility and play it safe and deep.
SKY and Saurabh Tiwary/Ishan Kishan - SKY and Saurabh can still act as openers, play it elegantly. If it's Ishan then he changes his style to play it deep.
RCB - Kohli and ABD. Here's a problem. Their natural game is not to preserve wicket and play defend. Kohli is a powerhitter, he needs to Either open or move down. ABD is a finisher, he shouldn't come before Over 13.
5&6 : This is the cushion. The most crucial.
Jason Holder and ??? - Tbh even Jason is not extremely reliable. He is 17th over reliable, but not 13th over reliable. And while SRH has options, I don't remember names. Which means I don't remember match Winning performances.
MI - One of the Pandyas, Pollard - Actually the cushion hasn't started yet for MI. They have an option to send in Krunal alongside SKY or Ishan if it's not the 13th over yet. This allows for SKY and Ishan to set in. Krunal should however, learn to not okay big shots and keep rotating strike to set batsman.
RCB - ??? ABD and Kohli have no reliable (and proven) batsman to fall back upon.
7 & 8 :
Rashid Khan & ??? - Here is the end of the tail of SRH. Rashid Khan can make a few shots, provided it's well past over 16. This gives a slight cushion.
Hardik/Pollard and NCN/Pattinson - Lol. Mumbai still had cards to play in their deck. NCN/Pattison don't need to hit hard, but they can rotate strike to the hitter well.
RCB - ???
What I want to say is, RCB top 4 have very little to fall back on if their wicket goes away. So they try to preserve the wicket. Or they are so dependent on ABD. DDP will become better opener with time, but VK needs to step up his game and open, and then keep a defensive 3&4 (who can play spin well, like Williamson, SKY, Saurabh or Ishan) so He himself can powerplay.
Also, ABD needs some better partners in his 5/6 position. Just like how it's Hardik and Pollard, we need ABD and someone else on the same level of hitting capacity as him. This cushion allows MI top order to go all out.
Remember how they lost 3 wickets and still made 200? RCB needs good 3&4 and good 5/6 (one of which is ABD.
P.S. Yes, DC is a playoff team, I know.

It has been a really weird IPL till now, Teams literally lost the matches because of the really weird decision made by team managements which doesn't even make sense to normal cricket fans, some of them are outrageous and frustrating to watch...what do you think is the most brain dead of all?

1. KKR not bowling Ferguson after he took 5 wickets in the last game when they needed to defend 82 runs.

2.punjab sending newbie prabsimran instead of maxwell.

1. RCB sending ABD at no.6

4.CSK persisting with kj.
5.punjab persisting with maxwell inspite of his lack of game awareness.
6.KKR'S batting order.
7.RR'S unsettled batting order after 10 freaking games..
8.punjab sending pooran in the 1st superover instead of gayle against Mumbai.
9.Smith giving 19th over to unadkath instead of archer against RCB.

1. CSK not even trying Imran tahir atleast in one match till now.

Feel free to add what you feel is brain dead stuff happened in IPL 2020.

