The worst IPL teams and more

Most successful team
Chennai Super Kings have made it to the knock-out stages ("final four") of the Indian Premier League in each of the seven previous editions, two times more than any other team. Prior to the 2014 edition, Super Kings had made four consecutive finals, winning two of those. They have played five finals in total, with no other team managing more than two such appearances. Super Kings have won 84 T20 matches in all, more than any other team in all T20 cricket, whether international or domestic. There is little doubt they have been the most successful T20 team in the format's short history and probably come into the 2015 IPL as favourites despite an average 2014 campaign, even if only by their own standards, where the team lost a high-scoring Qualifier (effectively a semi-final) to Kings XI Punjab.

* Deccan Chargers won the 2009 IPL and reached the Final-Four stage of the 2010 edition

Least successful teams
King's XI have failed to make the final four in five of seven IPL tournaments. They made the final four in the first and last editions of the IPL, missing out on five consecutive occasions in between. The only other team that has failed to make the final four on five occasions is Rajasthan Royals. However, unlike Kings XI who have never won an IPL trophy, the Royals punched above their weight to be crowned Champions of the inaugural edition in 2008.

Delhi Daredevils have the poorest win-loss ratio among the eight teams who are set to be part of this IPL. They have an IPL win-loss ratio of 0.745, having lost 59 matches and won only 44. Super Kings, in sharp contrast, have the best win-loss ratio (1.568), having won 69 matches and lost only 44. However, unlike Kings XI and Royals who have only made the Final Four in two editions of the IPL, Daredevils have done so on three occasions. But again, Kings XI and Royals have made an IPL final on one occasion each, with the Daredevils never managing to make the title match despite reaching the Final Four on more occasions.

Losing streak
Among the teams that have played in each of the seven editions so far, Daredevils are the only one that haven't made at least one IPL final. Adding to this ignominy is that fact that Daredevils are currently on a nine-match losing streak, having lost each of their last nine games in the 2014 edition. The record for the most consecutive IPL losses is 11, suffered by Pune Warriors during the 2012 and 2013 editions. Daredevils will the hoping to avoid that record, and also worsening their overall T20 win-loss ratio (0.774) in the process, which is already 24th on the list of 30 teams that have played at least 100 T20s each.

Knockout kings
Knight Riders have won 80% of their final four games in the IPL, a better record than even Super Kings (64%), who are arguably the most successful T20 team of all time. Knight Riders have won four of their five final-four matches. Though Knight Riders have only made the final-four stage in three of the seven editions, they finished Champions in two of those campaigns (2012 and 2014), the joint-most for any IPL team. Super Kings have two titles as well.

Teams which played musical chairs
Ten teams have played in more than one season of the IPL. Four out of these ten teams - Mumbai Indians, Knight Riders, Kings XI and Super Kings - have used less than nine new players per season. Five of the seven IPL titles have been won by these four teams. Each of the six remaining teams have used more than nine new players per season and shared only two IPL titles between them.

Super Kings have only used 57 players over the course of seven IPL seasons, 16 fewer than any other team that has played in seven editions. Four out of the eight teams playing the 2015 IPL - Mumbai Indians, Knight Riders, Kings XI and Super Kings - have used less than nine new players per season. These four teams have played a total of 32 IPL games in the final-four stages of the tournament. The other four teams - Daredevil, Royal Challengers, Sunrisers and Royals - have cumulatively played only 16 final-four matches.

Daredevils once again made wholesale changes at the 2015 auction, buying 14 new players, more than any team at this year's auction. They will be hoping to buck the above trend and overcome their own poor form on the way to a successful 2015 campaign.