IPL: All Eyes Will Be on Hyderabad

All eyes will be on Hyderabad to make the grade in the IPL play offs as the best batsman and the best bowler will be on view on the home stretch.

IPL 2017 is getting hotter and hotter as the mercury rises. But all eyes will be on Sunrisers Hyderabad. They have the top two best batsman in David Warner and Shikhar Drawn and the best bowler in Bhubaneswar Kumar in their ranks.

And who would not want them to figure in the final stages.

Mumbai Indians (18 points from 11 games), Kolkata Knight Riders (16 from 12), Rising Pune Supergianrts (16 from 12) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (15 from 13) are the top four teams at the time of writing this.

Hyderabad defeated Mumbai on Monday night and that result will have a huge bearing on the final placings. They meet Gujarat Lions in the final fixture.

Kings XI Punjab (10 from 11), Gujarat Lions (8 from 12) and Delhi Daredevils (8 from 11)  are hypothetically not yet out of the fray.

Should they produce some topsy-turvy results, any of them could topple the present top four and make the play-offs.

Then only team which certainly will have to wait for the next season are Royal Challengers Bangalore who have a mere five points 13 games having lost ten, won two and one being washed out. The Bangalore outfit, with the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli in the batting line up, have fared miserably and it is unbelievable that they are not even in contention for a berth in the final stage.

Cricket Association has been given the task of hosting two play-off round matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The sporting crowd will surely enjoy whoever plays and the stands are bound to be overflowing for the two games. Demand for tickets have already begun.

Hyderabad skipper David Warner tops the batting charts with 529 runs, including a century, so far. The orange cap holder is going great guns and Bangalore will love to see him in action.

Also Read: David Warner: A Pinch-Hitter Like None Other in IPL T20

Incidentally, Hyderabad medium pacer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar tops the bowling and has the purple cap with 21 wickets so far. Thus, all eyes will be on Hyderabad to make the grade as the best batsman and the best bowler will be on view on the home stretch. Surely, cricket lovers in Bangalore will root for Hyderabad in their remaining game against Mumbai. Fortunately, they are playing at home and the stadium is bound to inspire them to success. All eyes will be on Hyderabad.

Of course Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune too have stars to light up the night skies at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Kolkata has a new batting hero in Sunil Narine, who smashed the fastest 50 this season making 54 off just 15 deliveries. The West Indian is enjoying his stint as an opener and is going great guns.

 Will the top four remain right there and make it or will someone spoil someone’s party?

That’s the question as excitement builds up with every four, every six and every wicket as teams battle it out to present themselves in front of what will indeed be a packed Chinnaswamy Stadium despite RCB’s confirmed absence.

Also Read: Wrong Tweet `Kills’ Harpreet Singh’s IPL Dream

After the conclusion of the league stage, the top four teams on the points table will progress to the next round. In case multiple teams end on same points, Net Run Rate (NRR) will determine which teams go further. Of these, the teams finishing No. 1 and 2 will get two shots at making it to the final. They will play each other in Qualifier 1 and the winner of the match will go directly to the final. The losing team, however, will get another crack at making it to the final, as it will take on the winner of No. 3 and No. 4 in Qualifier 2.

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