😭😭😭😭💔💔💔. Absolutely heartbreaking in the end, devastated that we lost, especially for the goat ABD. If only we scored 20 more runs we could have won. Following are the thoughts I have about today’s match and the tournament.
FIRSTLY F YOU RCB BATTING F YOU. WE HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO BE THE TEAM THAT PUTS UP 200 AND THEN LOSE BUT THIS IPL WE STRUGGLED TO PUT UP 160’s WHERE WE COULD HAVE WON. COMPLETE TRASH BATTING ORDER, BECAUSE OF FINCH’s FAILURE, AND KOHLI’s CRAP ANCHOR BATTING. RCB COULD NEVER CAPITALIZE ON THE POWERPLAY AND OVERS 7-15 WAS HORRIBLE. OUR BOWLING DID BETTER OVERALL AND WON US / KEPT US IN SO MANY MATCHES THAT WE WEREN’T IN. WE ALSO BADLY MISSED A PROPER MIDDLE ORDER BATSMAN.
SECONDLY, RCB SERIOUSLY? YOU NEEDED 1 WIN OUT OF THE LAST 4 TO GET TO QUALIFIER 2, ALL OF THE GAMES EXCEPT MI WERE AGAINST TEAMS RANKED LOWER AND YOU COULDN’T WIN A SINGLE ONE ? WE WERE SO LUCKY TO HAVE QUALIFIED IN THE END WITH OUR ARCH ENEMIES CSK GETTING A WIN THAT PUT US OVER. WE DIDN’T DESERVE TO BE IN THE PLAYOFFS HONESTLY.
THIRDLY, F YOU KOHLI. YOU’RE A SHIT CAPTAIN AND YOU HAVE HAD A SHIT IPL. EXCEPT FOR THE CSK GAME YOU HAVE HAD IMPACTLESS INNINGS THIS IPL. YOU STRUGGLED TO FIND BOUNDARIES AND I CANT CARE A FIG FOR YOUR TWO’s WHEN WE NEED BOUNDARIES IN THIS GAMR. HOW MANY YEARS WITH YOU AS CAPTAIN AND WHAT HAVE WE TO SHOW FOR IT? HONESTLY MAN DROP YOURSELF FROM CAPTAINCY. AND PLEASE, PLEASE YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO TAKE A PAY CUT. YOU NOWHERE NEAR DESERVE 17/18 CRORES.
LASTLY, OVERALL RCB MAY NOT HAVE HAD BETTER TEAMS THAN OTHER TEAMS THAT ACTUALLY MISSED OUT ON THE PLAYOFFS. WE PROBABLY DID WELL TO ULTIMATELY MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. ABD IS A RCB LEGEND , ONE OF THE IPL GOATS, BUT HIM CONSTANTLY LOSING BREAKS MY HEART. I KINDA WANT RCB TO NOT RETAIN HIM AND HIM GOING TO MI OR CSK OR A TEAM THAT CAN WIN THE IPL TO WIN THE IPL.
Until next year then.

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?

Mumbai Indians are VIVO IPL Champions!

This is the 4th IPL win for MI. Most by any team.

Mumbai Indians wins by 1 run.

M.o.M : Jasprit Bumrah
MVP : Andre Russell
Emerging Player of the season : Shubhman Gill
Orange Cap : David Warner (692 runs in 12 innings at 69.20 with nine fifty-plus scores.)
Purple Cap : Imran Tahir (26 wickets)
Fairplay Award : Sunrisers Hyderabad
Pitch and ground Trophy : Punjab (Mohali) and Hyderabad.
Perfect catch of the Season : Kieron Pollard.
IPL 2019's Super Striker : Andre Russell (204.81 SR).
Stylish Player of the Season : KL Rahul.
The Gamechanger of the Season : Rahul Chahar.
Match Highlights
Mumbai Indians celebrations
Amazing moments from the Final
That heart stopping Final over

MI 149/8(20)

Pollard 41*(25) Chahar 3/26

CSK 148/7(20)

