The 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League has finally reached its business end where only four of the eight teams remain in the hunt for the much coveted trophy. This season, the IPL needed a restructuring due to the suspension of the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals. Two new franchises, namely, the Rising Pune Supergiants and the Gujarat Lions, replaced them to add an exciting new edge to the IPL.
After an exhilarating league stage, four of the eight teams bowed out of the tournament while the remaining four carried on to test their mettle against the best teams in the land. Newly formed Gujarat Lions qualified for the playoffs in first place with 18 points to their name. Following the leaders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and two-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders also progressed to the knockout stages of the tournament, all with 16 points to their name.
Predicting results in T-20 cricket is an unenviable task, but we’ve never been shy to put our reputation at stake. So here we are trying our very best to gauge which of these four teams has the best chance to win the ninth edition of the IPL.
【2016 Indian Premier League Outright Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 23, 12:00 p.m. (GMT)
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The Royal Challengers Bangalore are probably the most in form team in the IPL at the moment simply thanks to the presence of their captain, Virat Kohli, and their South African talisman AB de Villiers. The Challengers’ captain has been in terrific form this season, and when I say terrific, I mean it. With 919 runs this season, Kohli is way ahead of the pack in the race for the Orange Cap that’s given to the player with the most runs. Conveniently enough, the player who’s closest to him in this regard is his club mate, AB de Villiers, who has 603 runs to his name.
If having two terrific batsmen wasn’t enough, the Challengers have dark horse Chris Gayle in their ranks, and while the West Indian batsman hasn’t been in the best of form this season, having a player like him in your ranks is surely a great advantage.
If you were thinking that Bangalore were only a batting side, you couldn’t have been more mistaken. The two-time runner-ups have Shane Watson in their bowling lineup along with rookie Yuzvendra Chahal, the proud incumbent owner of the Purple Cap, the award that’s given to the player with the most wickets. Overall, RCB are a fantastically rounded side and it’s really difficult to see any team knock them out of the race for their first IPL title.
Outright Odds: 2.10
Best IPL finish: Runner-up (2009 & 2011)
Gujarat Lions
The Gujarat Lions have been the surprise package of the tournament after they not only managed to qualify for the playoffs in their first season in the IPL but also managed to pull this off by finishing on top of the pile after the 14-match league stage. Captained by Indian batsman Suresh Raina, the Lions have made steady progress in the competition even though their performances have not been as glamorous as some of their competitors.
Steady batting from Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Smith brought the Lions to victory over some well decorated sides. Raina has been their most prolific batsman as he scored a total of 397 runs throughout the course of the tournament while Aaron Finch, with 339 runs, is in second place.
On the bowling side of things, matters have been taken care of by West Indian hot-shot Dwayne Bravo who is the Lions best bowler with 15 wickets under his belt. Dhaval Kulkarni, the scarcely known bowler from Maharashtra, is their second most prolific wicket taker with an astounding 14 wickets to his name.
The Gujarat Lions look to be another well balanced squad with talented players looking after almost every department. The bookmakers have given the newbies the ultimate respect by giving them odds of 3.00 for an outright victory of the ninth edition of the IPL courtesy of online bookie 188BET.
Outright Odds: 3.00
Best IPL finish: Playoffs (Present season)
Sunrisers Hyderabad
In their fourth appearance in the Indian Premier League, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have managed to qualify for the playoffs for the second time. The team from Hyderabad managed to pip giants Kolkata Knight Riders to third place in the league thanks to a superior net run rate to give them their highest ever finish in the IPL league stage.
Under the leadership of Australian heavyweight David Warner, the Sunrisers caused quite a few upsets on their road to the playoffs. Their deadliest player at the moment is their skipper who’s near the pinnacle of the Orange Cap leaderboard with a whopping 658 runs under his belt. Warner’s performances have been greatly supported by the stellar batting of Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan who himself has scored 463 runs. The Sunrisers have yet another dependable batter in their ranks in the form of Indian legend Yuvraj Singh and while the stalwart has failed to reach the heights of his best years, he’s always a great player to bet on.
The Sunrisers also have an extremely potent bowling lineup with Indian youngsters Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Barinder Sran complemented by Bangladesh international Mustafizur Rahman and Aussie bowler Moises Henriques. Kumar, with 18 wickets to his name, is the IPL’s second most lethal bowler while his teammate Mustafizur is not too far away with 16 wickets under his belt.
The Sunrisers will have their work cut out in their playoff game against the Kolkata Knight Riders but you can bet that an in-form team such as theirs will surely give the two-time IPL winners a hard fight.
Outright Odds: 7.00
Best IPL finish: Fourth (2013)
Kolkata Knight Riders
The fourth and the last team to qualify for this season’s playoff is the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Knight Riders are what you would call giants of the Indian Premier League thanks to their victories in 2012 and 2014. After an underwhelming campaign last time round, the Knights are back in the business end of the league.
Kolkata’s influential captain Gautam Gambhir has been leading his team by example this season after some sensational performances with the bat. Gambhir’s stellar displays have been greatly complemented by equally stunning performances from fellow Indian internationals Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan. The three Indians have scored 473, 383 and 359 runs respectively on their way to the IPL playoffs.
On the bowling front, Andre Russell has been their most lethal wicket taker with 15 wickets to his name. Fellow West Indian Sunil Narine has taken 11 wickets thus far while Indian duo Piyush Chawla and Umesh Yadav have taken 11 and 10 wickets respectively.
The Knights face a tough challenge in the playoffs this year with a host of strong teams rivalling them in their chase for the ninth edition of the IPL. Despite not being the strongest team in the playoffs, the Knights have one distinct advantage over any of their competitors, and that’s in the field of experience. The Knights have prior experience of going all the way on two occasions as they lifted the trophy in 2012 and 2014 and this should definitely hold them in good stead.
Outright Odds: 7.00
Best IPL finish: Winner (2012 & 2014)