We're slightly over 1/4 into the season currently, but who's looking like the player of the season so far, and who seems to be carrying their teams?
For each team:
MI:
Pollard: Insanely consistent, and has helped Mumbai post 5 consecutive 190+ totals. 163 Runs, average of 163 (Not Out 4/5 innings), and a whopping strike rate of 208. Let's not forget his fielding, I think his catch ended up sealing the game vs RR today. Has also been more useful with the ball in this season compared to previous ones.
Bumrah: I don't think he's been as good as previous seasons, but damn, he's still a wicket taker. 11 wickets, and the most number of dot balls in the tournament. More expensive than before, but is still a great bowler in death, providing crucial dot balls and is the catalyst for Mumbai's success so far.
Boult: See above, a good wicket taker, good in the powerplay and good in death. Less wickets, but he's been more economical so far.
HM to James Pattinson, but I don't think he has anything to distinguish himself from Bumrah/Boult just yet.
A lot of Mumbai have been good, but everyone else hasn't been as consistent as these 3, and I think these 3 are the main reason for their success so far.
DC:
Rabada: I don't think he needs any explanation, one of the best bowlers right now, and is the main driving factor behind Delhi's deadly bowling attack. Picks up wickets, great economy and can easily close out games. Probably one of (if not the) best T20 bowlers right now.
Nortje: Same as Rabada, what a great find for Delhi, and is one of the main reasons why Delhi can defend their high totals. In that KKR game, Nortje's over were crucial ones which stopped KKR from crawling back in towards the back end after Rabada vs Morgan. Has been ever so slightly more economical than Rabada.
Stoinis: He's single handedly saved two games for Delhi now, and they're only 5 games into the tournament, one vs KXIP and the other the other day vs RCB with his cameo with that bad. Economical with the ball, but has proven to be able to keep his cool under pressure when required, i.e the KXIP game and vs KKR.
Patel: Here's an unpopular opinion, but damn, his economical spells have saved so many runs. He's easily been the biggest surprise of the tournament for me. An economy of 4.57 is insane after 4 matches bowling 14 overs.
HM to the Iyer-Prithvi-Pant trio, but again, no one's consistent enough I feel. They all play cameos in different games, and if one doesn't perform, someone else definitely will.
RCB:
De Villiers: No surprise here, Mr. 360 is a crucial factor in RCB's success this season so far. He's changed the course of multiple games, having 155 runs, averaging at 50 and striking at 170. This is also considering he's recently taken up the tough and tiring responsibility of wicket keeping in the middle east, it's pretty impressive.
Padikkal: Easily the best youngster of the tournament so far, and getting 3 50s in your first 4 matches, is a damn impressive feat. Good opener, and can perfectly pace an innings. I see a bright future for this guy if he keeps it up.
Sundar: Probably the only economical bowler on RCB, and is the only reason RCB aren't going for scores of 200+ every single game. Not much to say, he saves run, bowls with an economy of 4.80 and helps RCB keep totals lower than 200.
Chahal: Alongside Sundar, Chahal makes part up the deadly bowling core. Slightly less economical, but has been amazing at picking up wickets, I only see him picking up more as time goes on due to the pitches slowing down.
No HM here, I think these 4 have been carrying RCB pretty hard, with occasional knocks from others. I think Kohli will find form though and add to this list eventually.
KKR:
Cummins: Has proved to be a great pick up both with the bat and ball. Clearly showing his worth. Great economy and getting early wickets in the powerplay has proved crucial for KKR so far. I think he'll keep performing, and I'm also looking forward to him batting at the death
I'm not gonna lie, I like KKR, but I don't think there's been too many standout performers so far. Not because the team is bad, but just because all games feel more collective rather than one/some people dominating. Usually I'd say Andre Russell, but he hasn't performed as well as other years yet to make himself stand out, though I guess that's a high bar to set. I guess the HM go to Morgan, Gill and Russell.
CSK:
Du Plessis: Every game CSK has won, or came close to winning has been due to this guy. I genuinely cannot think of a time a team has been carried harder by a player. 2016 Warner was close, but even then, at least SRH bowlers were good. CSK bowlers have been pretty mediocre, and the rest of the batting lineup has been even worse. Let's not forget the 94 average for an OPENING batsman in T20.
Curran: Has been very useful with the bat and ball. I think CSK could have won more games if he was sent to bat earlier, because clearly he probably could have helped win that game vs SRH. Hell, even if he was given strike more often by Dhoni, who was clearly struggling. Anyways, promising all rounder, one of CSK's younger guys this year, and I expect him to be a key to success
If CSK are gonna make another run this season, everyone else is gonna have to step up, because Du Plessis and Curran are the only consistent performers. Good signs though with Watson performing last match. Hopefully everyone else picks up.
SRH:
Rashid Khan: The main reason why SRH is able to defend so many totals. His 4th season and is still as hard to play as ever. Bowling to Pollard and Pandya the other day, only for them to treat it as a test match shows how scary this guy still is. A perfect combination of wicket taking and economical, and will have to continue if SRH dream of making it to the Top 4, especially since Bhuvi is ruled out.
Natarajan: He really reminds me of old Bumrah, and his yorker percentage is just insane. I'm happy to see someone so humble finally got his chance, after waiting 3 years, and it's paying off. Bhuvi may be enjoyed, but I see him potentially being able to replace that void ever so slightly. He's been very promising, and if he continues, I can see him easily making the Indian team.
Other than these 2, everyone is so inconsistent. Warner gets runs, but he isn't striking it as well. Bairstow has seemed to struggle all games other than first one. Williamson has got out clumsily twice now, so hasn't really been able to show his class. And the rest just haven't clicked.
RR:
Archer: Probably the most consistent on this team. Not even just with the ball, but even with the bat. Striking at nearly 250, and rescuing them of the 1st/2nd games shows his potential as a pinch hitter. And for his bowling, he's probably one of the best right now in the world, and has shown his class this IPL with his wickets, death bowling and economy.
RR hasn't been too consistent either. Tewatia, Samson and Smith all looked on hot fire at the start, but have sorta seemed to lose it these past 3 games. Top order has to step up.
KXIP:
Rahul: I feel bad on him, he's still a class batsman, and is probably going to finish towards the top again, but the rest of the team aside from a few people aren't allowing to get those wins. Granted, they've been close, but have always been let down some way or the other. Anyways, his 72 average, 302 runs, 140 SR, 2 50s and 1 100 speak for themselves.
Agarwal: Currently in the form of his life, he's pretty much in the same boat as Rahul. Less runs, but is striking it better. He's gotten KXIP so close to finish line in the games vs. RR and DC, but the rest of the team haven't been able to finish it.
These 2 have been carrying RR hard, the rest of the middle order doesn't form consistently, and the bowling has been pretty bad. Shami started off well, but has became pretty bad. Pooran has been ok, but not consistent enough. Cottrell has been just OK outside of that Tewatia game. Everyone else has been so forgettable
So, after that, the Top 5 so far of the tournament for me would be:

