Welcome back to the 2nd Part of our Vivo IPL SWOT Analysis. We shall have a look at the remaining four teams in this article in detail. Let's go!

5) Punjab Kings

Strengths-

  •   A swashbuckling opening pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal 

  •   The Universe Boss(Christopher Henry Gayle) Factor

  •   Dawid Malan would provide a lot of stability to the middle-order

  •   Very exciting young prospects such as Shahrukh Khan

  •   An excellent pace bowling contingent comprising of Mohammed Shami, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith and Chris Jordan

  •   Very crafty and skilful leg-spinners in Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin

  •   An emerging talented off-spinning all-rounder in Jalaj Saxena

  •   A very explosive middle-order batsman in Nicholas Pooran

Weaknesses-

  •   When the top-order misfires, the team falls apart like dominos. 

  •   Death bowling is an area of perpetual concern

  •   Too much reliance on KL Rahul, Agarwal and Gayle

  •   A lack of good Indian pacers apart from Mohammed Shami

Opportunities-

  •   The middle-order should play with more intent

  •   An improvement in death bowling

  •   Winning crunch moments

Threats-

  •   Teams would target their death bowlers

  •   If the openers get out within the Powerplay, the score is reduced substantially

  •   Defending totals is a big concern

6) Kolkata Knight Riders

Strengths-

  •   A very potent opener in Shubman Gill

  •   Great middle-order players in Morgan, Rana, Tripathi and Karthik

  •   Two of the biggest T20 match-winners in Sunil Narine and Andre Russell

  •   An excellent overseas pace bowling contingent comprising of Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson and Andre Russell

  •   Domestic pacers such as Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi have come a long way from their U19 days and are match-winners.

  •   A mystery spinner in Varun Chakravarthy

  •   The services of Shakib-al-Hasan would be invaluable

  •   The tactful captaincy of Eoin Morgan

Weaknesses-

  •   A lack of form for many frontline players such as Kuldeep Yadav, Dinesh Karthik, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Nitish Rana

  •   Too much reliance on Russell and Narine

  •   There are no great backup options for Lockie Ferguson and Pat Cummins

  •   Death overs bowling has been a perpetual concern

Opportunities-

  •   More match time should be given to Kuldeep Yadav to increase his confidence and help him get into the groove

  •   A backup for Dinesh Karthik needs to be groomed properly

  •   There is much room for improvement in death overs bowling. Cummins does not bowl many yorkers.

Threats-

  •   Inability to close out crunch moments

  •   A misfiring middle-order against top-quality sides

  •   A lack of a solid opening partner with Gill

7) Rajasthan Royals

Strengths-

A solid contingent of Indian batsmen

  •   A youthful and sound captain in Sanju Samson

  •   The English duo of Buttler and Stokes could single-handedly win matches

  •   A swashbuckling all-rounder in Rahul Tewatia

  •   Chris Morris's death overs bowling and pinch-hitting is an asset

  •   Jofra Archer is an X-factor both with the bat and ball

  •   Exciting young talents such as Kartik Tyagi and Chetan Sakariya

Weaknesses-

  •   With Jofra Archer unavailable for a few matches, the bowling department looks weak.

  •   A lack of good death bowling options apart from Archer and Morris. Morris might go for plenty many times

  •   Experienced Indian pacers such as Jaydev Unadkat went for plenty of runs in the last season

  •   Inability to win crucial matches

Opportunities-

  •   Trying out all fringe players and giving them opportunities to shine and prove themselves

  •   The middle-order apart from Stokes should play freely 

  •   Indian batsmen should put their hands up

Threats-

  •   Teams with strong batting lineups would target Indian bowlers

  •   Inability to defend totals

  •   Leaking way too many runs in death overs

  •   A lack of a solid opening partner with Buttler.

8) Sunrisers Hyderabad

Strengths-

  •   A solid opening combination of Warner and Saha/Bairstow

  •   Kane Williamson is a match-winner

  •   Exciting young Indian batsmen like Abhishek Sharma, Priyam Garg and Abdul Samad

  •   Excellent death bowling options in Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan

  •   One of the best white-ball bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar

  •   A solid middle-order comprising of Manish Pandey, Williamson, Jason Holder, Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma

  •   World-class all-rounders in Holder and Rashid.

Weaknesses-

  •   Inability to bowl well on flat and bouncy decks

  •   A lack of out and out pace bowling options

  •   Too much reliance on Rashid, Warner and Williamson

  •   Inability to win a few crucial matches and scenarios

  •   Injuries to Bhuvi have been a perennial concern. 

Opportunities-

  •   Trying out a few fringe players

  •   Chalking out strategies on how to bowl on flat and bouncy decks

Threats-

  •   Teams with long and strong batting lineups would go hard at SRH from the word go. 

  •   A lack of sheer pace bowlers means that the team would fare badly on flat decks

  •   Inability to chase down big totals

With only 4 days left for the IPL 2021 season, we are indeed looking forward to the real actions to happen! Stay tuned with us and our team will come up with more team news and updates about the IPL 2021!