Leaders of IPL 2025: Hot favourites MI, RCB and GT primed to go the distance

With all the build-up toward the mega auction and the expectations for yet another blockbuster season of franchise cricket, IPL 2025 has lived up to its billing. The usual safety threshold of 14 points, which teams aim for as they start off every season, has been breached by four teams and ironically none of them have sealed a playoff spot. Such has been the competition that even with only three rounds of games remaining, as many as seven teams are still in the fray to make it to the business end of the tournament this season. 

As Mumbai Indians chase an unprecedented sixth IPL title, Royal Challengers Bengaluru look to solve the riddle in the 18th edition as a tribute to their ‘Number 18’ and Shubman Gill trying to etch his name in the annals of the league’s rich history by taking Gujarat Titans to their second title, the world’s top T20 League is heading towards a riveting climax. Let us dive deep to see who among the above leaders is better placed to go the distance this time around.

After finishing last in two of the last four seasons, Mumbai are finally getting to where they belong and their current season resembles the title-winning one in 2015 where they got off to a disastrous start with four losses in the first five games. But they have turned it around with six wins in the next seven to occupy the fourth spot in the points table. 

Mumbai looks the most well-oiled unit among the leaders in this IPL with all their retentions coming good for the team at the same time. In batting, Rohit Sharma, after an unimpressive start to the campaign, finds himself among runs with three fifties in the last five matches scoring consecutive fifties in the IPL for the first time since 2016. 

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav has been their most consistent batter this season with scores of 25-plus in every match MI has played and also leads the list of top run-getters with 510 runs at an astonishing average of 63.75 and a strike rate of 170.56. The Indian T20I skipper is just 95 runs shy of recording his best campaign with the bat in the IPL with the team having two more games in the group stage.

Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya, the other two retainees, are also having a good season with the in-form top order ensuring minimal batting time for the duo. The left-handed batter, who was retired out against Lucknow Super Giants after his struggling 23-ball 25, came back strongly with back-to-back half-centuries in the next two games, and that too at strike rates of 193.10 and 178.78.

Pandya, on the other hand, has led the side well and contributed decently with both bat and ball aggregating 158 runs, at an average of 26.33 and a strike rate of 168.08, and picking up 13 wickets in 11 matches this season.

With their fifth retainee Jasprit Bumrah back in action after missing the start of the season, MI looks like that invincible unit that used to win trophies for fun. The team has won six out of the eight matches Bumrah has played in with the pacer aggregating 13 wickets at a stunning economy of 6.68. The speedster has delivered unplayable spells, be it the 2/15 against RR or the 4/22 against LSG, to turn matches in MI’s favour and nearly won the match against GT with another dream outing of 2/19 in four overs.   

Add to it the new-ball pair of Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar, with 14 wickets in the powerplay, and an explosive opener in Ryan Rickelton along with their RTM player Naman Dhir going big in the death with a strike rate of 172.34, Mumbai has all bases covered to win their sixth IPL title.

After 17 years of tireless chanting, Royal Challengers Bengaluru are showing signs to go the distance this time around with Virat Kohli once again leading from the front in the quest for that elusive title. The ace batter leads the RCB batting charts for a second straight year while going past the 500-run mark for the third time in a row. With seven fifties in 11 matches, the Indian opener along with compatriot Phil Salt have given the side excellent starts to set the tempo of the game.

Kohli’s form, along with Devdutt Padikkal’s late surge this season, has allowed RCB to paper the crack over skipper Rajat Patidar’s lean patch with the bat. With Romario Shepherd single-handedly winning the game against CSK with his unbeaten 14-ball 53 and joining the duo of Jitesh Sharma and Tim David, RCB’s lower middle order looks the strongest on paper. Unsurprisingly, RCB has a strike rate of 180.78 between overs 15 and 20, the best among all the teams in IPL this year.

On the bowling front, RCB looks to have cracked the puzzle this time around with pacers Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal making the side one of the most threatening with the new ball and also doubling up as useful options in the death. The side has picked up 19 wickets in the powerplay, the joint-most for any team this year, while they have the fourth-best economy of 10.02 in the last five overs.

The spin department has also served RCB well with left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya picking up 14 wickets at an economy of 8.57 and helping the side control the game during the middle phase. More than the numbers, Pandya brings in the much-needed experience during high-pressure situations just as in the game against MI where he picked up three wickets to defend 19 runs in the final over.

 

If Rajat Patidar can find his touch with the bat and make the right decisions on the field, this might be the year that RCB fans get to realise their dream finally…

With the thrilling last-ball win against Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans not only went to the top of the IPL 2025 points table but also reaffirmed their credentials as strong contenders to win their second IPL trophy. GT has put in an all-round performance this season with three of their batters and bowlers present in the top-ten list of run-getters and wicket-takers.

With the willow, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler have all scored 500 runs or more this season with either of the batters having scored a fifty or stayed till the 17th over of each game till their last duel against MI. GT are third on the list of total runs scored this year, with the top two teams having played a match more than them, and the trio tally a massive 71.22% of GT’s total runs scored this year but the team runs a risk in case they falter together in the same match. The middle-order is full of firepower with the likes of Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan making good use of the minimal time they have spent at the crease. 

On the bowling front, the Indian pace duo of Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj have held their own with the former topping the bowling charts with 20 wickets at an excellent strike rate of 12.90 and an economy of 7.65, after missing out on the last two editions of the competition with injury. Meanwhile, Siraj has given excellent starts with the ball for GT and is the joint-highest wicket-taker in the powerplay with nine scalps.

The good show of spinners Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan, with a combined tally of 22 wickets between them, have helped GT control the middle phase with the side boasting the second-best economy and third-most wickets during that period. The Afghan spinner, who started the season slowly after recovering from a back injury, is back into the groove with his spell of 1/21 off four overs against MI at Wankhede tying the home team in knots. 

If other batters can join the party along with the top three and Shubman Gill can maintain his composure in pressure situations, then there is no stopping him and GT from winning their second title in four years. Can the Prince take the next big step?

 

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