IPL 2018: 5 Milestones in the first 5 matches of IPL

The Indian Premier League has been one of those leagues were records and milestones are made and broken on a regular basis.

The matches not only witness thrilling encounters but with those thrillers, comes the chance of breaking and making some brilliant milestones. Over the years, numerous records have been created and bettered by the players and teams.

The 11th season of the championship is up and running with five matches already done. The season is new but has already witnessed some nail-biting last over finishes and scintillating records. Here we look at the five milestones created in the first five matches of the IPL.

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#5 CSK registered their fastest team fifty in IPL history

Chennai Super Kings returned after a long wait two years. The team came back after two years and made sure that they do it in style.

Best known for the fierce on-field game, the super kings didn’t disappoint their fans as they clinched victory in two consecutive matches.

CSK played their second match against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Andre Russell blitz helped the KKR to set a huge target of 204 runs.

Chasing a mammoth score, CSK needed a good start. The openers didn’t disappoint the team management as they scored 50 runs in just 3.4 overs.

This was the fastest ever team fifty for the Superkings as the surpassed their previous record i.e. 50 runs in 3.5 overs. CSK further went on to win this match as they scored 17 runs in last over and won the match in style.

#4 Sunil Narine first to two fifties under 18 balls

Narine has a special liking towards the RCB bowling

The third match of IPL 11 was played between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Virat Kohli had claimed before the tournament that their bowling attack will dominate this year in the IPL.

But the way Sunil Narine smashed them in the powerplay might have prompted him to think over his comments.

Chasing 177 runs in 20 overs, the KKR opener smashed a 17-ball fifty and got his team off to a blazing start.

The way he was hitting the ball, ask any of the bowlers from the RCB the only reply you’ll get is “That wasn’t a willow, it was a magic wand.”

With the help of this innings, Narine also became the first player to score two half-centuries under 18 balls in IPL.

#3 KL Rahul scored the fastest fifty in IPL

The Delhi bowlers felt the wrath of Rahul's bat

It was the second match of the IPL 11. The Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab was facing the Gautam Gambhir's Delhi Daredevils.

Delhi was off to a slow start but Gambhir played a captain’s knock and led the team to a respectable total of 166 runs.

Chasing 167 runs, out came the Punjab openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul. The rest, as they say, is history!

Rahul brutally smacked the KXIP bowlers and went on to score the fastest 50 in the history of IPL surpassing Yusuf Pathan and Narine.

The Karnataka batsman scored 51 runs in 14 balls and simply made people chortle at the bowlers.

The fine blend of brutal force and finesse in his innings was indeed a treat to watch. KXIP easily chased down the target with seven balls to spare and won the match.

#2 Virat Kohli: The only player to play 150 matches from the same franchise

Kohli is playing his 11th season with RCB

The Royal Challengers Bangalore fans have been able to witness Virat Kohli's transformation from a chubby teenager to one of the modern geniuses of the game right through his stint from 2008.

He has undoubtedly been one of the most loyal players of the franchise. Kohli is the only player to play for the same franchise in all the 11 seasons.

Till the 10th season, Shaun Marsh and Harbhajan Singh were also the players to play from the same franchise but the tables turned as Bhajji was bought by the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL Auctions 2018 and Marsh went unsold.

Since then, Kohli is the only player to be retained by the team ever since the inaugural season.

Though the RCB captain has never been able to ensure the silverware to his team but has smacked over 4000 runs and four centuries in the tournament.

#1 Mujeeb Zadran becomes the youngest player to play in the IPL

Mujeeb Ur Rahman also known as Mujeeb Zadran plays cricket for the Afghanistan Cricket team.

He is the first male international cricketer who is born in the 21st century. The young spinner holds the record of being the youngest player to take a five-wicket haul in ODIs. Born on 28 March 2001, Zadran took Afghanistan to their maiden U-19 Asia Cup victory.

Looking at his decent performance in Bangladesh Premier League, the IPL franchises also showed interest in the young lad as he fetched a hefty pay-check of Rs. 4 crores from the franchise KXIP.

On 8th April 2018, in the second match of IPL 11, Zadran made his IPL debut for KXIP at the age of 17 years 11 days and became the youngest player to ever play in the tournament's history.