Watson 80(59) Bumrah 2/14
Bumrah: "The ball was reversing when de Kock missed the ball, but we wanted to stay calm since similar things happened against Pune in 2017 as well. We always believed in our team this season. We have confidence in each and every individual. On their given day, any of our players can be matchwinners."
Sachin Tendulkar: "The key moment was Dhoni's run-out. But also in patches when Bumrah bowled those critical to even out Malinga's one poor over was also crucial. And the last over, thought Malinga finished the game out beautifully. And as for the final, we knew we defended 129 in the final two years ago, so we were confident. I think we have a terrific team - with experience and youth. As Mahela said, Rahul Chahar stands out the way he's bowled this season. Just fabulous. And don't forget Hardik. We were in the corner in many games this season, and Hardik bailed us out many times."
MS Dhoni: "As a team we had a good season. But we need to go back and reflect. Wasn't one of those years where we played very good cricket. Middle order never clicked, but somehow we managed. Today was one game we should've done slightly better. It was quite a funny game, we were passing the trophy to each other. Both committed mistakes, and eventually the winning team was the one that committed one mistake less. Our bowlers did really well. It was not a 150 wicket, but the bowlers kept us in the hunt. They kept getting wickets when it was really needed. Batting, someone kept chipping in and we kept winning. To be consistent next year, we will have to really think hard. It's too early to say right now (about next year's plans). Up next is the World Cup. That's the first priority. After that, we will chat about CSK. Nothing against the bowlers, but the batsmen could've done better. Hopefully yes, we'll see you next year."
Rohit Sharma: "We played some good cricket. Good to see we qualified in the top two. At the start of the tournament, we wanted to split the tournament into two halves. But credit to the entire squad, not just the XI. At different stages, our bowlers put their hands up and brought us back in the game. Every bowler who got an opportunity put their hand up, whatever condition we played in. We backed our ability and our skills, and that's probably why we got rewards. About Malinga, that's what champions do. I had confidence in him despite a poor third over. He also had confidence he could do it. I thought we could use Hardik for the 20th, but wanted to back someone who has done it for us. Malinga has done it many times in the past, so not a very difficult decision. As a captain, I am learning every game and every tournament. But need to give credit to the team. Firmly believe captain is representative of this team. Players make the captain look good."

Mumbai Indians won by 3 wickets
Man of the match : Kieron Pollard

Match Highlights:

Official IPL Website Link: https://www.iplt20.com/video/167378/m24-mi-vs-kxip-match-highlights?tagNames=indian-premier-league

Points Table & Season Stats https://www.iplt20.com/stats/2019

Match Summary

KXIP 197/4 (20 Overs)

Batting
Rahul(wk) 100(64)* Gayle 63(36)
Bowling
Hardik Pandya 2/57 Behrendorff 1/35

MI 198/7 (20 Overs)

Batting
Pollard(c) 83(31) de Kock(wk) 24(23)
Bowling
Shami 3/21 Ashwin 1/37

Post Match Interviews

Kieron Pollard: I would like to thank God. Need to thank him for giving strength to me for doing the things that I do. Also love to thank my wife, it's her birthday today and I want to dedicate this to her. I went up the order because I enjoy batting at Wankhede. Plan was to attack Ashwin as spin wasn't doing great. Unfortunately it didn't happen but it was about staying calm. Was a difficult pitch to bowl on and good to bat on, so we did well with the ball after the start they got. We did pull things back in the middle overs a bit but lost the plot at the end. Again, can't be harsh on the bowlers. We finished on the right end of the result and thanks to God for that to. Obviously, Rohit is the captain of the team and it was only a precautionary measure for the team. He should be back in the next game. I would gladly give it back to him and field at the boundary, while also thinking of what to contribute to the team
Hardik Pandya: One guy who could have done it, it was Kieron Pollard.. Both of us had to go for it but I could not contribute much today. It was still better from the situation we started off. If Polly is there, he could have finished it off one ball and obviously we didn't have any set batsman.
Ravichandran Ashwin: He injured it in the first over. It was a big bonus that we got three overs from him in the powerplay. We were a bit up and down with our fielding and catching. Probably if we would have been sharper, we would have ended up on the right side. I think it was a defendable total. It was just about par. It is a hard defending ground. We were about 10s for 10-12 overs and then we lost a little momentum while batting which I feel was crucial for us. I thought we pretty good as a bowling unit in bits and pieces. Shami was really good and we were good in the middle overs. Somehow we could not close the game out. Sam was under the pump. It can happen when there is a lot of dew. It is one of a kind experience for him in the IPL. He will get better and get richer with experience. Sometimes with the dew you can miss the yorker like it happened to Sam. At the end of the day Pollard batted beautifully and took the game away from us. Quite a lot of positives. We showed a lot of composure with the bat. Rahul batted through and closed out the inning We could have been a little more steelier and smarter with our plans. He (Gayle) said he twisted his back. We have to go check and how he is.

