IPL 2018: Top takeaways for the eliminated teams

As the round robin stage concludes, quite a few hearts were broken as two fan favourite teams - Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, could not make it to the next stage.

Punjab fans were also left devastated as a disastrous turn in fortunes led them into squandering a wonderful start. The perennial underachievers, Delhi Daredevils, could only find some solace in winning their last few encounters to end the campaign on a high note.

However, in spite of the heartbreaks, the teams that didn't qualify had a few positives over the course of the past seven weeks. Before the IPL bandwagon shifts to Mumbai for the qualifier, let's retrospect on the good, leaving behind the bad and the ugly.

---

#1 Mumbai Indians

Suryakumar Yadav took to the opening slot like a duck to water

The defending champions started their campaign in a characteristic dismal fashion, losing 5 out if their first 6 encounters. But as in the past, no one could dismiss their threat as they won 4 out of their next 5 before losing the plot to a defiant Rajasthan and a resurgent Delhi.

Rohit Sharma's unimaginative captaincy, Pollard's lacklustre form, and a fragile lower order came under scrutiny in their loss. However, just as in the case of previous seasons, the Indians unearthed two exciting local talents in Mayank Markande and Suryakumar Yadav. Apart from them, the Pandya brothers also chipped in with vital contributions as the season progressed.

Hardik ended up as MI's highest wicket-taker with 18 scalps and Krunal often chipped in with some crucial cameos after being tidy with the ball. Considering the responsibility of leading a novice spin attack, Mayank did an admirable job and though he faded a bit towards the fag end of the season, he still ended up with 15 wickets at a decent economy of 8.36.

Surya ended the season as MI's best batsman by a country mile, ahead of the mercurial Evin Lewis, scoring 512 runs at an average above 36 and a healthy strike rate of 133. With MI's past experience of grooming young talents, the future surely looks bright for these youngsters.

#2 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Umesh Yadav is no longer a test-only bowler

With a plethora of fast bowlers drafted in to rectify their death-bowling woes, and an already impregnable batting fortress, it finally looked like "ee sala cup namde" was finally going to be true. However, the familiar ghosts continued to haunt RCB, as they ended up as paper-tigers yet again. Not a single bowler could step up to support Umesh Yadav as the opposition batsmen regularly took them to the cleaners.

That, coupled with some abysmal performances by seasoned campaigners like McCullum and Chris Woakes meant that Kohli's wait for the IPL trophy had to get an extension.

However, one-half of their bowling woes seem to have been solved by a rampant Umesh Yadav who scalped 20 at an economy of under 8. With the bat, it was Kohli-de Villiers show all the way, as no other batsman could offer support at the other end. Kohli scored 530 runs in 14 matches, striking at 140, and ABD scored 480 runs in 12 matches at almost 175.

But once again, it was the overdependency on the dazzling duo that thrust the final nail in Bangalore's coffin as an off-day at the office for both of them often meant a meek surrender.

#3 Kings XI Punjab

Rahul looked like a man on a mission every time he graced the field

Preity Zinta's auction strategy of going for a multitude of players during the auction was trolled on social media. However, Kings XI had a dream start to the season, winning five out of their first six matches (direct opposite to that of MI) and for a moment, it looked like the trolls were all going down the drain.

In a diabolic turnaround of events, Kings could manage to win only one of their remaining eight matches and found themselves out of the tournament. Individual performances of Ankit Rajpoot and Chris Gayle hogged the limelight for a few matches, but they lacked the consistency of a formidable force.

Without a doubt, this season belonged to Lokesh Rahul and Andrew Tye- the holders of the orange and the purple caps for a significant fraction of the season. Rahul scored 659 runs at an average of 55, striking at almost 160 - very impressive number! Tye ended the season with 24 wickets at 8 runs per over.

The fact that even with their dream run Punjab failed to qualify for the playoffs tells a lot about the quality in the team. Debutant Mujeeb Ur Rahman was also a standout performer in the spin department as he picked up 14 wickets at an economy rate of 7.

#4 Delhi Daredevils

Pant in action

Delhi started the campaign on a dismal note yet again, as they too lost five out of their first six matches. However, there was no remarkable comeback around the corner and Delhi soon found themselves out of contention for a playoff spot.

There was, however, some saving grace as they won their last two matches, playing party poopers to Mumbai in the process. In the bowling department, Trent Boult was the lone ranger, taking 18 wickets at a slightly expensive 8.84 runs per over. However, the finds of the season were the three young Indian warriors - Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw.

Pant is the current holder of the Orange Cap, with 684 runs at an average of 52.31 and a humongous strike rate of 173. His innings of 128* against SRH was undoubtedly the best innings in this IPL. Shreyas Iyer did a remarkable job as captain after Gautam Gambhir stepped down, winning four matches out of eight - not bad numbers for a mid-season captain. He was consistent with the bat as well, scoring 411 runs at a strike rate of 132.

In the nine matches in which he got chances, Prithvi Shaw did a promising job, amassing 245 runs at a decent average of 27.2 and a healthy strike rate of 153 - appreciable numbers for an 18-year old. The three can form the core of the Delhi outfit for nex season and will have to be instrumental if Delhi Daredevils are to shed their tag of the perennial underachievers of IPL.