The final four: What's worked, what needs a quick fix

After 70 league matches in IPL 2022, we are finally down to a four-match shoot-out between the last four teams standing - Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Unlike previous seasons where the Playoffs were played on tired tracks at the end of the season, this time they will be played on fresher pitches in Kolkata and Ahmedabad presenting a very different dynamic to the teams. This would mean teams may have to tinker with the existing combination to adjust for the change in conditions. Cricbuzz takes a deep dive into the strengths and areas of concerns for the last four sides standing at the business end of the 15th edition of IPL. Gujarat Titans What's worked? Titans proved to be the surprise package of the season by not just qualifying but also finishing as table toppers. The supposed strength of the side was the bowling core of Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, and Lockie Ferguson and it was indeed the bowling attack that played a pivotal role in their march to the knockouts. The success of their fast bowlers was directly proportional to their success so much so that the four matches in which the seamers picked the fewest wickets were the ones they lost. Titans' seam attack proved to be the most incisive with the new ball, picking 25 wickets at a strike rate of 19. Shami was the leader of this pace pack with 11 Powerplay wickets at 20 apiece. Their seam attack has also been among the most economical at the death overs, going at under 10 per over in addition to Rashid's eight wickets at 6.18 in this phase. Titans have also had one of the fiercest set of finishers in Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan. The decision to move Hardik up the order has not dented them one bit. Rashid has finally shown what he could do with the bat and between the three of Miller, Tewatia, and Rashid, they have scored 429 runs in the death overs at a strike rate of 180. The trio form the core of the best lower middle order (batters at #5, #6 & #7) in the tournament, averaging 37 and striking at 150. Areas of concern The biggest gaping hole in Titans' squad ahead of the season was the absence of strong top order, particularly the lack of a genuine #3 and #4. Shubman Gill, who supposed to be their talisman, has been inconsistent, getting dismissed for single figure scores often inside the PowerPlay. Wriddhiman Saha has made up for Gill's lack of runs, providing the impetus in the first six overs. But Titans have had genuine issues with their #3 and #4 slots. Hardik has batted at four mostly, often batting deep into the innings which offered the team some cover in the first half of the season. However, runs have dried up for him in the run-in. Three of Titans' four defeats in the season have come while setting a target. A common factor in all the three defeats was a top order mini-collapse of sorts, forcing one of their batters to to try and bat deep and thereby leaving the charge too late for the finishers. This is underlined by the fact that Titans score at 11.57 in the death overs in chases (Titans have had a record six successful run chases completed in the final over) compared to 9.51 while batting first. Selection challenge With tracks slowing down, Titans have slotted in left-arm spinner Sai Kishore in place of an overseas seamer, and he has had three decent outings. Should Titans pick both Lockie Ferguson and Alzarri Joseph on fresher tracks of Eden Gardens and Motera, Sai Kishore will be most likely to miss out. And to balance out the overseas quota, they will have to replace a misfiring Matthew Wade at the critical #3 position with one of Sai Sudarshan, Abhinav Manohar, or Vijay Shankar, none of whom carry the weight of runs with them. Rajasthan Royals What's worked? The spin twins. From being the side that was the least successful among spin attacks last season, Royals have revamped their spin department in the auction and the results is there for everyone to see. The duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin form the most successful spin attack in the competition picking 38 wickets at 23.55. Chahal, who has deceived many a batter this season with his drift and dip, started off the season with a flurry of wickets (17 in his first six games) but once his returns dipped a touch, Ashwin stepped up. In Royals' last eight games, both spinners have picked nine wickets each at exactly similar strike rates of 21.3. Chahal has not only been instrumental in pegging the opponents with periodic strikes in the middle overs but has also filled in for the misfiring Royals' seamers in death overs, picking 14 wickets in this phase - the most by any bowler at death this IPL - at an economy rate of 8.56. Ashwin's exploits with the bat have been a big plus for them (averaging 48 at 158 strike rate in the second half) and Royals have used him as a floater in the lineup to stretch their batting order. Areas of concern It sounds odd that the Orange Cap holder of the season is an area of concern for a side going to the business end of the tournament. Jos Buttler is comfortably sitting at the top of the run charts with 629 runs, but in his last seven matches he has hit only 138 runs at 19.71 and a strike rate of 111. On five occasions, he has been dismissed inside the PowerPlay. Royals' big three of Buttler, skipper Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer scored more than 70% of the runs in the first half, averaging 61 and striking at 168 among them, numbers that have fallen to 24 and 128 respectively in the last seven games. Royals' pace attack has blown hot and blown cold throughout the season and have taken the fewest wickets (46) among all teams. They have performed reasonably well with the new ball but have leaked runs at the death and this is one weak spot where opposition could target them. Selection challenge With none of their top six offering a genuine bowling option and none of their batters being good hitters, Royals' side was expected to suffer on depth in both disciplines. They have preferred a bowling heavy combination throughout and might have stumbled upon their best XI in their final league game. Obed McCoy is