IPL 2018: 10 lesser-known facts about the IPL

The Indian Premier League, regarded as the world's most awaited and prestigious Twenty20 tournament, is all set to begin from April 7 at the at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The initial face-off will be between the defending champions Mumbai Indians and two-time title winners Chennai Super Kings.

In the 10 editions of IPL that have been played, the viewers have been entertained to the fullest. There has been plenty of drama in and outside the playing field. Each season has had some unusual incident or the other that created even more buzz about the tournament.

Four tons by Virat Kohli in a single season, hat-tricks by several bowlers, unbelievable catches, exciting super overs, and much more - all of this has been witnessed by millions of viewers across the globe.

The IPL has a dedicated fan following, but still, there are numerous exciting facts and happenings that many are unaware of.

Be prepared to get bewildered with some lesser-known facts about the cash-rich Indian Premier League:

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#10 Zaheer Khan is the only player to feature in the 1st and 500th IPL games

Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan is, amazingly, the only player to be the part of the very first game and the 500th game of the IPL.

In the very first season of the IPL, Zaheer was the part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team who were up against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Zaheer ended up on the losing side; it was Brendon McCullum who made the opening match memorable by scoring a blistering hundred.

Zaheer also featured in the 500th game of the IPL. It was the 8th season of the IPL, and the match in question was between the Delhi Daredevils and the Rajasthan Royals. Zaheer was then the part of the Delhi team.

It is interesting to note that 'Zak' ended up on the losing side in this game as well.

#9 Piyush Chawla went 386 overs without bowling a no-ball

Piyush Chawla was the only long-term bowler who hadn't bowled a no-ball in his IPL career until he bowled one in a match against the Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2016.

The first no-ball of the leg-spinner came after bowling 386 overs in his IPL career. For eight years of the T20 tournament, Chawla had bowled in the most disciplined manner any bowler can bowl. Ironically though, he has conceded more than 100 sixes during his IPL run.

Chawla started his IPL career with the Kings XI Punjab in 2008, and he went on to become one of the leading wicket-takers for the franchise. The leg-spinner was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders in the seventh season of IPL and hit the winning runs for the Gautam Gambhir-led team in the final against his previous team.

During the IPL 2018 auctions, KKR showed great trust in Chawla and used their Right to Match card for the leggie.

#8 Kieron Pollard and AB de Villiers are the only two overseas players to play more than 100 matches for a single franchise

The IPL has come a long way since commencing in the year 2008. There has been lots of shuffling in almost every team. But Kieron Pollard and AB de Villiers remain the only two overseas players to play more than 100 matches for a single franchise.

Pollard made his IPL debut with the Mumbai Indians in 2010. Since then, he has been a part of the same franchise and has played 123 games for them.

On the other hand, AB de Villiers made his first IPL appearance with the Delhi franchise, but since 2011 he has been playing for the RCB. The Proteas batsman has played 101 matches for the Bangalore team.

#7 Ashish Nehra has bowled the most economical spell in the IPL history (after completing full quota of four overs)

In the 10 editions of the Indian Premier League, the most economical spells ever bowled have been by Ashish Nehra and Fidel Edwards. They share the exact same bowling figures - both conceded just 6 runs in their 4 overs, and took 1 wicket each and also bowled 1 maiden over each.

Representing Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2009, Nehra bowled a splendid spell against the Kings XI Punjab. On the other hand, the West Indian fast bowler Fidel Edwards had those figures while playing for the Deccan Chargers against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Interestingly, both these performances occurred in the 2009 IPL which was played in South Africa.

#6 Dinesh Karthik has held the most number of catches

The Indian wicket-keeper batsman, Dinesh Karthik, has held the most number of catches collectively in all the seasons of the IPL.

Karthik has held 88 catches in 152 IPL appearances. He also has 26 stumpings to his name.

Karthik has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat lions. In this year's IPL, he will be making his debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Recently, KKR announced that Dinesh Karthik will be captaining their side.

#5 Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli are the only Indians to win the Most Valuable Player award

The Indian Premier League is in its 11th year and as of now, only two Indian players have managed to win the Most Valuable Player award.

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar won the first award in this category for India in the 2010 IPL season. Tendulkar, playing for the Mumbai Indians, had scored 618 runs in that season. He also won the Orange Cap as he was the leading run scorer in the tournament.

In the eight season of the IPL, Virat Kohli won the Most Valuable Player award and became only the second Indian to win it. Kohli batted magnificently well and scored 973 runs in the season.

Interestingly, this award has been won four times by Aussie players - Shane Watson (twice), Adam Gilchrist and Glenn Maxwell.

#4 Pat Cummins' 153 km/h delivery remains the fastest IPL ball

The 10 years of Indian Premier League have witnessed some excellent bowling performances. Every team has had a few fierce bowlers who have played at the international platform, and whose pace has proven too quick for the batsmen.

The Aussie pacer Pat Cummins bowled the quickest delivery in the IPL while playing for the Delhi Daredevils in the 2017 edition of the IPL.

He bowled the delivery at a destructive pace of 153.56 km/h. During the season, he was bowling at an average speed of 145 km/h.

#3 Praveen Kumar has bowled the most dots in IPL history

With as many as 1,075 dot balls, Indian seamer Praveen Kumar leads the list across all 10 editions of the tournament thus far. He has bowled 420.4 overs in his IPL career.

Even though he has picked up only 90 wickets while playing 119 matches, Praveen Kumar has prevented the opposition batsmen from scoring off as many as 1,075 balls. He possesses an economy of 7.73 in the tournament's history.

Kumar has played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kings XI Punjab and Gujarat Lions as of now.

The former Mumbai Indians duo of Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh are joint-second on the all-time list. They have delivered 1,060 dot balls each in their respective IPL careers.

#2 Harbhajan Singh has 13 IPL ducks to his name

The Indian classic off-spinner has 13 ducks to his name. This is the most by any player in the history of the tournament.

Harbhajan had been the part of the Mumbai Indians since the beginning of the tournament, until the auctions this year.

There have been several instances where Bhajji was used as a floater in the batting order. He has scored quickly for his team on a few occasions as well. Although he has been out for 0 the most number of times, the 'Turbanator' has an impressive strike rate of 142.42 in the IPL.

Harbhajan will be playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the 11th season of the IPL.

#1 RCB holds the record for the highest and lowest totals

One of the most loved IPL teams, the Royal Challengers Bangalore hold a unique record to their name. The team which is full of power hitters has managed to score the highest runs in a single IPL match.

RCB reached a mammoth score of 263/5 against the Pune Warriors India in the 2013 IPL. In a fierce assault on the Pune bowlers, Chris Gayle scored an unbeaten 175 and launched RCB to the highest ever IPL total.

But the same team has the lowest total in the IPL history as well. In the 2017 IPL season, playing against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the RCB batting line-up was bowled out for just 49 runs.

In that game, no RCB batsman was able to get into double figures; Kedar Jadhav top scored with 9 runs.