The IPL Begins Today! || Ranking Predictions
One of the biggest sporting events in the cricket industry begins today. Cricket fan or not, you'll love this edition. Give it a try now! Edition #229
Kolkata, India — The IPL begins today (in an hour) in Kolkata where Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the Kolkata Knight Riders in Eden Gardens. The Kolkata Knight Riders are the latest IPL champions and are looking to go back-to-back this season.
This game will be live from 7:30 PM IST on Saturday, March 22nd (10:00 AM EST on Saturday, March 22nd. 2:00 PM GMT on Saturday, March 22nd). There are new captains on both sides, with Ajinkya Rahane for the Knight Riders, and Rajat Patidar, for RCB, who will be making his debut.
The Knight Riders and Royal Challengers have played 34 times, with Kolkata winning 20 of the matchups.
The temperature should be around 75.2-78.8 Fahrenheit (using this as the primary measurement because this is a US newsletter) or 24-26 Celsius. The humidity levels are 75-80%, but there’s a 40% chance of rain. This pitch is batter-friendly, and the average score for any team batting on this pitch in the first innings is 153. Low, but averages are averages.
Usually, the team chasing has a great shot of winning, with the team chasing in this one having a 68% chance of winning. The highest score hit here was by Pakistan when they played Bangladesh. They hit 201 runs for 5 outs in 20 overs. The lowest score was by Bangladesh when they played New Zealand, who only hit 70 runs, all out, for 15.4 overs.
Now, with this being a home game for the Knight Riders, plus the fact that they’re more experienced here, and because they have an amazing bowling attack (Russell, Nortje, Rana), I feel like they have a good advantage here. It’s really going to depend on the toss, though, because that’s how the pitch is at Eden Gardens.
From this specific game, though, this IPL season is about to be absolutely nuts. There will be new faces everywhere, including one familiar face returning to CSK again.
The team with the best chance to win it this year, though, would be Sunrisers Hyderabad, who now have Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins, and Travis Head. I mean, what in the world is this team?! Oh, and I’m not even done yet. Don’t forget Adam Zampa, Mohammed Shami, and Rahul Chahar. I mean, is this team Sunrisers Hyderabad or Sunrisers Sydney?
I think that PBKS has a realistic shot at making the playoffs, and it’s a long overdue sort of thing. DC and KKR also have great squads. Every game for CSK is sort of an aura, and that too is going to lead them to a playoff run. MI doesn’t sound bad either.
RCB? No chance.
So, if anything, a playoff bracket would be something like this.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Mumbai Indians
Punjab Kings
Chennai Super Kings
Meeting in the final would be Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians, just like their qualifier. The Super Kings will beat the Kings in the Elimination qualifier, to move on and face the Indians in the semis, who will eventually go on to lose the championship.
This is going to be an interesting IPL season. Share your thoughts in the comments.
We’ll be beginning a new MLB segment as we near Opening Day. I will get an NBA article out before then. Am trying my best!