For a longest time i have considered Kohli to be a world class bullshitter. He is charming i will give him that. But more often than not, that charm hides all the useless statements he gives out in press or post match interviews. And while interviews could be prepared and nurtured with a PR firm to make them better. It's the post match interviews which let us take a raw look into his thought process. How he perceives things.
And on that note i have compiled here the list of all his post match interviews this IPL. Take a look, it's amazing once you start noticing it.

S.No.	Match	Scorecard	Winner	V.Kohli post match comments	Scorecard
1	1st Match: CSK v RCB at Chennai - Mar 23, 2019	RCB 70 (17.1/20 ov); CSK 71/3 (17.4/20 ov)	CSK won by 7 wickets (with 14 balls remaining)	No team wants to start like this but the good thing is a game like this is out of the way. I am pretty happy with the attitude the guys showed in the field. I know the batting effort wasn't ideal but attitude on the field was great and when our time comes, we will be ready to strike. The wicket looked much better than it played. We though 140-150 would be an ideal score. A scrappy sort of start but either team would have struggled batting first. [On Saini] He is touching 150 clicks which is very promising. He is going to be a lethal weapon. That's the way we are looking at him.	Link
2	7th Match: RCB v MI at Bengaluru - Mar 28, 2019	MI 187/8 (20/20 ov); RCB 181/5 (20/20 ov)	MI won by 6 runs	We are playing at the IPL level, it's not club level, the umpires should have their eyes open. That was a big no-ball. We should have done a better job with the ball after they were seven down. The last few overs were brutal for us. Bit of a mistake from me to take Bumrah on at that time. Bumrah makes a hell of a difference in any team.	Link
3	11th Match: SRH v RCB at Hyderabad (Deccan) - Mar 31, 2019	SRH 231/2 (20/20 ov); RCB 113 (19.5/20 ov)	SRH won by 118 runs	Probably our worst loss ever. Difficult one to explain. We were outplayed in all departments by a quality side. This showed why they are former champions and finalists. We could have tried different things, like bouncers. They batted really well once they got in. Few of the edges fell into vacant areas. Brilliant to sustain intent for the first 16-17 overs. We've thought about the batting order but I feel myself at 3, and AB and me batting together brings us more balance. We still have 11 games, and things can turn around quite quickly in this league. We have to capitalise on that in the next games. When things don't go our way, we will have to find ways of winning moments. You need to start well, and the next game should be that game for us.	Link
4	14th Match: RR v RCB at Jaipur - Apr 2, 2019	RCB 158/4 (20/20 ov); RR 164/3 (19.5/20 ov)	RR won by 7 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)	Today was a more competitive performance but I think we were 15-20 runs short with the bat. If you make that many mistakes in the game you're going to end up on the losing side. In a tournament like IPL when you don't have momentum things can get difficult. The team hasn't got off to a great start...but we have to keep believing as a side.	Link
5	17th Match: RCB v KKR at Bengaluru - Apr 5, 2019	RCB 205/3 (20/20 ov); KKR 206/5 (19.1/20 ov)	KKR won by 5 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)	The last four overs, the way we bowled, we deserve to lose. If you bowl with not enough bravery in the crunch overs, then you will always struggle against power-hitters like Russell. We cracked a bit under pressure, and that's the only story. Had we got 20-25 more, maybe it would have helped. But if you can't defend 75 in the last four overs, then I don't know if you can defend 100. We just didn't have enough composure. We have a bit of a chat about what went wrong, but apart from that, there's nothing much you can say. It's been a disappointing season, but we have to believe we can turn things around.	Link
6	20th Match: RCB v DC at Bengaluru - Apr 7, 2019	RCB 149/8 (20/20 ov); DC 152/6 (18.5/20 ov)	DC won by 4 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)	We thought 160 would be competitive, but we kept losing wickets at regular intervals, so I wanted to take the game deep. Even 150, had we held on to our chances, would've been difficult for them. We need to grab those chances, can't give excuses every day. We just weren't good on the given day. That's the whole story of RCB this season.	Link
