The IPL 2023 – which will be the 16th edition of the IPL competition – will get underway on March 31 with the mega-clash between a student and his favorite teacher – MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings taking on the Hardik Pandya-led defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, the same venue where GT won the IPL 2022 trophy in what was their debut IPL season.
As we inch closer to the IPL 2023, we look at in-depth each of the 10 teams, their strengths, and their weaknesses. A strength that every team hopes to have is a solid finisher; someone who not only has the power to clear the fence with ease, but, and importantly, also the temperament to remain composed in pressure situations in the death overs, more so when chasing.
Here is the best finisher of each of the 10 teams in IPL 2023:
Chennai Super Kings – MS Dhoni
The almighty would rain down its wrath if we pick anyone other than MS Dhoni here first. The greatest finisher in white-ball cricket fans have ever seen, in particular in the IPL where Dhoni has a tremendous record.
While MS Dhoni does like to start off his innings cautiously before unleashing his shots, he is, and he’d himself know it, the deadliest batter when it comes to hammering runs in the slog overs, especially in the 20th over of an innings, when the pressure switches to the bowler who is tasked with the unenviable task of bowling to the CSK captain.
In the death overs in the IPL, Dhoni has a terrific strike rate of 186; and in the 20th over in the IPL, Dhoni has smashed runs at a humongous strike rate of 243!
Mumbai Indians – Tim David
Tim David came to the party in the last phase of Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2022 campaign after being benched earlier. While MI finished last in the table, they found their perfect successor to Kieron Pollard.
In IPL 2022, in 8 innings for MI, David hammered 186 runs at a strike rate of 216! A T20 globetrotter, Tim David, who has featured in over 200 T20 matches around the world, has a strike rate of 195 in the death overs (overs 17-20). Having shown the glimpses of his talent and brute force last season in the IPL, Tim David, in IPL 2023, is ready to bring MI back to winning ways.
Gujarat Titans – David Miller
One of the most destructive finishers in white-ball cricket for a decade, David Miller won his maiden IPL title last season, with Gujarat Titans, and played a significant role with the bat. He was called upon a number of times to attack right from the onset of his innings.
Speaking of his finishing prowess in the IPL, Miller has a strike rate of 181 in the slog overs in this competition.
Rajasthan Royals – Shimron Hetmyer
West Indies power-hitter Shimron Hetmyer played an instrumental role in RR reaching the IPL 2022 final as he scored 314 runs at a strike rate of 154.
In his T20 career of more than 200 matches played around different leagues, Hetmyer has a belligerent strike rate of 204 in the death overs of a T20 innings, and in his 4 seasons in the IPL, he has reached the strike rate of 199 in the last 4 overs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore – Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik stunned everyone with his extraordinary finishing abilities in IPL 2022 for RCB, and on the back of it made a return to India’s T20I team. Given the most difficult task of finishing the innings, Karthik, in IPL 2022 for RCB, smashed 330 runs at a strike rate of 183, and his death overs strike rate last season was a jaw-dropping 220!
Lucknow Super Giants – Marcus Stoinis
Like RCB did with Karthik, LSG pigeonholed Stoinis so much in the finisher’s role that they even pushed him down till numbers 7 and 8 to have him enter around the slog overs mark and go bonkers there.
And he did: Stoinis had a massive strike rate of 179 in the death overs last season for LSG.
Delhi Capitals – Rovman Powell
The reason Delhi’s top 4 can play aggressively was the presence of the West Indian swashbuckler Rovman Powell lower in the order. Powell, who has been one of the most successful six-hitters in the last couple of years in T20 and T20Is, took up the role of a finisher for DC superbly.
In the death overs in IPL 2022, Powell blasted runs at a stupendous strike rate of 235, cracking 13 sixes and just 5 fours in the 6 times he batted in his phase.
Punjab Kings – Liam Livingstone
Liam Livingstone took on the IPL 2022 by storm. Batting for Punjab Kings, the powerful English ball-muscler that is Liam Livingstone scored 437 runs at an overall strike rate of 182 – it didn’t matter whether it was the powerplay, middle-overs or death overs, Livingstone treated all phases as death overs, in which his strike rate shot up to 206.
Kolkata Knight Riders – Andre Russell
One of the players to watch out for every season is KKR’s Andre Russell, who boasts of a magnificent IPL career strike rate of 177! Russell’s beast mode is always active when he’s batting, irrespective of the situation, phase of the innings, conditions or bowiers. In the IPL, Russell has a slog overs strike rate of 209.
Sunrisers Hyderabad– Washington Sundar
Washington Sundar emerged as SRH’s finishers while the top-order struggled largely in IPL 2022. In the death overs of IPL 2022, the left-handed Sundar managed a strike rate of 180, playing a few gem of unexpected cameos for SRH.
