The Veteran (Gurgaon), 01 Apr, 2025: It has been 12 matches and 10 days since the 2025 IPL has started. Interestingly, RCB, probably first time in their history had beaten both KKR and CSK in consecutive games in their respective home grounds convincingly to claim the top spot. The question in millions of RCB fans’ mind is if this is the year of rejuvenation and the glory. While the early signs are there, it is a long tournament, and many things may happen. Tournament favorite SRH is now positioned at 3rd from last and they definitely have the fire power to come back. So, is the case of almost all other teams. How the story unfolds will only be clear with time and until then let’s just enjoy.

In the Virtual world in the IL Masters’ group, competition is getting more intense with every match. In the starting of the tournament, the Dark Horse had a dream opening with 3 wins in the first 3 matches and all the other masters were in awe. Story had changed since then. The Dark Horse became a bit defensive and safe while others motivated to beat him started taking risks. And it paid off. Mr Man, The Bond and especially the ClutchGod all showed their prowess and own two matches each and after winning the last match, the ClutchGod equaled the number of wins with The Dark Horse. Well done all of you.

The Dark Horse is well ahead of others in the category of fastest to 25k and captain cool category due to his consistency even though he did not manage to win any more after his opening blast. He might be in a dilemma where he needs to strategize whether he wants to take more risk to go for more wins or just stay safe and rather go for the fastest to 25K. Tough choice mate, let’s see what you choose.

The story is not very well so far for the other contestants. The Veteran somehow maintained his position as second for both captain cool and the overall score but he is yet to taste his first victory. Best of luck for next matches.

The HR and the Dude, each had won one match, but other than that their performance is not noteworthy. While Dude is an experienced candidate, he never takes the tournament seriously enough and experiment too much, the HR is learning fast and has the potential to become a strong competitor in the long run. Let’s see what unfolds.

The Terminator had definitely shown some characteristic surprises in team selection, it did not work out yet. He tends to favor bowlers and new players, similar strategy helped ClucthGod claiming the top spot but did not work for the Terminator. It is a game of luck after all. So, good luck for that.

The Expert while doing well in overall ranking and positioned at number 3, is but a shadow of herself from last to last tournament where she swept away all others like a typhoon and won back to back 6 matches which till date is a record that no one even came close to yet. She now needs to show if she is one tournament wonder or she has it in her to be consistent at the highest level.

The Invincible and Akshu Baby are playing well, but their inconsistency in participation has impacted their performance. While the Invincible has missed 5 out of 12 matches, Akshu Baby missed 2. They are averaging quite high in the matches that played, however, that wont help them much. Do participate more guys, make it more competitive.

The remaining masters, who have at least participated in more than 5 matches are The Nashedi, and Miss Genius. Both of them received 2 wooden spoons each. Their performance is among the worst among all masters and they have to improve. The Nashedi might just be taking it too casually and being a new player might be in learning phase. This cannot be said about Miss Genius. Miss Genius who recently changed her name, had a few bad luck and clutch moments which did not work in her favor. Her performance in the last few matches brought her down even further. Both of them need a win for both boost of their morale and get back into the rhythm. Best of luck for that.

Finally, the Bond is playing like he always does and won 3 wooden spoons while winning 2 matches as well. This is usually his style of play. He abhors mediocrity and either always at top or at the bottom. So, I am quite sure that he is not very unhappy about it.