7	28th Match: KXIP v RCB at Mohali - Apr 13, 2019	KXIP 173/4 (20/20 ov); RCB 174/2 (19.2/20 ov)	RCB won by 8 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)	The most pleasing thing is coming for the interview at this time of the match and not earlier. It is a great feeling to be able to get across the line. We should have closed out a couple of games before this game so it is good to close this one out. The guys had desire, that was one word that we spoke about this week. We thought 190 was par so to restrict them to 170 was a good effort, to pick up 4 wickets for 60 runs in the middle overs was a great effort	Link
8	31st Match: MI v RCB at Mumbai - Apr 15, 2019	RCB 171/7 (20/20 ov); MI 172/5 (19/20 ov)	MI won by 5 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)	We played a pretty good game. With the ball, we weren't that great in the opening six overs but the guys fought hard in the middle overs and came back well. At the end, we had to take the risk with the left-arm spinner, with two right-handed batsmen. Giving pace was risky, especially with a bit of dew. Unfortunately, it didn't come off. Moeen has been outstanding. Striking the ball well and bowling with a lot of heart. It's good to see a senior foreign player taking responsibility and he deserves all the credit.	Link
9	35th Match: KKR v RCB at Kolkata - Apr 19, 2019	RCB 213/4 (20/20 ov); KKR 203/5 (20/20 ov)	RCB won by 10 runs	Felt really good, especially winning here. Not walking to an interview straight after the game is a relief. You have to leave it to the bowler in those situations. I think the way Stoinis bowled that 19th over was very good. Those three balls were crucial in the end, and in the end Moeen showed composure.	Link
10	39th Match: RCB v CSK at Bengaluru - Apr 21, 2019	RCB 161/7 (20/20 ov); CSK 160/8 (20/20 ov)	RCB won by 1 run	I thought we were outstanding with the ball until the 19th over. On the last ball, that was the last thing I would've expected to happen. It feels good to win a game by a small margin as we've lost a few by a small margin as well. MS did what he does best and he gave us all a massive scare. In the first 6 overs, we thought the ball wasn't coming onto the bat that much. Parthiv and AB started to rebuild. At the halfway mark we thought 175 would've been a very good total on this pitch. We thought we were 15 short. We thought their bowlers didn't make us play enough on the front foot.	Link
11	42nd Match: RCB v KXIP at Bengaluru - Apr 24, 2019	RCB 202/4 (20/20 ov); KXIP 185/7 (20/20 ov)	RCB won by 17 runs	We've won four of five and it could have been five of five. The game changing partnership was Marcus and AB - it didn't look likely that we would get past 200. Losing six in a row hurt us, none of us had been involved in something like that. We know how we play, the world knows how we play.	Link
12	46th Match: DC v RCB at Delhi - Apr 28, 2019	DC 187/5 (20/20 ov); RCB 171/7 (20/20 ov)	DC won by 16 runs	I think even after losing the toss the way we bowled was nice but it got away from us. We were thinking 160-165. We showed a lot of character but in the crunch moments Delhi played better than us and that's why they got the result they did. AB and I got out to balls we shouldn't have but that's how it goes sometimes. We've got to go out there, play expressive cricket and see how it goes.	Link
13	49th Match: RCB v RR at Bengaluru - Apr 30, 2019	RCB 62/7 (5/5 ov); RR 41/1 (3.2/5 ov)	No result	...	Link
14	54th Match: RCB v SRH at Bengaluru - May 4, 2019	SRH 175/7 (20/20 ov); RCB 178/6 (19.2/20 ov)	RCB won by 4 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)	If we focus on the second half, it is exactly what we would have wanted in the first. After losing your first six matches, it is very difficult to comeback in a tournament like the VIVO IPL. We have a lot to learn from this season. The first couple of things matter a lot in setting the intensity. We are happy with the way guys have turned things around and the kind of cricket that we have played in the second half. A lot of credit goes to the team management for getting us back in the right frame of mind. We haven't finished in the position that we wanted to. But because the second half has been so good it doesn't feel like a bad season. We won last 6 off our 7 matches and it is something that we can be proud of.	Link

