5 top comebacks by franchises in the history of IPL
The Indian Premier League (IPL) provides ample opportunities for franchises to stage a recovery if they start poorly, unlike a bilateral series or an ICC event, where it becomes difficult for a team to make a comeback. Every year, IPL teams get a chance to play 14 matches each. Thus, even if they lose quite a few games at the start, there are still enough matches left for them to stage a turnaround.
The high number of matches each side has to play in the league stage enables them to try out various combinations in their endeavor to find their best XI. If they get it right in the nick of time, they will be able to change their fortunes.
A number of franchises have successfully fought back from horrible starts, with some even going on to clinch the IPL title.
When teams overcame horror starts in the IPL
In this feature, we take a look at five instances where franchises recovered from adversity to make a significant mark in the same IPL edition.
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#5 Deccan Chargers (2010)
The Deccan Chargers went into the 2010 season as defending champions, having clinched the previous edition in South Africa.
After going down to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 11 runs in their first match, they hit back with a hat-trick of wins. However, this was followed by a streak of five consecutive losses. In what was a bizarre season for them, they then won five games in a row to book a place in the second semi-final.
They took on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2010 semis. Bowling first after losing the toss, they did well to restrict CSK to 142 for 7. However, their batting crumbled in the chase as they rolled over for 104, with Doug Bollinger claiming 4 for 13.
DC were then thumped by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the third-place play-off. To recover from five consecutive losses and reach the semis was a commendable effort nonetheless.
#4. Kolkata Knight Riders (2021)
IPL 2021 was played in two halves due to COVID-19 and KKR’s fortunes went from one extreme to the other across the two phases.
In the first leg played in India, they won only two out of seven matches. In the UAE, though, they won five out of seven games to sneak into the Eliminator. The move to bring in the aggressive Venkatesh Iyer at the top of the order proved to be a masterstroke.
Sunil Narine claimed 4 for 21 in the Eliminator against RCB, including the wickets of the Big Three (Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers). Bangalore were held to 138 for 7 batting first and KKR chased down the target with four wickets in hand.
We believed we would qualify if we played to our potential
Throwback 2021: @DineshKarthik reveals the #KKR mantra that fuelled one of the most remarkable comebacks in IPL history this season in the UAE 🔥💜
#AmiKKR #ClassOf2021 https://t.co/UabmfErgrW
Kolkata suffered an incredible collapse in Qualifier 2 against the Delhi Capitals (DC), chasing 136. Luckily, Rahul Tripathi’s confident six off Ravichandran Ashwin on the penultimate ball of the innings lifted them into the final.
KKR needed 193 in the summit clash against CSK to complete a fairytale comeback. Chennai were too strong for them, though, and the 'Men in Yellow' won the final by 27 runs.
#3. Royal Challengers Bangalore (2009)
After failing to impress in the inaugural IPL edition in 2008, there weren’t high hopes from RCB in 2009, when the edition was held in South Africa.
They proved the critics right, winning only one of their first five games. They recovered to win three matches in a row. However, two losses followed. In the end, they needed to win their last four matches to qualify for the semis, which, rather surprisingly, they did.
In the semi-final, an impressive all-round show saw them get the better of CSK by six wickets. In the IPL 2009 final, RCB skipper Anil Kumble came up with a sensational spell of 4 for 16 as Bangalore restricted the Deccan Chargers to 143 for 6.
Kumble's performance went in vain, though, as Pragyan Ojha (3/28), Andrew Symonds (2/18) and Harmeet Singh Bansal (2/23) combined to restrict Bangalore to 137 for 9.
#2 Kolkata Knight Riders (2014)
Before the IPL 2021 comeback, KKR had launched a similar fightback in 2014. The former champions had two wins in their first seven matches. With qualification looking tough, they won seven straight matches in a row at the league stage to book a place in Qualifier 1. The streak included one win by nine wickets, two by eight-wicket margins.
In Qualifier 1, KKR eased past Punjab by 28 runs. Batting first, they put up 163 for 8. Umesh Yadav’s 3 for 13 then held Punjab to 135 for 8. The sides clashed again in the final, which was a high-scoring one. Wriddhiman Saha’s 115* off 55 saw Punjab put up an imposing 199 for 4 on the board.
Manish Pandey’s superlative 94 off 50, however, helped Kolkata to their second IPL title. They won by three wickets with three balls to spare.
#1 Mumbai Indians (2015)
Mumbai Indians (MI) are known to be slow starters in the IPL. But they are equally renowned for fighting back from precarious situations. Their journey in 2015 is an apt illustration of the same.
They began the season with four losses and had only one win after six games. However, MI staged an incredible comeback to win five matches in a row. In fact, they lost only one of their last eight matches to seal their playoff berth.
defeats in first 
matches to IPL CHAMPIONS 🤯
Watch to go through our epic comeback in the 2015 IPL campaign 🤩
From 5⃣ defeats in first 6⃣ matches to IPL CHAMPIONS 🤯💙
➡️ Watch to go through our epic comeback in the 2015 IPL campaign 🤩🏆
#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians https://t.co/hP0saFvNpf
MI then thumped CSK in Qualifier 1 as well as the final to lift their second IPL crown. Mumbai put up 187 batting first in the qualifier and then restricted Chennai to 162.
Lendl Simmons’ 68 off 45 and captain Rohit Sharma’s 26-ball 50 saw MI post 202 for 5, batting first in the final. Mitchell McClenaghan then claimed 3 for 25 as CSK were held to 161 for 8. With a 41-run win, Mumbai completed their incredible turnaround in IPL 2015.