1. Du Plessis: I think given the state of CSK, and not having a true "batting partner" until Watson last game, he's done very well to accumulate an average of 94, whilst also single handedly consistently carry the batting lineup. I think his efforts so far needs to get more praise, given the lack of support he's gotten until last game. Let's not forget about the stunning catches he's taken in the field too.
2. Archer: Both his contributions with the bat AND ball have astounded me. Bowling his full quota of overs every game, bowling in the powerplay, bowling in the death and having an economy of 7.1 is very impressive. On top of this, he's striking at just under 250 with the bat, and has helped RR get over the line in games such as vs KXIP and CSK.
3. Rahul: Similar to Du Plessis, but he has slightly more help in the form of Agarwal. Not much support, but is doing his best to try get his team over the line. I don't like how he's paced some of his innings though, such as in Sharjah vs RR, where his SR was very low considering he's an opener and the size of the ground. However, that aside, he's still been very consistent and is the main reason why KXIP has even got so close to winning games.
4. Rabada: Rabada is the most consistent wicket taker, and is incredibly reliable. I think without him, the Delhi bowling lineup would collapse, so his influence is massive. Easily one of the best T20 bowlers right now.
5. Agarwal: Finally, Agarwal's form has been amazing too. There isn't much to say, but KXIP's opening pair has been deadly, and it'd be a shame to not have him on this list, especially after his performances.

HM: Stoinis, Rashid, Pollar and Natarajan (No particular order)
What do you guys think?

Almost all teams have gone against them once or twice and Mumbai seems unbeatable. That middle order destroying bowlers in the last 4 overs has changed each and every one of the games for them.
So the game changers are the last 4 overs for Mumbai both in batting and bowling They score max in the last 4 but other teams struggle to score in the last 4 against them.

Literally the worst team this year, I salute the coach that we even qualified! Batting order was dependent on AB only even Virat fucked up idk what's wrong with the team after VKs and ABs wicket the team doesn't even try I get jealous when I see MI . Worst team this year got what it deserved just send AB to Mumbai atleast he can win a single cup in his final years . AB was always more deserving captain and he couldn't win any titles just send him to a better team like CSK SRH or MI pls

