The IPL 2024 has been a rollercoaster ride. In the beginning, those who were in the reckoning for the playoff round lost the spot owing to sloppy performances at the backend of the tournament. There’s a saying, in a long tournament, don’t peak too early, as you can always lose momentum towards the business end. That’s what happened to some of the teams. And some teams never peaked, hence finding themselves at the bottom of the IPL 2024 points table. However, there was a team that peaked from a point where it had literally no hope. This IPL saga has been fascinating, filled with emotions, fluctuating fortunes and hardcore lessons for all the franchisees to implement the next season and beyond. Although the tournament is still a week away from its wrap, it’s worthwhile highlighting the emotional aspects of the tournament.
Highlighting IPL 2024 Lessons
The IPL 2024 schedule consists of 74 games, including playoffs and the final. During the two-month-long tournament, teams witnessed highs and lows, with the sole exception of Kolkata Knight Riders. They have been fabulous and consistent in this year’s IPL.
Without any further delay, let’s discuss the highs and lows of the tournament.
RCB Leaped from Crashing Lows in IPL 2024
The IPL 2024 match list for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is an interesting matter for research. During the first 8 games, they recorded a solitary win over Punjab Kings and lost to Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders (Twice), Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
At that point, they looked down and out with literally no hope. But as they say, where there is a will, there is a way. Virat Kohli came with an emotional and inspiring speech for his teammates attributing that even 1% chance can sometimes be good enough. He emphasised how you perceive that 1% chance. It sprung the entire RCB unit into action as it won 6 straight games to qualify for the playoffs, irrespective of the outside criticism for the way they fared in the first half of the tournament.
A comeback of the highest order epitomises RCB’s never-say-die attitude. It was an emotional downpour the moment RCB recorded a thrilling 27-run victory over the defending champions CSK to book a place in the playoff. Virat Kohli, his wife Anushka Sharma and the whole RCB unit were brought into raptures.
CSK Missed the IPL 2024 Playoff Berth Owing to Inconsistent Performances
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were comfortably placed in the top four in the initial stage on the back of consistent wins that the franchise is known for. But came the second half of the tournament and they began to panic and lose games. It was like a 50-50 kind of performance from there, which, however, kept CSK in contention before losing the spot to the spirited RCB unit. Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have played the last match of his distinctive IPL career, winning CSK five titles and playoff berths across all seasons, except the 2020 and 2022 editions.
Rajasthan Royals Losing Momentum at the Wrong Time
The Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals have been a team to watch out for in IPL 2024, winning games after games before losing four straight games. Although they have booked a spot in the playoff, they have lost momentum at the wrong time, which does not augur well for them in the virtual knockout stage. The fact that Jos Buttler, touted to leave the franchise in the middle to join his national side for four T20s against Pakistan at home, leaves the side slightly handicapped given the power game the talismanic English wicketkeeper batter possesses.
MI, PBKS Never Arrived in IPL 2024
The five-time champions Mumbai Indians looked like a daunting team for other franchisees in IPL 2024 on paper. But on the ground, they were not even half of that, courtesy of back-to-back defeats. Such defeats led to the home crowd even booing Hardik Pandya, the skipper of the Mumbai Indians team. He returned to the franchise unceremoniously, replacing Rohit Sharma, who led the side to five title wins. Surely, nobody in the crowd liked the way the captaincy matter was handled by the franchise owners and support staff. However, Mumbai Indians have always had a history of poor starts before making a comeback. But the IPL 2024 display is a reminder that the team will have to be consistent from the beginning rather than relying on the eleventh-hour magic.
Punjab Kings, like previous editions, never arrived at the tournament. They looked clueless with back-to-back defeats. Even though they had a powerful batting lineup, they crumbled under pressure and lost game after game and found themselves placed just above Mumbai Indians in the points table.
DC, LSG Lost the Playoff Spot Due to Poor Net Run Rate
Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants, led by Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, respectively, were performing steadily in the first half of the tournament. But as the tournament wore on, they started losing games when they should not have. It went so close that both DC and LSG were left stranded at 14 points each. RCB and CSK at the end of the league stage finished with 14 points each too. The poor net run rate of DC, LSG and CSK meant they lost the playoff berth to RCB.
Wrapping Up
The IPL 2024 presented fluctuating fortunes and sparked emotions, debates and criticisms. The Impact Player substitution further added to the spice as the India skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were averse to this idea. They reckon that it disturbs the balance of the game and urged the authorities to have a relook. Virat even empathised with the hammering bowlers received in this tournament. Indeed, bowlers have no respite in today’s slam bang cricketing era. On behalf of zarooribaathai.in, we wish all four teams – KKR, RR, SRH and RCB – the best of luck for the rest of the tournament. May the best team win.
