IPL 2018 Report Card: How the teams have fared so far

Fight for third and fourth place:

Mumbai Indians

Despite losing 3 out of the 4 matches, you can never count Mumbai Indians out. They always find a way of reaching the playoffs. They have that tournament temperament, as I like to call it, which could be seen in their first victory against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The team have seen low points like this in the past and they know how to get over them.

Their death bowling hasn't been up to the mark so far and I expect both Jasprit Bumrah and Mustafizur Rahman to come to the party. I expect more of Bumrah especially and I'm hoping to see him perform better in the upcoming matches.

Their batting has been misfiring at times as well, but you can expect them to come to the party soon. People like Rohit and Pollard are going to win them games, as we saw against RCB.

Another thing which I have noticed is that the team management is missing Harbhajan Singh. From whatever I remember, he was an invaluable asset to them and performed particularly well on the Wankhede pitch. However, Krunal Pandya and Mayank Markande have been doing the job for them and performing exceptionally well as the side's two primary spinners.

All in all, despite being sixth on the table after four matches, I feel MI will squeeze through at the end. They have the tournament temperament to do so.

Rajasthan Royals:

The Royals have been performing well. The way Sanju Samson is batting, he will surely be a contender for the Orange Cap. Out of 14 games, he can win 5-6 games on his own. Ajinkya is finding his bearings as well with good starts at a high strike rate.

RR are a surprise package of sorts. They are a team which have designated roles to their players over the years and when they merge those roles and perform as a unit, they achieve a lot of success.

They seem to have a good death bowler in Laughlin. Unadkat has not been as good as expected, but it is too early to say anything definitively yet. If he can have the same impact as Laughlin, their death bowling will only improve.

Coming to their batting unit, Stokes and Buttler need to pull up their socks as they are two players who can win matches on their own.

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI possess a strong batting unit and everyone has been in great form. With Chris Gayle coming good the other day, they just look stronger. They do have a lot of backup with players like David Miller on the bench. Also, with Aaron Finch not firing, he could come to party soon and once he does, he could win games on his own.

Their bowlers have done well too. Mujeeb ur Rahman is the x-factor for them and he was the difference between the two sides when KXIP p CSK. Their spin department is very exciting with Ashwin, Mujeeb, and Axar. However, I feel that the problem is in their death bowling. Andrew Tye shouldn't be leaking so many runs in the last overs as he is much better at both restricting and taking wickets.

Ravichandran Ashwin has been tactically sharp as a captain so far; they have been spot on and he has been rotating the bowlers well. I feel that with him being captain, KXIP are going to do extremely well this year.

Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR have been a decent side so far. They haven't seen the best of Dinesh Karthik yet. There have been a few questionable tactics here and there but knowing him, he does a lot of homework, which will stand him in good stead. I feel that this could be the IPL season which could define him as a leader.

A few tactics need to be looked in to from my observations so far. The opening combination of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine is questionable as the latter in the batting department is getting exposed by quality seam bowlers from the other teams. With ten games left, they need to decide which way they want to go. It's a difficult one for the team management but they have done it in the past and will look to build and shape the team for the future.

Honestly, I would like to see a better role for both the youngsters - Shubhman Gill and Shivam Mavi. They used Mavi well in the previous match but Gill has not been given enough time at the crease yet. He needs to get a better role in the side which could be beneficial to both him as a player individually and to the team.

Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa are exciting. I expect to see a bit more from Uthappa as he has shown prowess and shown how dangerous he can be at no. 3. He is someone who can four or five games on his own.

As of now, I'm keeping KKR in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs.