IPL 2016 in numbers: A look at the stats and the records broken

With the crowning of Sunrisers Hyderabad as the 9th IPL champions, the curtains finally drew on the annual extravaganza named Indian Premier League. It was a case of another season and another success for the organizers as cricket lovers across the country were treated to one of the most open tournaments ever in the light of the suspension of topdog Chennai Super Kings.

As the tournament is known for doing, it once again pitted the best batsmen of the world against the best of the bowlers to proudce cricket of the highest order. As the dust settles on the 9th edition of the Indian Premier League, we take a look at some of the astonishing numbers that the tournament will leave us with.

973 runs by Virat Kohli – In the wake of his dream run with the bat in the shortest format of the game, the RCB captain has attracted the sobriquet of ‘T20 Bradman’ and ‘Bradmanesque’ is what his staggering feat of accumulating 973 runs in one season might prove. Kohli finished the tournament with 973 runs at an average of 81 with 4 tons and 7 fifties.

23 wickets by Bhuvneshwar Kumar – The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler was in top form and served his skipper Warner well both at the start of the innings and in the death overs to end with 23 scalps to his name at an average of 21.30.

19 catches by AB de Villiers – Although a back injury kept him away from donning the wicket keeping gloves, the South African was a dangerous presence in the outfield, pulling off many a stunners among the 19 catches that he managed to grab in his 17 outings.

38 sixes by Virat Kohli – Known for his gap finding abilities and hare like running between the wickets, Kohli flashed a new dimension of his game in this IPL as he hit a whopping 38 maximums in the tournament to go with his 83 boundaries.

229 run partnership between Kohli and de Villiers – Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers pummeled the Gujarat Lions bowling attack into submission at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in what is the highest ever partnership in a T20 game. The duo toppled their own record of 215* created last year at the Wankhede against the Mumbai Indians.

409 runs- Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad have produced run feasts before and the final proved another such affair where runs flowed from the blades of batsmen as bowlers ran for cover. 408 runs were scored in the final but it still finished as the second highest scoring game. The league match between the two teams produced a jaw dropping 409 runs.

22 off 8 – Mahendra Singh Dhoni shocked his fans when he played out the slowest innings in the history of Indian Premier League. Dhoni scored just 8 off 22 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders when showers brought the game to a halt, leaving the swashbuckling skipper with a dubious record.

150.31 by Jason Holder – Athough the West Indian could manage only a few outings for his franchise, he still will go down as the bowler who sent down the fastest delivery. However, Proteas pacer Chris Morris proved the fastest bowler of the tournament, consistently sending down 145k thunderbolts.

18 Dots by Dwayne Smith – Dwayne Smith surprised many and probably himself as well, when he snared 4 scalps against Kolkata Knight Riders with his dilly dobbly medium pace bowling. What’s more astonishing about his spell was that he bowled 18 dots in the 4 over spell that fetched him 4 wickets.

144 runs – Bangalore staved off a 9 year old ignominy when they defeated Gujarat Lions by 144 runs to achieve the biggest victory ever in terms of runs, because it was a record that Bangalore had found themselves on the other side of in the first match of Indian Premier League ever when they were blown off by a whirlwind 158* from Brendon McCullum, losing by 140 runs.