It is based on those post match conversations with him, that i label him as a bullshitter. He never says anything of insight or even has the ability identify and pick up the issues at hand which needs to be looked at. He is almost always defensive even when he wins. His attitude that his strategies, while work out tremendously for him as a batsman, should also work for the other team members is as archaic as it gets. Compare that with the leadership of Kane Williamson or Dhoni, you know why they succeeded, even though they didn't had bowlers and batsman like Indian team at the moment.

The 11 that played and lost against SRH was actually their best lineup.
Tiwary in for Yuvraj is a no brainer, considering that Yuvraj just chews up balls, and has an abysmal strike rate + he has become a very slow fielder also.
Personally I feel Finch is so experienced and has played so many match winning innings in T20, that he should have been persisted with, for the sheer match winning ability. Plus he has not had time out in the middle to look out of form. He has just got out too soon. I know that this may be a debatable point considering his lack of runs. Stoinis as a finisher is also a good hitter so it is quite a good replacement.
The movements in the batting order just took the momentum out of that innings. Earlier Mayank Agarwal used to come and get a quick 15-20 which are underrated considering they keep the tempo of innings high. Today Yuvraj slowed the innings down. Also the openers were not in their topmost gear today, so tempo of innings was extremely important. Axar Patel also slowed the innings down and his promotion above stoinis and agarwal was also stupid. Left right combo is overrated considering both right handers have high strike rates.
In second innings Ashwin tried to stretch the chase as tight as possible, but considering the quality that MI have in their batting, winning would just have to have been a freak occurence.
Ashwin doesn't seem to have confidence in Axar's bowling, which then begs then question why is Axar playing? His batting is not good enough to merit him a place in the team.
It was a 200+ wicket, and ground also has small boundaries. KXIP lost the game in first innings itself. This was due to bad selection. Ashwin and Sehwag have to take the blame. The way Ashwin spoke about 3 wins from remaining 6 is reminiscent of Dravid's team in the past IPLs which used to start strong, and half way through the IPL start getting too funky, which made them lose confidence and end up not qualifying. With a strong start teams should try to be ruthless and get to first place on table, and should not take it easy while trying to get their out of form big name players like Yuvraj and Axar in form.
Edit: Ashwin has given the reason Yuvraj was batting at 3 in the press conference. Mayank Markande the leg spinner is Punjabi and Yuvraj had played against him before, also Krunal Pandya's overs were left. This is at least a better reason than blind left-right combo bullshit. Still their middle order did not fire tonight, and it is a big worry for them.

