IPL 2018: 8 records created in the first week of IPL 2018

"If you don't have a standard for yourself, you have no records to beat; and if you don't have any record to beat, you can't excel"

The Indian Premier League (IPL 2018), one of the most enchanting, compelling and thrilling T-20 cricket tournaments began with a bang on April 7, 2018. The IPL is not only a tournament of entertainment but also a tournament of talents & records.The IPL acts a great platform for players to create records by showcasing their knacks and every player wants to script their names in the book of records.

In the IPL, records are created and broken (all records are meant to be broken) on a daily basis because of the quality of players and the quality of cricket played around in the tournament. The first seven days of the IPL 2018 has witnessed some records, which were created by the players and by the teams. Let's take a peep at those records:

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#8 Most number of sixes in a single match

Russell slammed 11 sixes out of (total) 31 sixes

On 10 April 2018, Chennai Super Kings locked horns with Kolkata Knight Riders in the den (at Chepauk) after two long years. KKR posted a mammoth total of 202 runs losing 6 wickets, thanks to Russell's unbeaten 88 runs (1 four, 11 sixes) in just 36 balls. But, England's Sam Billings (debut match for CSK) scored a match-winning 56 runs ( 2 fours, 5 sixes) off 23 balls, which aided CSK to beat KKR by 5 wickets and 1 ball to spare.

In that match which kept the audiences at the edge of their seats, a total of 31 sixes were smashed by both the teams (KKR - 17 sixes; CSK - 14 sixes), which is a record for the most number of sixes in a single IPL match so far. It is very rare and unfortunate to see a team ended up on the losing side after hitting 17 sixes!

#7 Most matches played by a player before captaining a team in IPL

Ravichandran Ashwin

In the 11 edition of the IPL, Ravichandran Ashwin became the first bowler to captain Kings XI Punjab team. In his 112th match, the off-spinner from Tamil Nadu was given the responsibility to lead his team KXIP against Delhi Daredevils on April 8, 2018. In the very first match as skipper, Ashwin produced an excellent bowling figure of 4-0-23-1 and led KXIP to victory against DD.

After 111 matches, Ashwin became the 11th skipper of KXIP and it was the most number of matches (111 matches) played by a player before captaining a team in the IPL, breaking the previous record of 97 matches held by Ajinkya Rahane.

#6 Youngest player in the IPL history

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Afghan off-break bowler Mujeeb Ur Rahman plays for Kings XI Punjab in the 11th edition of the IPL 2018. On April 8, 2018, at the age of 17 years and 11 days, Rahman eclipsed the previous record of being the youngest cricketer to play in the IPL, previously held by Royal Challengers Bangalore's Sarfaraz Khan (17 years and 177 days). He helped KXIP in restricting Delhi Daredevils to 166-7 in 20 overs with a decent bowling figure of 4-0-28-2.

#5 Fastest fifty in the IPL

K L Rahul celebrating his half-century vs Delhi Daredevils

On April 8, 2018, Kings XI Punjab's wicket-keeper batsman K L Rahul scored the fastest ever half-century in the history of the IPL against Delhi Daredevils. He reached his 50 in just 14 balls (surpassing the previous joint record held by Yusuf Pathan and Sunil Narine in 15 balls) and blasted 51 runs (6 fours, 4 sixes) in just 16 balls at a stunning strike rate of 318.75, which aided KXIP to beat DD by 6 wickets.

KL Rahul is the second most expensive Indian player (worth Rs. 11 crores) in the IPL 2018. Rahul has proven his worth in his very first match in the IPL 2018 and KXIP is already getting good value for their money from him.

#4 First cricketer to play for 7 different teams in the IPL

Aaron Finch bagged a golden duck in his first match for Kings XI Punjab

Aussie T-20 specialist batsman Aaron Finch is currently playing for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2018. Due to his wedding, Finch missed the season opener of his team KXIP against Delhi Daredevils. On April 13, 2018, in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Finch became the first player in the history of the IPL to play for seven different teams, since his debut for Rajasthan Royals in 2010.

Over the course of the competition, Finch featured in 7 different jerseys (from 2010 to till date), thus making him the Zlatan Ibrahimovic of the IPL. He has scored 1603 runs in 66 IPL matches with a strike rate of 130.33 so far in IPL.

Teams Played: Rajasthan Royals (2010), Delhi Daredevils (2011-12), Pune Warriors India (2013), Sun Risers Hyderabad (2014), Mumbai Indians (2015), Gujarat Lions (2016-17), Kings XI Punjab (2018).

#3 1000 plus balls bowled without a no-ball by a fast bowler

Unadkat celebrating a wicket with his Rajasthan Royals teammates

No-balls are part and parcel of cricket matches. A no-ball might alter the course of a match and of course, it might also change the outcome of a match (RP Singh's no-ball of the final delivery vs Chennai Super Kings). Fast bowlers are more prone to bowl no-balls when comparing with spinners.

Jaydev Unadkat of Rajasthan Royals has bowled 1010 balls without a single no-ball so far in his IPL career. It's really quite an achievement for a fast bowler to bowl 1000 plus balls without a no-ball in the IPL. He is the most expensive Indian player and overall the second most expensive player of the IPL 2018.

#2 The highest number of 50+ runs scored by a batsman in the IPL

Gautham Gambhir

In 2018 IPL, Indian southpaw Gautam Gambhir has returned back to Delhi Daredevils (where he started his IPL career) after spending seven long seasons with Kolkata Knight Riders. The local boy is the current skipper of DD and he aims to win the IPL trophy with his home team.

Gambhir has scored 4203 runs from 150 odd matches at a strike rate of 124.57 and with a healthy average of 31.6 in the IPL. He currently holds the record for scoring the most number of 50+ scores in the history of the tournament.

On April 8, 2018, Delhi Daredevils led by Gautam Gambhir faced Ravichandran Ashwin's Kings XI Punjab at Mohali stadium. In that match, Gambhir reached his record half century (36th in the IPL) and scored 55 runs of 42 balls, which helped DD to reach a par score of 166 runs losing 7 wickets in 20 overs. But, Gambhir's fifty went in vain as KXIP chased down the target in the 19th over, with the help of K L Rahul's brilliant knock and won the match by 6 wickets.

#1 First team to lose by one wicket in two matches

Unpredictable Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians were the first team to win 3 IPL titles and they are one of the most consistent teams in the Indian Premier League tournament. Only thrice in the history of IPL (2008-18), a team has lost a match by one wicket (Kings XI Punjab was the first team to lose a match by a wicket against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2015). In 2018 IPL, MI became the second team after KKR to lose a match by the smallest margin in terms of wickets (1 wicket).

In the 11th edition of the IPL, defending champions Mumbai Indians also became the first team in the IPL history to lose a match by 1 wicket on two different occasions. On April 7, 2018, in the inaugural match, Chennai Super Kings stunned the 3 times IPL trophy winners MI by one wicket in a nail-biting thriller. Similarly, on April 12, 2018, SunRisers Hyderabad beat MI by a wicket in an exhilarating contest.

We can expect some more adrenaline pumping matches in this season since IPL is always famous for close encounters and high-speed chases.