IPL 2020 playoffs preview: Will MI win again or will DC, RCB, SRH rise to the challenge?

We are in for a fascinating week of T20 cricket as Indian Premier League 2020 enters its playoff stage with a clash between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.

After over six weeks of absorbing cricketing action in the United Arab Emirates, we finally got the complete lineup for the playoffs as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated MI on Wednesday.

The race to the playoffs this season has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride, with not a single match in the league stage being inconsequential. Rajasthan Royals may have finished last with 12 points but this is the highest tally for a bottom-placed team in any season of the T20 competition.

However, we now have our qualifiers in place and the final four matches this season promise to be nail-biting contests.

Delhi Capitals, who like Royal Challengers Bangalore are aiming for a first title, will take on MI in Qualifier 1 on Thursday with a place in the November 10 final at stake.

The loser of that match will get another crack at qualifying on Sunday against either RCB or SRH, who clash on Friday in the eliminator.

Here’s a closer look at MI, DC, SRH and RCB as they head into the playoffs:

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma’s four-time champions underlined their status as tournament favourites by being the first team to qualify for the playoffs as they topped the standings with nine wins in 14 games.

South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has led the batting with 443 runs while getting key support from Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard.

Pace bowlers Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah battered the opponents with a combined 43 wickets.

The defending champions had already qualified top of the table before they were beaten by Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday and, despite fitness doubts over captain Sharma, are targeting back-to-back titles for the first time.

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Delhi Capitals

The Ricky Ponting-coached Capitals made a sensational start, winning five of their first six games, before losing four in a row but then beating Bangalore to reach the playoffs.

India opener Shikhar Dhawan is the key batsman and this year became the first player to score two consecutive IPL centuries. But Rishabh Pant’s lack of form in the middle order has been a concern.

The South African pace duo of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada have been impressive with Nortje bowling the fastest ever IPL delivery, a 97 miles per hour (156 kph) thunderbolt, and Rabada leading the IPL wicket-takers list with 25 victims.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Skipper David Warner came into his own with an unbeaten 85 off 58 balls to take Hyderabad into the playoffs on Tuesday.

The 2016 IPL winners benefited from the return of wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who hit two half-centuries in three successive wins to help them to third in the standings.

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With West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder contributing and the deadly spin of Rashid Khan, who has taken 19 wickets, Warner will be hoping for the same result in this week’s eliminator as in the 2016 final when Hyderabad beat Bangalore to lift the trophy.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

India captain Virat Kohli has never won an IPL title. RCB finished bottom of the eight-team table last year, and after seven wins and seven defeats this season they scraped into the playoffs on net run-rate after losing their last league match to Delhi.

Kohli leads a strong batting line-up, combining with young opener Devdutt Padikkal for 932 runs, while South African veteran AB de Villiers has been the go-to man in crunch situations with an overall strike rate of 163.

Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar will be key with their ability to choke an opposition team’s run-flow while claiming wickets. Kohli insists his team are worth their place, but said he needs them to be “more brave” when chasing runs.

Kohli’s RCB have sneaked into the playoffs but face uphill task in quest for elusive title

(With inputs from AFP)