The run-rate in the PowerPlay is at an all-time high of 8.57, well clear of the previous peak of 8.39 of the 2018 edition. This is just the fourth time the run-rate has been in excess of eight in the PowerPlay since the 2008 season and the first since 2019.

As many as 152 sixes have been hit in the first six overs in IPL 2023, at a frequency of 3.30 per match, second to only the 2018 edition (3.75 sixes per match). With the added cushion of an extra batter, courtesy the Impact Player rule, in all probability, teams have been less risk-averse from the get-go. As a result, the average runs scored per wicket in 2023 (34.68) is the second lowest in the last five seasons played in the home and away format.

However, despite IPL 2023 being a pacesetter in terms of scoring rates across T20 tournaments, teams have found success in the PowerPlay to varying degrees.  All numbers are up to date till the SRH vs KKR game on May 4.

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma’s travails with the bat belie the fact that Mumbai Indians enjoys the fourth best PowerPlay run-rate (8.85) in the tournament. Ishan Kishan – with 195 runs at a strike rate of 144.44 – has been the chief contributor for Mumbai in the PowerPlay while Rohit’s approach to take the bowlers on from the word go hasn’t reaped dividends. He has been dismissed seven times in nine innings in the first six overs, while averaging 19.71 and striking at 131.42. Against the backdrop of the Rohit-Kishan opening partnership blowing hot and cold, Cameron Green has stepped up in the No. 3 role. The Aussie all-rounder has averaged 52 in the PowerPlay, and his strike rate of 148.57 has ensured Mumbai doesn’t lag too far behind in maximising the field restrictions.

Punjab Kings

Like Mumbai Indians, Punjab has struck at an identical run-rate of 8.85 in the PowerPlay and has been plagued by a similarly inconsistent opening pair. Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh have cruised at a healthy run-rate of 9.50 as an opening pair, have two partnerships of over 50 but average 25.57. With a strike rate of 152.33, Prabhsimran has been the aggressor while Dhawan has been an accumulator at 135.80. In the absence of Dhawan, who missed three games due to injury, Atharva Taide and Matthew Short have lent able support at No. 3. Short has steadied the innings after the fall of an early wicket on three occasions while striking at 137.17 in the PowerPlay while Taide boasts of a strike rate of 171.42 in the limited opportunities he has got at one-drop.

Rajasthan Royals

The Sanju Samson-led RR leads the charge when it comes to maximising the field restrictions with the highest run-rate (9.55) in the PowerPlay. What is commendable is that it has managed to keep the tempo up while losing just eight wickets (second least during this phase) in the first six overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal has been the key architect for the Royals during this phase, striking at 165.69, while his opening partner Jos Buttler has played second fiddle at a strike rate of 144.24. Jaiswal and Buttler have been the second most prolific opening pair in IPL 2023.

Chennai Super Kings

The four-time champion can boast of a PowerPlay run-rate of 9.51 and a format-agnostic per wicket average of 85.66 thanks to the consistency of openers Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad. The duo has struck three fifty-plus and one century partnership

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The 23-year-old Ruturaj Gaekwad once again became the top performer of Chennai Super Kings as they wrested a nine-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in the 53rd match in Abu Dhabi and finished their IPL 2020 campaign in style.

It was Ruturaj Gaikwad’s third consecutive fifty and he was unbeaten with 62 off 49 deliveries. Chasing 154, Chennai had Gaekwad and Faf du Plessis (48) giving the team a flying start with an 82-run stand for the opening wicket. Later, Ambati Rayudu (30 not out) helped young Gaekwad finish the job with seven balls to spare.

Earlier, CSK won the toss and put KXIP to bat first. Punjab went through a batting collapse after a good start. Deepak Hooda’s unbeaten 62 off 39 balls gave KXIP a late push to finish with 153/6.

