Arya shines, Pant struggles: Five storylines halfway through IPL

The Indian Premier League season reaches the halfway point this week as 10 teams battle for supremacy in the high-octane Twenty20 cricket tournament. AFP Sport highlights five talking points from the opening weeks of the 2025 IPL:

- Chennai slump -

Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to five IPL crowns in the past, but the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman is struggling to inspire the bottom-placed team.

The 43-year-old former India World Cup-winning captain has been among the runs batting down the order, but age seems to have diminished his finishing powers and Chennai have won only one of their six matches. When captainRuturajGaikwad was injured before their last game, Dhoni found himself leading Chennai again.

But they collapsed to 103 all out against Kolkata, who romped to an eight-wicket win with 59 balls to spare.

The team need to find a spark soon, but commentator and former Australia skipper Michael Clarke noted on JioStar that Chennai's approach was "conservative" and their aim seems to be "avoid a big defeat".

- Lefties on top -

Left-arm spinners have proved crucial in keeping control of run rates in the middle overs, with Chennai's Afghanistan wrist spinner Noor Ahmad leading the bowling charts with 12 wickets.

Orthodox leftie Sai Kishore has also been able to choke the scoring rate for Gujarat Titans, as has wrist spinner KuldeepYadav of Delhi Capitals. Yadav picked up two more dismissals Sunday to join Kishore on the 10-wicket mark.

Another left-arm wrist spinner, VigneshPuthur, emerged as a talent to watch after the 24-year-old took three wickets on debut for Mumbai Indians, despite not yet playing senior representative cricket for his state.

>>AFP