IPL Highlights, Records created & Performance of Youngsters so far
Written By: Prithvi (Puneite_)
More than a week has passed since India’s biggest festival, the IPL, commenced. The IPL returned to the country after 2 seasons to bring back the natural flavour, enthusiasm, crowds, and high scoring matches – everything that had been missing during the UAE leg. Many expected that this IPL would be another bore fest with 2 new teams, viewer fatigue, players pulling out due to bio bubble fatigue, retirements of stars like Gayle, AB, Malinga & Raina going unsold, numerous injuries, and some players unavailable due to national commitments. But against all odds and to many people’s surprise, this opening week has been so far a blockbuster and entertaining one.
Even though it is still early days, there have been many match-winning performances from players who had been considered a bad buy or deemed unfit for T20s. Take the eg of Umesh Yadav, he was warming the bench for the past 2 seasons and is now the purple cap holder. He has the most wkts in the Powerplay and has the best dot ball percentage. Rahul Tewatia faced a lot of flak last year after a dull show but he took GT over the line in a classic Tewatia style finish. Mohammad Shami rocked Lucknow’s top order and ended with 3 wkts. Shivam Dube has played 2 quickfire knocks for CSK and is striking at 165.
Records Created after 11 Games
– Harshal Patel became the 2nd bowler after Siraj to bowl maidens in a IPL game.
– Dwayne Bravo became the highest wicket taker in the history of IPL.
– Lucknow Super Giants chased down the 5th highest total in IPL.
– CSK lost their 1st 2 opening games for the 1st time.
– Umesh Yadav became the 4th bowler after Zaheer Khan, Sandeep Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to take 50 wickets in Powerplay.
– Umesh Ydav recorded the most number of Man of the Matches against a team (PBKS: 6)
– Liam Livingstone recorded a 108m six during his innings against CSK.
– MS Dhoni played his 350th T20 match.
– Tilak Verma has become the youngest batsman to score a fifty for Mumbai Indians.
– PBKS chased down a 200+ total for the 4th time
– PBKS chased down the highest total in IPL without an individual fifty
The highlight of this tournament so far has been seeing uncapped youngsters compete against world class players and show remarkable composure under pressure.
1. Take the first example of Ayush Badoni. Referred to as Baby AB because of the range of the shots his possesses, Badoni scored 54(41) on debut after walking out to bat on 29-4. He was fearless while taking on the best T20 bowler Rashid Khan. Lucknow were in even more trickier situation against CSK chasing 211. Badoni held his nerve and scored 19(9) to push Lucknow over the line.
2. Lalit Yadav displayed a similar performance against the 5 times champions Mumbai Indians. He scored 48(38) in a tricky chase with the help of Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel.
3. Tilak Verma created a record by becoming the youngest batter to score a 50 for Mumbai Indians. He was picked by MI at 1.7 crores after facing a little competition from SRH, CSK and RR. His last outings in VHT and SMAT are one of the major reasons why so many franchises raised the paddle for him. He scored 215 runs in SMAT at a strike rate of 147.
4. There are many more examples like Abhinav Manohar , Vaibhav Arora and Jitesh who highly impressed in their 1st appearance. The league will get only richer with more Indian talent and less dependence of overseas star power.
It will be a season filled with high scoring and exciting games since the pitch and conditions favor the batsmen. However, the red soil also offers plenty of possibilities for the bowlers and spinners, especially regarding bounce. In addition, there is a high possibility we’ll see a few familiar faces returning to the national squad such as Samson and Hardik who are doing well so far.
Complete List of Odds of all IPL Teams
Mumbai Indians – 5.50
Delhi Capitals – 6.00
Chennai Super Kings – 7.00
Royal Challengers Bangalore – 8.00
Punjab Kings – 8.00
Kolkata Knight Riders – 9.00
Rajasthan Royals – 10.00
Lucknow Super Giants – 11.00
Gujarat Titans – 13.00
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 21.00
