4 greatest comebacks by IPL teams in the second half of the tournament

There is no arguing that IPL is an entertainer par excellence. Its history is full of many riveting and nail-biting humdingers, which have provided an edge-of-the-seat thrill to the spectators. On many occasions, teams have found themselves precariously placed after the first half of the group stage but it is the beauty of IPL that allows the sub-par performers to lift their games up and come back roaring into the reckoning again. Some of these comebacks have even resulted in the eventual title glory. Here we take a look at four miraculous turnarounds in teams’ fortunes in the first decade of IPL.

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#1 Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2010

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), over the years, have provided some great and riveting contests. Under the captaincy of their iconic talisman, MS Dhoni, they have always been able to make it to the playoff stage. Some of these playoff journeys have been a roll while some others have been scripted after a spirited comeback in the later part of the tournament. The title-win in 2010 for the Yellow Jersey was one such comeback tale.

At the half-way stage, Super Kings were reeling with only two wins from seven games and needed some special effort to turn-around their campaign. The CSK setup named Doug Bollinger as an injury replacement for Jacob Oram. The arrival of Bollinger changed CSK's fortunes as they won their next three matches on the trot. But their charge was again halted by Deccan Chargers as they handed CSK a six-wicket defeat. A win over Knight Riders preceded a loss at the hands of Delhi Daredevils. CSK were now faced with a do-or-die situation in their last match in Dharamshala against Kings XI Punjab.

Dhoni's brilliance with the bat lit up the picturesque Dharamshala as CSK stormed into the semi-finals after chasing the 192-run target set by Kings XI. A four-wicket haul from Bollinger set up the CSK's defense of their 142-run score in the semi-final against Deccan Chargers. Chargers were bowled out for 104 runs, which resulted in CSK going into the final to face a red-hot Mumbai. A Suresh Raina special and some poor decision-making from Mumbai helped Chennai defend its 168-run score as Mumbai fell short by 22 runs, handing the Men in Yellow their first ever title triumph.

#2 Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2014

Manish Pandey was the hero of IPL 2014 final, which saw KKR lifting their second IPL trophy

The 2014 season belonged to a rampaging Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) who were buoyed by the mercurial batting of Glenn Maxwell. They were finally tamed in the season finale by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) who reached the playoffs after scripting a dramatic change in their fortunes in the second half of the tournament. After their first seven games in the season, they were struggling at four points with five defeats. Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa took on the mantle of changing things around.

Gambhir's 69 and 63 set up two back to back victories against Delhi and Punjab, respectively, while Uthappa's 80, 67 and 83 were instrumental in victories against Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. Yusuf Pathan's 72 off 22 balls blasted Sunrisers Hyderabad away and propelled his team to the playoffs stage.

An inspired spell from Umesh Yadav halted the charge of Kings XI in the first Qualifier as his 3 for 14 from four overs helped Kolkata pip Punjab by 28 runs. Kings XI raised their game up against Chennai in the second Qualifier and came storming into the final to face Knight Riders once again. Wriddhiman Saha scored a brilliant century to set KKR a daunting target of 200 runs. Manish Pandey played the best knock of his IPL career as he scored 94 runs off just 50 balls to take his team to the trophy with a three-wicket win.

#3 Mumbai Indians in IPL 2015

Rohit Sharma led MI to their second title triumph in 2015

If there’s one IPL team who can be termed as the 'Master of Comebacks', it is Mumbai Indians. They start every season slowly before peaking at the right time to make it to the final four. They have so far won the most number of IPL trophies – three (in 2013, 2015, and 2017). Their title-winning campaign of 2015 can be regarded as a cult-classic with reference to comebacks in the second half of the tournament.

Mumbai had the worst possible start to their campaign as they lost four opening games on the trot and were soon staring at the possibility of an early end to their campaign as they were handed a 37-run defeat by Delhi Daredevils- their fifth in six matches. The prospect of not making it to the playoffs had a deep impact on the Mumbai camp. They lifted their game up and went on to register five back-to-back wins. Their newly found red-hot form helped them pip Kolkata and Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last two games and lifted them to a top-two finish after the league stage.

They faced the stiff challenge of Chennai Super Kings in the first Qualifier but Lendl Simmons (65) and Lasith Malinga (3/23) helped their team register a comfortable 25 run victory over Super Kings to book the first berth in the final. Chennai defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 3 wickets in the second Qualifier to book another face-off with Mumbai in the final. The power-packed batting unit of Mumbai fired again and lifted its team to 202 for 5 and the bowlers, led by Mitch McClenaghan’s 3/25, completed the job by arresting Chennai at 161 for 8 in their 20 overs. Mumbai won the final by 41 runs to register their second title triumph.

#4 Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2016

Virat Kohli led the RCB charge in IPL 2016

The Virat Kohli led outfit has, over the years, boasted of some of the finest batting talents in the T20 arena yet they still find themselves with the tag of ‘glamourous non-winners’. They came agonizingly close to warding off that tag in the 2016 season but were caught unawares by a Ben Cutting special to deny them their first chance to taste glory. Though they could not win the trophy, their campaign in the 2016 season was one of the greatest comebacks in the history of IPL.

Their campaign started with a comfortable victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad but was soon derailed by a bludgeoning century from Quinton de Kock. They were further humiliated as they lost four of their next five games. Their campaign needed a herculean effort to come back on track as they needed to win at least six of their remaining seven matches. Virat Kohli went into the beast mode to demolish the batting charts as RCB scampered home on six out of the remaining seven matches. Kohli rocked the league stage with four centuries while Yuzvendra Chahal and Shane Watson peaked on the bowling charts.

A four-wicket win over Gujarat Lions in the first Qualifier took them to their third final in nine IPL editions. Riding on the fireworks from David Warner and Ben Cutting, Sunrisers posted a mammoth 208/7 but the RCB openers were equally up to the task as both, Chris Gayle (74) and Kohli (54), registered blistering fifties. Ben Cutting returned with the ball and took out Gayle and KL Rahul from the RCB chase which effectively decided the match in favor of Sunrisers. Rest of the batsmen could only reduce the margin of defeat as RCB fell short of their maiden title by just 8 runs.