The 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League is in full flow with the tournament bursting into life as we enter the second half.
We have already had a handful of close games and the first Super Over of the tournament too, which saw Delhi Capitals win an IPL classic against the Rajasthan Royals.
With the tournament now in its latter phase, let’s take a look at who is on the up and what players and teams are struggling so far.
Who has gone up?
Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants)
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Highlights of the Indian Premier League match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals.
Nicholas Pooran has long been in the upper echelon of T20 batters, but this IPL he’s taken his game to the next level. He tops the run-scoring charts and hasn’t sacrificed his strike rate to get there – it currently stands at a staggering 208.
What stands out is that he scores incredibly quickly with a very sound technique and relies on timing rather than brute force, unlike many T20 batters.
It’s no coincidence either that his upturn in form has come after he was pushed up the order to No 3 – he’s dispelled the myth that he’s just a finisher who should be saved for the second half of the innings.
In T20 cricket, you need to give your best batters as many balls as possible, it’s a complete waste to save them for the final 10 overs.
Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings)
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Highlights of the IPL match between the Punjabi Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders
Eyebrows were raised when the defending champions Kolkata allowed their captain to leave for Punjab, and I’m sure the Knight Riders are already regretting that decision.
Iyer has looked in stunning form for the Kings, and under his leadership, they look to have a great chance of making the Playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
When in full flow, he is a joy to watch, an instinctive batter who makes scoring quickly look effortless. If the second half of his season is as good as the first half, the calls for a recall into the Indian T20 side will only get louder.
Noor Ahmad (Chennai Super Kings)
In the struggling CSK side, Noor has been a revelation. The 20-year-old left-arm wrist spinner holds the purple cap and has completely outbowled his more esteemed Afghan team-mate Rashid Khan.
He’s not a big spinner of the ball but bowls with such pace and subtle variation that any kind of turn is very hard for the batters to counteract. I’m not sure he’ll stay at the top of wicket taking list but his stock has already risen significantly in just seven matches.
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Highlights from the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals)
After a terrible start to the competition where he broke records for all the wrong reasons Archer has been back to close to his fast and furious best in the last five matches.
It’s not just the stats, it’s who he’s got out and the way he’s got them. Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Rachin Ravindra, and young sensation Priyansh Arya were all dismissed with absolute beauties to get Rajasthan off to a flying start with the ball.
Who is struggling?
Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)
Rohit can’t buy a run at the moment and looks way off his game. He’ll be 38 years old in a few days, and the inevitable questions about whether he is done in this format are being asked.
There’s no doubt he looks sluggish and slow to catch up with the pace of the game but I wouldn’t be writing him off just yet.
He’s retired from T20 internationals and I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays a couple more IPL seasons at least. He just needs a score to quieten the noise.
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Highlights from the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals.
Rishabh Pant (Lucknow Super Giants)
The most expensive signing ever at an IPL auction is not justifying his price tag just yet. He is the kind of player who can regularly go through lean patches due to his high-risk approach to batting, and that is why I always thought it was a questionable decision to splurge so much of Lucknow’s budget on him.
Luckily for Pant, Pooran and Mitchell Marsh have picked up the run-scoring slack, but LSG’s owners have high expectations, and a poor season could even see him sold in the next auction.
Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans)
Perhaps the most surprising drop-off in form has come from Rashid. For so many years, he has been a trump card in the IPL, but he has suddenly looked to have lost a bit of the zip and trickery that made him the best T20 bowler in the world.
Do batters now find it easier to pick him?
The fear factor of old seems to have gone, but it would still be a shock if he doesn’t perform better in the second half of the season.
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Highlights of Delhi Capitals’ six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League.
Chennai Super Kings
The most successful team in IPL history looks like they could be heading for a second group exit in a row.
They’ve been in this situation before and come back very strongly when the pressure is on, but this just feels a little different.
The batting looks underpowered, and now captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is out for the season. MS Dhoni is back at the helm and, with concerns over his contributions with the bat, getting Chennai into the Playoffs from here might be one of his best achievements in the IPL.
Watch every match from the 2025 IPL live on Sky Sports Cricket, up to and including the final on Sunday May 25.
