L-R: Virat Kohli and Sameer Rizvi with Rishabh Pant. (NOT a photo) NEW DELHI: The new season of the Indian Premier League is in full swing. All ten teams played one match each after five days of action. IPL 2026 began with high-scoring events, with the first two games of the weekend producing 200-plus totals, but the next three games this week saw a sharp turnaround – all low to modest.One trend emerging from these five games is that regardless of the total — low, meager or high — the chasing teams came out victorious. It will be interesting to see if this continues throughout the tournament. If so, the lottery could become increasingly important for each team.
Watch
Sameer Rizvi on batting: simple mindset, big impact for DC All five games so far have been played under lights. However, the day’s games are limited, with each team scheduled to play just two, where the dew factor will not play a role and the chasing advantage may diminish.The pattern is worrying for the bowlers. Apart from Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans which went down to the wire, the rest were largely one-sided chases. Even on Wednesday, when Delhi Capitals were reduced to 26/4 in the Powerplay by Lucknow Super Giants while chasing 141, the partnership between Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs sealed the game in 17 balls.Close chases add excitement, but one-sided pursuits tend to dampen the fans’ competition.Let’s dive deeper into the IPL 2026 trends so far:Game 1: RCB beat SRH by six wicketsDefending champions RCB hosted SRH at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the opener of IPL 2026. After being put in, SRH recovered from 29/3 through Ishan Kishan (80 off 38) and Heinrich Klaasen (31), with Aniket Verma’s 43 taking them to 201/9. In response, despite an early setback, Virat Kohli (69 off 38) and Devdutt Padikkal (61 off 26) stitched a 101-run stand as RCB chased it down in just 15.3 overs.Game 2: MI beat KKR by six wicketsKKR posted 220/4 on Ajinkya Rahane’s 67 and Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 51. But MI openers Rohit Sharma (78) and Ryan Rickelton (81) added 148 in 12 overs to make the chase straightforward as they got home with five balls to spare.Game 3: RR beat CSK by eight wicketsIn Guwahati, RR bowlers Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger dismantled CSK for 127. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi then smashed a stunning 52 off 17 balls and added 75 with Yashasvi Jaiswal as RR chased down the target in just 12.1 overs.Game 4: PBKS beat GT by three wicketsGT managed 162/6 with contributions across the order. PBKS looked comfortable at 110/2 before collapsing to 118/6 triggered by Prasidh Krishna. However, Cooper Connolly’s unbeaten 72 ensured a thrilling win in the final.
Vote
Do you think the draw will become crucial for team strategies in IPL 2026?
Game 5: DC beat LSG by six wicketsLSG were bowled out for 141, starring Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan. DC slipped to 26/4 but Sameer Rizvi (70) and Tristan Stubbs (39) added an unbeaten 119-run stand to seal victory in 17.1 overs.Early signs suggest that the chase is king in IPL 2026 – but the bigger question is, will it last?