It's been a fun IPL so far, the quicker pitches have made it very interesting and no doubt raised what the average scores would have been (as well as the boundaries in Sharjah). After a sticky start for some, the players are overall up to speed and some have found form better than others. Here's my take on it so far:
DC - Thought it would be their best chance to break their duck and win it this season and they've been very good so far. Didn't rate Nortje much coming into this but he's been a real surprise, bowled really well. Rabada as class as ever, top order is working well and they do have the attack to do well as the pitches slow up. Will be in the mix to win it although there is a concern for me about their finals experience, especially if they play Mumbai.
MI- Thought they'd struggle at the start of the season due to pitches but they've been quicker than expected. The bowlers have bowled well particularly Pattinson, the middle order is hitting form. Pitches slowing up will present challenges but tbh if they played Delhi in a final I'd make them slight favourites due to finals experience.
RCB - Less memeable than ever (minus KXIP getting their only win against RCB and KL scoring more than the whole RCB team) but looking good, AB and Kohli in form, decent bowling attack, concern though with Finch's form at the top. Should come in 3rd.
KKR - Good pace attack but that defeat yesterday to RCB was ominous and it'll be interesting to see how they will do when the pitches slow. Also his batting may be a bit of a drain but Narine is a matchwinner with the ball and will be needed back, it'll be a shame as an Englishman if it's at the expense of Banton but it's probably needed. Also depending on pitches will have to consider Kuldeep again.
SRH - Thought they'd be near the top but middle order issues and a lack of Bhuvi in their pace attack have held them back and when Rashid Khan gets some tap like on the weekend, it's very tough for the rest of them. Bairstow and Warner have been middling tbh (Bairstow really didn't look comfortable against top class pace in Archer and Cummins), Kane surely has to come in at 3 further down the line. Slower pitches may help them given the nature of the attack but the loss to RR was a warning. Need to step it up.
RR - Weakest Indian core out of all the teams but can't deny some of them have stepped up big time, particularly Lord Tewatia, Parag and I've been impressed with Tyagi. Out of the overseas players Jof has been the only one consistent, Smith and Buttler need to start delivering more often. If Stokes gets up to speed quickly they could still be in the mix but they need him firing with both bat and ball.
CSK - Well I thought this would be the year they'd age badly given the lack of cricket this year, lack of crowds to give them their energy and well it's happened. Need a rebuild badly and just been really poor. Dhoni doesn't look happy to be out there at all tbh.
KXIP - Bowling has let them down badly, Mujeeb at 7 says it all about their tail, some braindead decisions like not sending Maxwell in earlier in the KKR game, some braindead bowling with special mention to Cottrell and Shami v RR. Have not helped themselves at all.
Thoughts? Final table for me I think will be this:
DC, MI, RCB, SRH, KKR, RR, CSK, KXIP

Delhi Capitals is the only team, which can boast of 4 Indian national team players in their top order and still have Ajinkya Rahane warming the benches. Surprisingly, Marcus Stoinis is playing the finisher role well, which he could not do last year for RCB. Rishabh Pant has not yet had standout innings and not striking the ball as effortlessly as he does, but expect him to come good. If the pitches slow down in the later half, it will be interesting to see how their batsmen react, since they like the ball coming onto the bat.
As they have 4 Indian batsmen at the top, they can field two quality international quicks in Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. Their spin department looks good with the inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin this year. If pitches slow down in UAE in the second half of the IPL, Sandeep Lamichhane can come in place of either Rabada or Nortje.
Ricky Ponting is one of the most brilliant coaching minds at the IPL. When he took over Delhi in 2018, they were in disarray. Although Delhi did not do well in 2018, their Pre-auction transfer and Auction buy strategies after that have been excellent.
Mumbai Indians, the most successful team of the IPL, keep faith in their core set of players year after year. All of their top 5 batsmen scored 50+ this season. They are getting 190+ scores effortlessly, even on the bigger Abu Dhabi and Dubai grounds. Usually, Kieron Pollard gains form in the second half of the IPL, but this time he has been in terrific touch from the start. He is even bowling for them after many years. It looked like the teams figured out Hardik Pandya's hitting zones and kept him relatively quiet in the last two games. But, he is a brilliant cricketer, so expect him to become better. If Hardik starts bowling, it will add more balance to the MI squad.
The only concern for them will be their spin department. They formed this team keeping Wankhede stadium in mind, which helps the pace bowlers. Mumbai traditionally used spin defensively to choke the oppositions in the middle and attack with pace in the powerplay and at the death. They are playing Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya, but they are struggling against left handlers. Everybody expected them to get a spinner as the replacement for Lasith Malinga, but they went for another quick in James Pattinson, but he has been brilliant too. Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson are providing them great starts and masking their spin inadequacy. The only match their quicks did not take an early wicket in the powerplay, against RCB, they struggled and conceded 201 runs. It will be interesting to see how they progress if the pitches favor spin in the second half.
Pacers are ruling this IPL till now. Delhi Capitals with Kagiso Rabada - Anrich Nortje in their ranks and Mumbai Indians with pace bowling riches in Jasprit Bumrah - Trent Boult - James Pattinson, are at the top of the table deservedly. These two teams face-off in Abu Dhabi tomorrow (11 October 2020). We were served some hot delicious thrillers, along with 2 Super overs for dessert, in the first ten days of this IPL. However, we have witnessed so many cold one-sided affairs after that. I hope it will be a cracking contest tomorrow.

