Fans cheer on their team from the stands during the 2025 IPL match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
It has been a fascinating season in the Indian Premier League with a lot of action, both on and off the field. After nearly 70 matches and two months of pulsating cricket, we finally have the four playoff teams for the 18th edition of the tournament. Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings, and Mumbai Indians are the four franchises who have booked their place in the last four. MI’s stunning fightback in the second half and the rise of the perennial underachievers – RCB and PBKS – have been among the biggest talking points of the season. So has the dominance of the Gujarat Titans’ batting unit.
The season has thrown up surprises, and the biggest of them all has been the total capitulation of the most successful unit in IPL history – Chennai Super Kings – who, with 10 defeats in 13 matches, have hit rock-bottom in this edition.
The other big story has been the struggle, especially with the bat, of the two finalists from last season – Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Both KKR and SRH revolutionized destructive power-hitting in 2024 but have been a patch of their intimidating avatars from last season.
RG analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the 4 playoff teams in IPL 2025.
Gujarat Titans: Batting Blitz, Bowling Stability
What has worked:
The Titans have been the best batting unit this season with the highest combined batting average (40.9) and the joint-highest combined run rate (10.1). They have also hit a total of 225 fours – the highest in the competition.
Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill have been prolific at the top of the order and scored a whopping 885 runs in 13 innings at an average of 73.75 with three hundred and four 50 partnerships in the tournament. Only Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli have a higher aggregate for an opening pair (939 in 14 innings in 2023) in any edition of the IPL. While Sudharsan (638 runs) and Gill (636 runs) are the two leading run-getters of the tournament, Jos Buttler has also been in devastating form and scored in excess of 500 runs at a strike rate of 165.
Prasidh Krishna has been the standout bowler for the Titans this season and is the joint-highest wicket-taker of the competition with 21 dismissals at an economy of just over 8.
Weakness:
Rashid Khan’s form has been a bit of a concern for the Titans. He has picked just 8 wickets in 13 outings at a strike rate of 35.2 and economy of 9.4.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Kohli’s Charge, Bowling Breakthrough
What has worked:
Virat Kohli has again been the playmaker for RCB at the top of the order this season. He is their leading run-scorer with an aggregate of 548 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 145.3 – suggesting that Kohli the aggressor has overshadowed Kohli the anchor this season. Others like Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt, and Devdutt Padikkal have played second fiddle around him.
However, where RCB has really made significant strides this season is in the bowling department. Josh Hazlewood has been outstanding with the new ball and is among the two best fast bowlers of the season (along with Prasidh Krishna). He has bagged 7 wickets at an economy of 7.2 in the powerplay. RCB have been the most restrictive bowling unit in the powerplay with the lowest economy rate of just 8.8. In the absence of a world-class spinner, Krunal Pandya has been the surprise package with the ball and returned with 15 wickets at 22.5 apiece.
Weakness:
- Over-dependency on Kohli – RCB has won all 7 encounters in which Kohli has scored a fifty this season. On the other hand, RCB has lost 4 of the 5 matches in which he has failed to register a half-century.
- The lack of a world-class spinner may still haunt RCB in the playoffs. While Krunal Pandya has done a good job in the league stages, they may miss a specialist in the knockouts.
Mumbai Indians: Pacer Power, SKY’s Brilliance
What has worked:
The reunion of the two fast-bowling stalwarts – Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult – from the second half of the season completely transformed the dwindling fortunes of Mumbai Indians in the tournament. Overall, MI have the best bowling average (21.4), best bowling strike rate (14.8), and the best economy rate (8.6) for pacers this season. Boult is the third-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 19 dismissals at an average of 14.6 and economy of 8.4, while Bumrah has bagged 16 in just nine matches at a strike rate of 13.25 and economy of 6.4.
The batting has also lifted itself out of the doldrums and transformed MI’s fortunes from mid-season. From the match against RCB at Wankhede, MI’s top 5 have averaged 40.5 (second-best after Gujarat Titans). Suryakumar Yadav has been the mainstay at number 4 and is their leading run-getter with 583 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 170.5.
Weakness:
Over-dependency on Suryakumar Yadav – While Suryakumar Yadav has scored 583 runs in the season for MI, the next on the list – Ryan Rickelton – is more than 200 runs behind with an aggregate of 361. Should SKY fail, MI could collapse like a pack of cards.
Punjab Kings: Explosive Top, Fragile Middle Overs
What has worked:
Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya have been the finds for Punjab Kings at the top of the order and the duo have hammered together 433 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 168.5 this season. Shreyas Iyer has led from the front and is the leading scorer for the franchise with an aggregate of 488 runs, including 5 fifties at a scoring rate of 172.4. Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh have also played their part with the bat, and PBKS have one of the more formidable middle-order line-ups (5, 6, 7) in the competition with a combined average of 31.2 – the second-best after Delhi Capitals.
Weakness:
Punjab Kings have leaked runs in the middle overs and have the worst economy rate between overs 7–15 this season – 9.4. This is where they tend to lose control of the game.
Nikhil Narain is a die-hard cricket romantic, published author, and has worked for some of the leading digital websites and broadcasters in India and overseas. An alumnus of the London School of Economics, Nikhil's forte is using data and numbers creatively to weave interesting stories and revolutionize the way cricket statistics are generated and analyzed.
