IPL Dispatch: RR Overcome Topsy-Turvy League Phase; Pollard Admits Pandya's Captaincy 'Has Not Gone Well'

Like masala Hindi films with different rhythms before and after the interval, it has been a season of two halves for some Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises. Scripts switched mid-tournament, sometimes so drastically that genuine title contenders were left wondering where their next win would come from.

Ask Punjab Kings (PBKS), who followed up seven unbeaten games with six straight losses to miss out on the playoffs despite a morale-boosting victory in their last outing. Conversely, take the case of Gujarat Titans (GT), who went from four defeats in seven games to just one in their next seven and coasted to a top-two finish.

Then there were Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who tasted a win only in their seventh match but rebounded spectacularly to raise visions of an unlikely advancement before falling short. In the end, another team with a topsy-turvy league campaign — Rajasthan Royals — recovered in the nick of time to surge through, and knock out the aspiring PBKS and KKR.

Final IPL 2026 Points Table

What Next?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and GT simultaneously made the playoffs cut and soon after, set up a Qualifier 1 meeting by finishing on 18 points apiece. Their consistent showings have earned both teams the right of having two shots at the final, should they falter the first time around.

The defending champions are functioning like a well-oiled unit with no major weaknesses. On the other hand, the Titans have a redoubtable bowling line-up, along with a reliable top three. With the kind of form the sides are in and the high stakes of the match, it is expected to be a thriller in Dharamsala on Tuesday (May 26).

The caravan then moves to the Eliminator, featuring SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) — who finished with the same number of points as RCB and GT but an inferior net run rate cost them — and RR. It is expected to be a battle of top-order batting in New Chandigarh on Wednesday as both camps consist of heavyweights in their top three.

While the SunRisers' batting is firing, on the bowling front, they lack bite apart from captain Pat Cummins. For Rajasthan, their middle-order hasn't instilled much confidence through the tournament, including their skipper Riyan Parag.

Photo Of The Day

Rohit Sharma cut a forlorn figure as he walked back to the dugout after getting dismissed for a four-ball duck at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. The Mumbai Indians (MI) opener had a relatively quiet season by his standards, ending up with 283 runs from nine innings with two fifties and a strike rate of 157.22.

It's not that the former India captain was off-colour. A hamstring injury in the middle of the league phase made Rohit miss five games between April 12 and May 4, and hurt MI's cause severely. He returned with a bang, hitting 84 in 44 balls against Lucknow Super Giants. But by then the ship had more or less sailed. The five-time champions close out the season a lowly ninth, and would hope for a fit and hungry Rohit in IPL 2027.

At The Eleventh Hour

Barely three hours before the Knight Riders took on DC at the Eden Gardens, a media release from the Board of Control for Cricket in India popped up, stating that KKR had picked Luvnith Sisodia as a replacement for the injured Matheesha Pathirana "for the remainder of" IPL 2026. Yorker specialist Pathirana was ruled out due to a hamstring injury.

Technically, Kolkata were not out of playoffs contention by then but their chances were miniscule at best. Rajasthan soon put paid to them with a 30-run win over MI that knocked KKR as well as PBKS out of the competition. Hence the signing effectively was for a single game. It was not a like-for-like replacement either: Sisodia is a wicketkeeper-batter, who was previously part of the RCB squad but is yet to play an IPL game.

Signed for INR 30 lakh, the 26-year-old was part of KKR's squad in 2025, and was perhaps a reinforcement for their wicketkeeping department after first-choice 'keeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi was also ruled out of the season with a concussion and a fractured finger.

Quote Of The Day

MI batting coach Kieron Pollard admitted that skipper Hardik Pandya's leadership stint "has not gone as well" as either the player or the franchise would have hoped after a disastrous IPL 2026 campaign ended with their 10th loss of the edition. The Pandya-led side finished a disappointing ninth in the 10-team points table.

"From a leadership perspective on Hardik, yes, it has not gone as well as he would have wanted as an individual," Pollard told reporters after the match. "It might not have gone how we would have wanted as a management staff. But one thing you (should) know that we have tried each and everything to give him the best opportunity to lead the franchise, to do well."

Elsewhere...

In other Indian cricket news, Rajesh Dhar, a veteran Jammu and Kashmir coach and manager, was appointed manager of the India men's cricket team for the upcoming one-off Test and ODI series against Afghanistan. A physical educationist and BCCI Level-I certified coach, Dhar has served the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association in various capacities, including manager of the Ranji Trophy team and Under-19 coach.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka pacer SL Akshay tragically passed away in Bengaluru due to a heart attack. He was 39. A member of the Karnataka side that lifted the Ranji Trophy in the 2014-15 season, Akshay was playing a KSCA third division match for Sapphire CC when he complained of uneasiness and left the field after bowling four overs. He was taken to a nearby hospital but was declared brought dead.