Kindly excuse my poor layout of writing.
I honestly believe that RCB can go all the way (though Mumbai is extremely strong even with Rohit sitting out) with just one small tweak.
That is
Dubey in Gurkeerat out.
Philippe has been promising on the top and of course padikall has been amazing.
Virat and ABD can be bankable.
Washington sundar can bat and it has been evident yesterday and he has been very economical with the ball
Dubey maybe inconsistent but he will surely get a couple of big ones and has also got some wickets, also he has more runs that gurkeerat. I don't understand the reason why RCB management continues to persist with him.
Morris can also get some cleaners and also very efficient with the ball.
One more possible tweak could be getting moeen Ali for udana but it's not as necessary as the gurkeerat - dubey change. Moeen Ali could stabilise the middle orders, whereas udana can get some big ones and with the ball he could be expensive but will get the wickets, so I would continue with udana.
Siraj is highly inconsistent with the ball but I'm sure rcb management will back him.
Navdeep saini is sure to play if fit. Statistics may show him as an average bowler but he is good at crunch situations, has the pace and can bowl the Yorkers , so he too gets in.
Chahal would always be in the team , probably the backbone of rcb bowling and their highest wicket taker consistently. .....
So this is what I think, what do the members of ipl think?

Delhi Capitals: Not many. Maybe Dhawan needs to fire a bit more and they're good to go.
Mumbai Indians: Again, not many issues. De Kock needs to convert his starts to big scores. They're good to go as well. Maybe they could cut down on the runs they give away in the death, but I guess that's an issue for all 8 teams.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Finch has not been consistent. Maybe one game more and if he doesn't perform, his best replacement would be Philippe or Parthiv. The middle order after ABD seems a bit inexperienced to win games on their own if the top four go down quickly, and the 2 games they lost indicate that. Also they could cut down on the runs given in last 4 overs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Inexperienced middle order. Only one fifty from Priyam Garg but not much else has gone right when it comes to the middle order. Maybe Williamson needs to make way for Nabi/Holder. It could strengthen their middle order. Warner has been good but hasn't converted his knocks into 80s and 90s which he usually does. Other bowlers need to assist Rashid Khan and Sandeep Sharma more.
Chennai Super Kings: Not having Raina has really hurt them. Except for the one game, Watson is really struggling and it's really sad to see him that way. A little more support is needed from the other ends to Faf, Rayudu, Dhoni, Sam Curran and Jadeja. Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav need to up their pace of scoring runs. Sam Curran has been good but not good enough. Perhaps 5-10 runs more by each batsmen, and a few more dots by all bowlers and CSK could script a miracle.
Rajasthan Royals: Overdependence on Buttler, Smith and Samson. Just how RCB used to depend on Gayle, Kohli and ABD. If Ben Stokes weaves his magic, only then do RR stand a chance to make it to the playoffs. Jofra Archer needs to be supported a bit more from the other end. Utappha has struggled and it's heartbreaking to see him play this way. Lomror and Riyan Parag need to score more and quicker. Lomror has had a good couple of games, but not good enough to win them for the team. Also, Tewatia and Jaiswal need to be backed up.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Overdependence on Gill, Morgan and DK. Each of them have had a few good games, but they need to fire in unison to hit the playoffs. More contribution is needed from Russell and Rana. Mavi and Nagarkoti need to go more on the offensive when they have a bowler like Cummins to lead their pace attack. Tripathi is looking good and shouldn't throw his wicket away, and with the kind of trust shown by the team in Narine, he needs to do a bit more both with the ball and the bat.
Kings XI Punjab: Middle order issues. No batsmen apart from Rahul, Mayank and Pooran have performed well. They need to replace Maxwell because he's just become a liability for KXIP. Gayle should be given a chance, although that could mean tinkering with the existing opening combo which is the only good thing going on for KXIP. Mujeeb could be given a go in a couple of games too and see how it goes. Shami desperately needs someone to assist him.