their best bet for the death overs and has more or less locked his spot as the fourth overseas player which was Royals' missing piece of puzzle for most of the season. Lucknow Super Giants What's worked? In a season where negotiating the new ball was a task in itself, Super Giants' opening duo of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock have stood out. Not only they are the most successful opening combination of the season but individually they sit second and third in the run charts with over 1000 runs between them. Their impact in Super Giants wins is so explicit that every time either or both of them have crossed 40, they have gone on to win and when both have failed together it has inevitably ended in a defeat for the Super Giants. The varied four-man pace attack of Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Jason Holder, and Dushmanta Chameera gives Super Giants attack edge in all aspects - pace, bounce, swing, left-arm angle as well as variations. While the senior duo of Holder and Chameera have blown hit and blown cold a bit across the season, the youngsters Avesh and Mohsin has stepped up for them and present a massive challenge for any opposition batting lineup. Areas of concern Super Giants were the most balanced outfit at the start of the season covering most bases with good depth across both disciplines. It proved to be so for three-fourths of the season, but the last three matches have raised question marks on whether there are pressing issues with their XI. The openers have accounted for nearly 47% of all the runs LSG have scored this season and add Deepak Hooda's tally to it - their only success at the crucial #3 position - the figures surges to almost 65%. Despite Hooda's success at three, he was pushed down in the run chase against Royals to deepen their batting. Hooda is separated from the next highest run-getter for LSG by over 200 runs underling Super Giants' middle order troubles. Between the four of Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, and Jason Holder, they have crossed 50 just once - by Badoni in their opening fixture against Titans. Since then, the youngster has not crossed 20 and currently finds himself on the bench. Holder averages under 10 with the bat and has failed to provide the requisite finishing touches. Krunal, the sole left-hander in their middle order, is the slowest scoring batter in the middle overs this season and this has often led to wickets falling at the other end. Barring a couple of cameos, Stoinis has failed to leave his imprint thus far in the campaign. In their last ten matches, Super Giants have lost every time they chased, and they won each of the six games they set a target. Selection challenge Super Giants left behind Chameera and opted for the spin of K Gowtham in their final league fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders and brought in Evin Lewis in place of Krunal to beef up their batting, leaving them a bowler short. Krunal could slot back in for Manan Vohra but they will have to decide where they need the overseas depth more - in their batting or in their fast bowling department. Royal Challengers Bangalore What's worked? The biggest imprint Mike Hesson has had in his three years with Royal Challengers Bangalore have been his emphasis on a strong bowling attack - a marked change from the previous regimes where they almost always fielded unbalanced XIs heavily lopsided to their batting might. RCB spent a third of their purse to acquire the services of Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel and Josh Hazlewood, who sit on top of the wicket's charts for RCB with 57 wickets among them at 18 apiece with a wicket every 14 balls. Despite RCB picking the fewest wickets among all sides in the PowerPlay, they are the best performing side in the middle phase, picking 45 wickets at 20.40. Hasaranga has been the wrecker in chief in this phase taking 17 wickets while Harshal has chipped in with nine scalps with his cutters. Replacing a player of AB de Villiers' calibre is next to impossible for any team but Dinesh Karthik has just done that. Or almost. Karthik has played his role of a pace hitter to near perfection, hitting 222 runs at a strike rate of 234 against seamers. He has smashed 287 runs (SR 191) across the season, 213 of those runs coming in death overs at a rate of 215 runs per 100 balls with a boundary almost every third ball. Areas of concern Powerplay batting and bowling. As said before, RCB are among the worst performing sides in the PowerPlay overs with the ball. In a season where the tracks have offered plenty of assistance to the new ball bowlers, Mohammed Siraj has been a massive letdown for them going at nearly 10 per over for his four scalps. In the batting department only Sunrisers Hyderabad have scored slower than them while no team have hit fewer boundaries than RCB in the first six overs. Virat Kohli has endured his worst IPL season in over a decade while Faf du Plessis has largely been inconsistent and has been a slow starter, striking at just 105 in PowerPlay. RCB would need their experienced top order to step up in the high pressure knockout games. Kolkata Knight Riders aside, no side has fared poorer against spin in this season than RCB. They have lost 34 wickets to spin and are the slowest scoring side against spin at 7.49 per over - partly explained by Glenn Maxwell not having a good season as the last one in 2020 and the absence of a left-hander in their middle order. Interestingly, a season which saw wrist spin dominating finger spin, RCB have lost 23 wickets to finger spinners (average 18.21, ER 6.63) compared to just 11 against wrist spin (average 28.36, ER 7.83). Selection challenge RCB have been the most stable side of the tournament this year, making the fewest changes to the playing XI. They have not tinkered much with the combination except for beefing up their batting midway through the season by dropping seamer Akash Deep for a top order batter. Sid Kaul's 'pace off' skills prompted RCB to pick him instead of Siraj for their final league game, but they could be swapped should they management think Siraj's pace would be more handy on fresher pitches in Kolkata and Ahmedabad.