IPL 2025 Mid-Season Review: New Faces Dominate As Batting Frenzy Equals Last Season – Outlook India

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Cricket
With the Indian Premier League’s 2025 edition halfway through, away sides have dominated unlike the previous season, winning more than half of the games so far
It has been a pulsating IPL edition as batters have continued to dominate and plunder runs at breathtaking pace, there have been fours and sixes galore and the mayhem in the powerplay does not seem to stop. (Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
And yet something has changed! There is a ‘perception’ that the contest between bat and ball has been more evenly matched this season. Well, let that remain only a perception as numbers don’t lie.
2025 has mirrored 2024 in terms of run-rates and big totals and the only reason why this hasn’t been as hard-hitting as last season is because most fans and experts have got immune to the destruction and decimation of bowlers and the ‘extraordinary’ of yesterday is the new ‘normal’ of today!
Also, there is one other important factor. It is not the usual suspects who have wreaked havoc this season. The carnage is the same but the protagonists have changed!
The 2024 IPL was a revolutionary season which saw bat dominate ball like never before. Well, 2025 has matched 2024 and how! The average run-rate after the first 35 matches last season was a staggering 9.49, which was, by some distance, the highest ever mid-season in any edition of the IPL.
Interestingly, the average run-rate mid-season in 2025 is also 9.49, just decimal points lower than last season! This suggests that the carnage has continued and batters have dominated to the same degree as last season.
There were 15 200-plus team totals mid-season in 2024. That number has jumped to 21 after 35 matches this season! There were a total of 1051 fours and 618 sixes hit at the half-way mark last season. While the number of maximums is 607 in 2025, the number of fours has gone up to 1066!
The real transformation last season was seen in the approach and attitude of teams in the powerplay. ‘Saving wickets first and attacking later’ was thrown into the dustbin and the strategy was to maximise runs in the powerplay at any cost!
The average run-rate in the powerplay mid-season in 2024 was 9.34. It has gone up substantially this season to 9.6 per over! 70-plus was breached 12 times after the first 35 matches in 2024. That number has risen to 14 this season.
The numbers suggest that the bar has been raised even higher by the batters this season. The only difference is that the protagonists have changed (somewhat!).
While Sunrisers Hyderabad (run-rate of 12.4), Kolkata Knight Riders (10.7) and Mumbai Indians (10.4) created mayhem in the powerplay last season, it is Punjab Kings (run-rate of 10.5) who have dominated in the first 6 overs this season.
Also, unlike last season, where, at the half-way stage, only five teams had a run-rate of 9+ in the powerplay, the carnage has been more evenly divided in this edition. As many as nine teams (all with the exception of Chennai Super Kings) have a run-rate of 9+ in the powerplay in the competition.
Chasing has been a historical advantage in the IPL and in T20 cricket and that trend continues in this edition as well! The team batting second has won 19 of the first 35 matches. The team chasing had won 18 matches at a similar stage last season!
The home team won 20 of the 35 matches at the mid-way stage in 2024. That trend seems to have reversed this season with the ‘away’ team winning 18 of the 35 matches (there was one Tie). Royal Challengers Bengaluru have lost all their three matches at home thus far in the season.
Chennai Super Kings, who historically boast of the best record at home in Chepauk, have also struggled, losing three of the four matches in their bastion this season. Kolkata Knight Riders have also lost two of their three matches at Eden Gardens in the tournament.
The Big 3 – MI, CSK and KKR – with 13 of the 17 IPL trophies between them – are languishing at the bottom of the table. Only Gujarat Titans (GT) amongst the top 5 teams on the table have ever won the league. The four others – Punjab Kings, RCB, Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals – have no title between them.
Only once in IPL history have none of CSK, MI or KKR made it to the playoffs – and that was in 2022! If the trends continue, there is a high chance that we may well see a new IPL winner this season!
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