CSK’s Lungi Ngidi had commendable bowling figures of 3/39 in four overs. He removed Punjab openers KL Rahul (29) and Mayank Agarwal (26) and later James Neesham (2). Shardul Thakur (1/27), Imran Tahir (1/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/17) picked up a wicket each.

The loss has spoiled Punjab’s dreams of making it to the play-offs as they have finished their campaign with only 12 points.

Meanwhile, CSK captain MS Dhoni has stated that he will not be retiring from IPL and will return the next season. Players from different teams were seen collecting a signed MS Dhoni jersey from him almost after every game in the second half of the Indian Premier League.

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After winning the toss, RCB elected to bat and put up a challenging 169 for four wickets against a stiff Chennai attack. Though skipper Kohli shone throughout, Devdutt Padikkal (33 off 34 balls) and Shivam Dube (22* off 14 balls) also presented good batting.

Chasing 170 for a win, the three-time champions ended at 132 for eight after 20 overs. Ambati Rayudu top scored with 42. Rayudu’s 64-run third wicket partnership with Narayan Jagadeesan (33) gave hope of a good chase but once they departed, the rest of the batting crumbled under the pressure. Dhoni, who has not been playing his best game, went out for 10.

RCB bowling attack has been largely steered by Yuzvendra Chahal (1/35) and Washington Sundar (2/16). Newcomer Chris Morris, who finished with 3/19, provided valuable support this time.
CSK has now lost five out of seven matches. CSK captain Dhoni admitted batting has become his team’s major worry in the IPL campaign, and there are “too many holes in the ship”. CSK has been dependent on openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis or Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja, who cannot be expected to successfully anchor every chase in a long tournament.

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Kolkata Knight Riders registered a surprise 10-run victory over Chennai Super Kings at the IPL match in Abu Dhabi on October 7.

Chasing a target of 168, Chennai looked set to taste victory with Shane Watson (50 off 40 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (30 off 27) at the crease. However, Rayudu’s dismissal when the score was 99/1 in 12.1 overs set off a cascade of wickets from the Chennai side. Watson, who gave a sterling performance in the previous match, was the next to go.

Kolkata bowlers especially Sunil Narine put a brake on the Chennai innings. CSK failed to keep up with the required rate and could come up only with 157-5.

Earlier, Chennai bowlers had restricted Kolkata to 167/9. Dwayne Bravo picked up three wickets for CSK while Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur and Sam Curran took two each.

New opener Rahul Tripathi (81 off 51 balls) earned the Player of the Match award.

KKR’s celebrity focus

Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has been in attendance at his team’s matches including at the Zayed Cricket Stadium. He watched alongside his son Aryan and daughter Suhana his team put up a commendable performance.

Meanwhile, there has been some speculations about KKR batsman Shubman Gill and Sachin Tendulkar’s daughter Sara, a 21-year-old graduate in medicine, being romantically entangled on account of her instagram posts praising his performance.

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Three-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings registered a stupendous 10-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in Dubai on October 4. In reply to Punjab’s 178/4, the men in yellow made 181/0 proving critics wrong.

Going by Chennai’s recent performances in chases, the match was not expected to go in its favour but CSK openers gave a rousing powerplay. Veterans Shane Watson (83 not out off 53 balls) and Faf du Plessis (83 off 53) produced the best first wicket partnership in IPL 2020 to script a magnificent victory for CSK, which had suffered a string of losses after the first win in this season.

Poor bowling added to Punjab’s woes as the Watson-Du Plessis partnership went berserk. Mohammad Shami and Sheldon Cottrell were unable to replicate their success in the opening spell and, except Ravi Bishnoi (yielding only 33 runs in his 4 overs), none of the Punjab bowlers looked like they could arrest the onslaught.

Punjab, which won the toss and elected to bat, made 178 runs helped by skipper KL Rahul’s 63 (52 balls) and Nicholas Pooran’s (33 off 17). However, Shardul Thakur’s brilliant bowling in the 18th over, when he took out Rahul and Pooran off successive deliveries, helped Chennai limit the KXIP total.