Onto the review of DD then. Will do the next one later today, with those of the two teams knocked out in the playoffs coming tomorrow, and those of the finalists on Wednesday.
Here are the previous ones:
GL
RCB
Final position
6th place - 12 points
Matches played

• Match 5 - RCB (a) - Lost by 15 runs
• Match 9 - RPS (a) - Won by 97 runs
• Match 15 - KXIP (h) - Won by 51 runs
• Match 18 - KKR (h) - Lost by 4 wickets
• Match 21 - SRH (a) - Lost by 15 runs
• Match 25 - MI (a) - Lost by 14 runs
• Match 32 - KKR (a) - Lost by 7 wickets
• Match 36 - KXIP (a) - Lost by 10 wickets
• Match 40 - SRH (h) - Won by 6 wickets
• Match 42 - GL (h) - Won by 7 wickets
• Match 45 - MI (h) - Lost by 146 runs
• Match 50 - GL (a) - Won by 2 wickets
• Match 52 - RPS (h) - Won by 7 runs
• Match 56 - RCB (h) - Lost by 10 runs

Brief summary
The team were on the back foot even before the tournament began due to the withdrawals of de Kock and Duminy, both of whom were key players in the previous season. This meant that they had a talented and promising, but inexperienced Indian top order, and that inexperience was evident in the first match when a gettable chase against RCB was botched. The promise showed by their young batsmen was on display in the next two, when the team batted first and put up big totals before defending them comfortably. After losing a close match to KKR, they lost against SRH after a bizarre management decision so send their key hitter down the order. Ugly top order collapses at Mumbai and Punjab either side of another loss to KKR put the team on the brink of elimination. With the pressure and expectations reduced and a series of home matches left, they ended their losing streak with an impressive chase against SRH and followed it up by making mincemeat of a 200+ total against GL, before promptly collapsing against MI to suffer the heaviest defeat in IPL history. That phase defined their season, incredible brilliance and inexplicable collapses, but never consistent enough to make the playoffs. The final three games saw another win by chasing a big score against GL, followed by an impressive death bowling display to halt the winning run of the in-form RPS, and in a fitting end, follow that up by losing to RCB.
What went right
Their bowling in the Powerplay overs when one of Zaheer, Morris, Shami, Cummins or Rabada ran in at pace with the new ball, where they picked up 18 wickets, more than any other team. Each of their Indian youngsters had one MOTM performance after a match-winning display with the bat. Three of them - Samson, Pant and Iyer, had won them for scores of 102, 97, and 96, respectively, showing their ability to score big and single handedly win a match. All three also scored well over 300 runs in the tournament at very healthy strike rates. Morris was sensational with both bat and ball at the end of the innings, scoring 154 runs at an avg of 30 and an SR of 163, as well as taking 12 wickets at an avg of 20 and an econ of 7.75. The ability of the team to chase big totals down - the three games won by chasing down 186, 209 and 196 is another major plus.
What went wrong
Inconsistency due to the lack of experience in the top order. When the team was on the back foot, they crumbled in a heap on more than one occasion as the top order failed in tandem, inexperience contributing in the players not stepping up to the fore when the others got out cheaply. The result was that they got their two lowest scores in all IPL this season, the lowest being 66 and that ended up on the receiving end of the heaviest defeat in IPL history. The bowling was also a disappointment, as despite the wickets taken in the Powerplay, the work was undone often at the death. On average, the team conceded 8.55 runs per over this season, the second worst after GL, though that could partly be attributed to the flatter pitches at the Kotla this season. Mishra's form was a major disappointment, as he only picked 10 wickets despite playing all 14 games, and that too at an avg of 34 and econ of 8.83. Poor decision making by the management on multiple occasions did not help either, the decision to bring Mathews above Morris lost them the game against SRH, and signing Samuels in order to use him at No. 5 and 6 was a move that was never destined to work. They also had the bad luck of losing de Kock and Duminy for the entire tournament, and also did not have Morris, Rabada and Billings available for the final games due to national duty.
The highs
The chase of a target of 209 against GL, where Pant and Samson wowed one and all with a incredible display of hitting, combining for a total of 16 sixes. The total was chased down in 17.4 overs.
The lows
The second match against KXIP. Batting first, without any scoreboard pressure, only to crumble to 67 all out and then have it chased down without even getting a wicket.
Standout player
Chris Morris
Players to retain
Morris, Pant, de Kock