IPL RECORDS | The Indian Premier League is the country’s biggest sporting event, with lots of entertainment, action and of course, cricket. Over the course of 11 years, several records have been set. So, here are 11 such records held by various players and teams over the past decade.
It is that time of the year again. Along with summer arrives India’s biggest sporting extravaganza complete with fandom, frenzy and of course, lots of cricket. Over the course of 11 years, several records were set and re-set time and again.
The 12th edition can be expected to change a few of them while a few others are too monumental to be touched. So, without further ado, let us take a look at 11 records set in the past 11 editions of the Indian Premier League.
While bowlers have their share of success, T20 cricket is primarily seen as a batsman’s game. Naturally, highest run-getters is our first category and the record is held by Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) Suresh Raina.
The southpaw has played all his IPL career for the Chennai franchise except for two years with Gujarat Lions (GL). Over the course of 11 years, he amassed 4985 runs. Hot on his heels is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli, who is trailing Raina by just 37 runs.
Both players are still playing in the tournament, thus, setting up a superb battle for the top spot.
After looking at the prime batting statistic, it is natural to look at the corresponding bowling one – most wickets. In this category, legendary toe-crusher Lasith Malinga is the leader with 154 wickets.
The Sri Lankan pacer picked all his wickets for Mumbai Indians (MI) and is set to add to his tally this season as well. Close on his heels are two leg-spinners – Delhi Capitals’ (DC) Amit Mishra (146 wickets) and Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Piyush Chawla (140 wickets).
Thus, the wicket-taking department is also set for a tussle at the top this season.
In order to complete the set, we look at fielding in the form of the highest number of non-keeper catches taken by a player. It is held once again by Suresh Raina, who has picked up 95 catches so far.
The CSK superstar provides a safe pair of hands while fielding in the slips or in the deep. He has a comfortable lead over MI captain, Rohit Sharma, who has completed 79 catches over the past 11 years.
Now, this record could prove difficult to break in the upcoming edition.
T20 cricket is considered to be the most entertaining form of the sport and the number of sixes hit play a huge part towards that label. Naturally, the ones who can hit them often are favourites of the franchises as well as the fans.
In this department, there can only be one leader – Christopher Henry Gayle. The West Indian is easily the biggest entertainer in this format of the sport and has etched his name across the world.
He has hit a whopping 292 maximums playing for KKR, RCB and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), currently plying his trade in the latter. In a far-off second place are RCB’s AB de Villiers and CSK’s MS Dhoni with 186 sixes, which highlights the sheer hitting ability of Gayle.
In the exact opposite spectrum of sixes are dot balls. In T20 cricket, dot balls are worth their weight in gold. The difficulty in bowling dots is what makes bowlers special and Harbhajan Singh is the topper in this department.
The off-spinner has played for MI until 2017 and is now a part of the CSK setup. He has bowled 1128 dot balls in 11 seasons and is set to add more this season. In second-place is retired cricketer Praveen Kumar with 1075 dots while Malinga is at third with 1060 dots.
The top spot is far off at the moment, however, there will be a battle for second place between Malinga, Amit Mishra (1027 dots) and Piyush Chawla (1020 dots) in this edition.
In order to achieve records related to consistency such as the above ones, staying fit and in form is vital. Naturally, the ones who can combine fitness and form along with luck play the highest number of matches.
For the third time on this list, it is Suresh Raina who has played the most number of games with 176. He is closely followed by his CSK captain MS Dhoni (175) while MI captain Rohit Sharma is not far away at 173.
Thus, these have been the fittest as well as the most successful players as well with their teams usually making it to the playoffs, thereby getting these players extra games to play.
Moving on to individual performances, the first one up is the highest individual score. This record is unsurprisingly held by Chris Gayle for his monstrous 175* against Pune Warriors back in 2013.
Playing for RCB, Gayle was in full flow as he set the record for the fastest century in just 30 balls as well as hitting the most number of sixes in an innings (17). The second place on this list belongs to Brendon McCullum who kicked off the inaugural IPL with a 158* against RCB in 2008.
This record looks beatable every season but eventually seems too far off by the time May ends.
Talking of the highest individual score, it is only fair to speak about the best bowling figures next. Surprisingly, this record was set in the first IPL season and is yet to be broken.
It is held by Sohail Tanvir, who ended up with match figures of 6/14 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) against CSK. Second place is held by Adam Zampa who picked up six wickets for 19 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) while playing for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in 2016.
Now, this is a record which has stood for more than a decade but is breakable this season.
Reading this list, one can have a little hunch regarding this category, i.e., this record is held by RCB in the game where Gayle smashed 175*. The Bengaluru team ended up at 263/5 and the record is still intact.
Only a superhuman performance could lead to such totals and Gayle provided exactly that against Pune Warriors.
The natural thought is to think of the lowest team total and ironically, RCB hold this record as well. They got bowled out for just 49 runs in the 2017 edition as KKR bowlers ran riot.
Now, these records will take some beating and we need to wait and watch whether these will be broken this season.
It is normal to assume this record to be re-written often, given the high-octane nature of the format. However, this record was also set in the inaugural season and is yet to be broken.RR chased Deccan Chargers’ (DC) total to end up with 217/7, the highest so far.
On the other end, CSK are the team who have defended the lowest total so far. This record was set in the second IPL season against KXIP when the Chennai team scored 116 runs and allowed the chasing team to score just 92 runs.
Now, these records have a genuine chance of getting toppled this year.
Finally, coming to the most important category of any tournament, there is a tie at the top. Both MI anf CSK have lifted the coveted trophy thrice, although the latter have done it, having played two seasons less.
Next on the list are KKR, who have won the IPL twice. Apart from these 3 teams, DC and SRH won a title piece, which can be counted as two wins for Hyderabad franchises. Finally, RR won the inaugural IPL are yet to replicate that achievement.
Thus, the remaining teams will definitely be looking to open their account in this department soon.
To conclude, these are 11 of the best records over the last 11 years of IPL. While a few of them look untouchable this season, most of them have a chance to be rewritten. Also, feel free to share your favourite records in the comments section below.
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