The Player of the Match title went to 39-year-old Shane Watson, who hit 11 boundaries and three sixes.

With a host of 30-plus players –, M.S. Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav and Ambati Rayudu – the CSK team has been nicknamed the ‘Dad’s army’.

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Dhoni’s wife Sakshi is the managing director of this production company, and during an interview with Mid Day, she revealed that their banner will soon produce a web series based on an unpublished book.

“We have acquired the rights of an unpublished book of a debutant author. We will adapt it into a web series. It is a mythological sci-fi story that explores the journey of a mysterious Aghori and is set at a high-tech facility on a remote island,” Sakshi told Mid Day.

Dhoni Entertainment is also bankrolling another web series named ‘Roar of the Lion’ which will be premiered in Disney’s Hotstar.

“When we were developing Roar of the Lion, we thought it was the perfect time to venture into the entertainment industry. We aim to give a platform to deserving talent to showcase their skills along with providing fresh and original content to the audience. Mahi will be partially involved,” added Sakshi.

Sakshi also added that the ultimate aim of this production company is to make good stories in the future, and she made it clear that they are trying to ensure the quality of web series coming out in their banner.

On the other hand, MS Dhoni is currently going through the roughest patches of his career, as it has been a tumultuous start for him and his team, as Chennai Super Kings is currently seated at the bottom half of the points table.

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Rajasthan Royals registered a comfortable 16-run win over mighty Chennai Super Kings in the Day 4 match in Sharjah on September 22, giving it a fantastic start in IPL 2020.

Batting first, RR was propelled forward by the half centuries of Sanju Samson (74 off 32 balls) and Steve Smith (69 off 47 balls) helping it score 216 for 7 in 20 overs. Samson’s blitzkrieg comprised 9 sixes and a four. For CSK, Sam Curran took 3 wickets yielding 33 runs.

Though Chennai Super Kings began well, it lost openers Shane Watson and Murali Vijay in quick succession to RR spinners – Rahul Tetwatia and Shreyas Gopal – after getting off to a good start. Tetwatia picked up three wickets for RR, and clinched the match for it.

Faf du Plessis hit a 72 off 37 balls but it could not save CSK. Nor could Dhoni hat-trick of sixes in the final over.

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However, news are yet to be confirmed about whether it is from cricket operations teams or the medical team. Senior officials of IPL also assured that testing is on and everyone else is healthy and asymptomatic, that there is no cause for concern.

The money- spinner event is scheduled to start on September 19.

The development comes after 13 members of the Chennai Super Kings contingent, including two players, tested positive for the dreaded virus last week. They are currently undergoing the mandatory 14- day quarantine.
Rest of the teams have started training after their squad members and support staff completed the on-arrival quarantine and returned negative tests.

The IPL was moved out of India this year due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in Dubai.

The tournament will be played across three cities in the UAE — Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. It will conclude on November 10.

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“Seeing him the last couple of seasons, he (MS Dhoni) is past the best cricket of his and what he’s capable of doing – turning around matches from losing positions, with sheer intelligence and power. And the way he motivated his players too,” Binny told SportsKeeda in an interview.

“He’s lost a bit of fitness and there are younger players coming through the system. He’s past his best really, and he would be the right judge for that.”

Dhoni last played for India in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. He was expected to lead Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2020, but could not do so considering the league’s postponement.

However, at the same time, Binny also hailed Dhoni as India’s most successful ODI captain and said Dhoni always had immense respect for all his seniors and those in charge.

“One thing we admired MS Dhoni for was that he had great respect for past cricketers. He was a very down-to-earth person and had a lot of respect and time for cricketers. He’d come and discuss with you and tell you what he wanted,” Binny added.

“He was the man on the field and we had to give him what he wanted but he wouldn’t demand it. He’d speak with the Chairman and the selectors and we didn’t have any arguments or fights. It was excellent to work with him.”

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