Now that the IPL 2017 playoffs are upon us, it is time to predict which team is going to go all the way and clinch that glinting, golden cup on Sunday.
Will it be the Mumbai Indians, the table toppers and a team that knows a thing or two about winning the IPL title?
Or could it be the Kolkata Knight Riders, another former champ, filled with one match-winner after another?
Maybe it is the time for a new winner – step up, the Rising Pune Supergiant.
Or maybe it is the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will do what they did last season, win three straight games in the playoffs and defend their IPL title, with David Warner playing one ridiculous innings after another again.
Whatever happens, the next four games of IPL 2017 should be filled with all the ingredients that make the T20 format so entertaining to watch.
Here is a prediction of how the IPL 2017 playoffs might go (remember, if the predictions go horribly wrong here, you can be sure it has gone exactly as written in some other dimension).
Qualifier 1: Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant:
RPS have the edge in the head-to-head this season, having won both their matches against MI in the league phase.
The win at the Wankhede was clinched thanks to some outstanding bowling, particularly from Ben Stokes, but with the Englishman missing the playoffs, with MI gain some revenge?
Yup, they will.
They have the better overall team – provided Krunal Pandya plays, because he lends so much balance to the side – and as good as RPS have been bowling in the second half of IPL 2017 – thanks largely to Jaydev Unadkat – MI, who will be roared on by the partisan Wankhede crowd, should have enough to beat Steve Smith, MS Dhoni and the rest.
Prediction: MI to beat RPS, with it Mumbai Indians enter the IPL 2017 final.
Eliminator: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders:
This is a tough one to call. While KKR beat SRH at the Eden Gardens, a Warner peach was too much for the Knight Riders in Hyderabad.
SRH also have the psychological edge considering they beat KKR in the same Eliminator match in IPL 2016.
However, while KKR have lost their form a little bit, they looked quite formidable in the early stages of this season's Indian Premier League. If Chris Lynn fires, there will be nothing SRH can do. And the Sunrisers bowling attack is also a little more vulnerable this season.
Prediction: KKR to beat SRH, with it the Sunrisers Hyderabad are eliminated.
Qualifier 2: RPS vs KKR:
Usually, the team with the momentum – the winner of the Eliminator – carries forward that winning feeling to book a place in the final.
Again, the teams split the head-to-head in the league phase, with the Kolkata Knight Riders beating RPS in Pune and Rising Pune Supergiant topping KKR in Kolkata.
In this one, after strategising how to win big games without Stokes, RPS come with a much better plan, catch KKR off guard with that strategy – those changes of pace also work really well for RPS at the Chinnaswamy – and they end up booking their place in the final.
Prediction: RPS to beat KKR, with it Kolkata Knight Riders are eliminated.
IPL 2017 final: MI vs RPS:
Having beaten them in Qualifier 1, MI should be confident of trumping RPS again. However, the pitch in Hyderabad is more in RPS' favour – a little slower and not quite coming onto the bat.
As a result, the RPS bowlers are able to restrict the MI batsman from going smash-smash, and Dhoni has another IPL title to his name.
Prediction: RPS to beat MI and clinch their first ever IPL title.
