Jasprit Bumrah hitting a home run and RCB’s comeback with Virat Kohli’s 708: As the group stage draws to a close, we look at 10 numbers that have shaped the first 70 matches of IPL 2024. These include Virat Kohli’s 708 runs and Jasprit Bumrah’s 20 wickets; SRH and KKR’s dominance in the powerplay and RCB’s late comeback; MI’s worst season in the tournament’s history and CSK’s rare postseason miss. It has been an exciting 17th season.
The batter’s season: lots of sixes, explosive run rates, and large totals
In the 17th IPL season, bats have dominated the ball more than ever. There have been a record 1208 sixes in the tournament, more than the 1124 in 2023 and the highest for any season. At the conclusion of 70 games, the run-rate is an astounding 9.61. It was 9.39 at the conclusion of the first 17 games, increased to 9.49 in the middle of the season, moved north to 9.58 after 54 games, and has since kept rising!
This season, 200+ has been surpassed 41 times, surpassing the 37 times in 2023 as a record. In this edition, four of the top five team totals have been destroyed, and four times, a match aggregate of 500 or more has been crossed—a feat that was never accomplished in the tournament’s first 16 years!
Top of the run-charts: Kohli
At the height of his batting ability this season, Virat Kohli is the top run scorer with 708 runs in 14 innings at an average of 64.4, including five fifty-score innings. What has distinguished Kohli this season, other from his unwavering consistency, is the pace at which he has scored runs. With a season-high strike rate of 155.6 in 2024, Kohli has surpassed his previous best of 152 in 2016.
After his heroics against CSK in Bengaluru, Kohli also topped the sixes chart until Abhishek Sharma passed him. With 37 maximums, he is now ranked second and the only right-hander in a list primarily made up of southpaws. Completing the top 5 are Abhishek Sharma (41), Travis Head (31) Sunil Narine (32) and Nicholas Pooran (36).
The bowler with the biggest influence of the season is Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is by far the most impactful bowler of the competition with a total of 20, even though Harshal Patel has claimed two extra wickets. Without much assistance from the other side, Bumrah spearheaded the MI assault throughout the season and was the most economical bowler in the competition both in terms of economy of steal (6.1) and powerplay (economy of 6). To put things in context, the other MI bowlers’ collective economy was 10.6.
In four games, Bumrah came back with three or more wickets in an innings and an economy of less than seven in nine, an incredible feat in a tournament when the bat has dominated the bowl like never before and run rates have reached all-time highs.
KKR’s complete dominance
With just three losses from their 14 games played, KKR leads the points table heading into the playoffs. They have been the greatest all-around squad this season. Having won four straight games in their previous four encounters, they are riding high. In the tournament, KKR has the best run rate, the greatest balls/boundary ratio, and the second-best batting average.
In addition, KKR has the highest strike rate and bowling average in the competition. With the best average and strike rate, the spin unit, spearheaded by Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, has taken the most wickets (33) and performed exceptionally well. With the second-best economy after CSK, it has also been quite restricted.
The player with the biggest impact on the competition is Sunil Narine
The primary factor for KKR’s extraordinary success this season has been Sunil Narine’s outstanding all-around performance. With a total of 461 runs scored at a strike rate of 182.9 in 12 innings, Narine is the Knight Riders’ top scorer. In the competition, he amassed his first-ever T20 century and went on to deliver four more highly significant performances, scoring forty or more runs at a strike rate of two hundred or more.
With an economy rate of just 6.63, narine is also the most restricted spinner in the competition. Narine has been the only off-spinner to stand out in a season where wrist spinners have dominated. Not only has Narine controlled the flow of runs in the middle overs, but she has also picked important wickets. This season, Narine has an economy of 7.5 or lower in up to 10 games!
SRH’s performance in the powerplay and the Head-Sharma collaboration
This season, SRH has spearheaded a batting revolution and excelled on the powerplay. In the first six overs, no side has amassed a bigger total than the Sunrisers’ 920. They’ve been working at a knot-like pace! With a startling run-rate of 11.8 in the powerplay, SRH leads the competition by a wide margin.
This season, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head have destroyed opposing bowling units in the powerplay. No tandem has amassed more runs than the 676 added by the SRH opening pair, who have done so at an incredible 229.2 rpm! They have also partnered for the most three hundred times this season of any duo. Along with KKR, SRH has scored more than 70 runs in the powerplay in as many as six games this year, which is more than any other side. They are the team with the most sixes this season, having smashed 160 of them.
RCB’s belated comeback
RCB, who had only one victory in their first eight games of the season, became the first team in IPL history to qualify for the postseason. They achieved a spectacular 27-run victory over their bitter rivals CSK at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, capping up an incredible 2024 turnaround. RCB has won six straight games, almost all of which were crucial matchups. This is their second-longest winning streak in the IPL, after only 2011’s run.
The worst season ever for MI
With 10 losses from 14 games, MI finished at the bottom of the points table, setting a new low for the team this season. It is the worst performance they have ever had in a season; in the 2022 edition, they also dropped ten games as the squad underwent a change of leadership. They were, nevertheless, one of the pre-tournament favorites this time around.
CSK’s uncommon failure to advance to the playoffs
CSK, the five-time champions, missed out on the IPL playoffs for only the third time in 15 seasons. This season, CSK did not perform to their full potential and never gained any traction in the standings. While the spinners were restricting the opposition, they were unable to produce the breakthroughs in the middle overs. Their batting was subpar and a little too conservative.
At no point throughout their campaign did CSK win more than two straight games. After six overs, they had the third-lowest run-rate (8.7) and failed to take full advantage of the powerplay. With the exception of Ruturaj Gaikwad, their top-order was erratic, while Shivam Dube, their middle-order talisman, ran out of steam toward the end of the competition.
Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants: it’s not always the case that the slow and steady wins!
The Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants were too slow and cautious in the powerplay, failing to keep up with the tournament’s high batting standards. They were bottom of the pack in the first six overs and had the poorest run-rate of the season (GT – 8.7 & LSG – 9.1).
The Titans had by far the fewest sixes in the league, hitting just 67 during the season. Additionally, they had the lowest balls per boundary ratio of the season, hitting a boundary per 5.6 deliveries. However, LSG was the slowest team in the death overs, with a run rate of just 10.6, and had the second-worst balls per boundary ratio in the edition!
