IPL 2020 is just a couple of weeks away and as decided due to the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the league is going to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this time. This is not the first time that the IPL has made its voyage to UAE, though. A total of 20 IPL matches were played in UAE back in 2014 to avoid clash with the elections in India. Here, we’ll take a look at how each of the teams fared during their maiden voyage to UAE.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Most runs: Manish Pandey (144)
Most Wickets: Sunil Narine (9)
The Kolkata-based franchise had mixed results in the five matches they played in UAE in 2014. KKR won two and lost three matches. Moreover, one of those three defeats came in the Super over. They beat Mumbai Indians by 41 runs in the opening encounter of the season and won a thriller against Royal Challengers Bangalore by just two runs. The teams they lost against were Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals. KKR went on to win their second title in this season as well.
Mumbai Indians
Most runs: Ambati Rayudu (133)
Most Wickets: Lasith Malinga (8)
Mumbai Indians, the most successful franchise in the history of the IPL now, had the worst outing among all teams in UAE. They had lost all of their five matches held there in 2014 and all of them were by pretty big margins as well. Most of their players underperformed and they had a disastrous outing there. But they recovered once they returned to India. They won seven of their next nine matches and made it to the playoffs as well.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Most runs: Yuvraj Singh (121)
Most Wickets: Varun Aaron (8)
RCB had a stellar start to their outing in UAE last time as they won their first two matches against Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians. But things went upside down soon as they lost three back-to-back matches against Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab thereafter. Their form didn’t improve even after coming back to India and they finished the season at the seventh spot.
Delhi Capitals (Delhi Daredevils in 2014)
Most runs: JP Duminy (173)
Most wickets: Jaydev Unadkat (6)
Delhi didn’t have a good time in UAE either. They had lost three out of their five matches. Their only victories came against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians. Sadly, those two were their only wins in that season as they lost all of their nine matches once they came back to India. As a result, they finished right at the bottom of the points table in the 2014 season.
Chennai Super Kings
Most runs: Dwayne Smith (240)
Most wickets: Mohit Sharma (8)
The three-time IPL winners were one of the best performers in UAE that year. CSK won four out of their five matches, the only game they lost was their opening encounter of that season against Kings XI Punjab. They won five more matches out of their remaining nine after coming back to India and thus qualified for the playoffs comfortably. However, they couldn’t make it to the finale that year.
Kings XI Punjab
Most runs: Glenn Maxwell (300)
Most wickets: Lakshmipathy Balaji (8)
KXIP had the perfect season in UAE last time as they won all of their five matches there. It was their best season in IPL if overall history is considered as well. George Bailey’s leadership worked wonders for them as they finished at the top of the table the end of the league stage. They even made it to the finale. However, they couldn’t cross their one last hurdle as KKR got the better of them on the night of the final.
Rajasthan Royals
Most runs: Ajinkya Rahane (182)
Most wickets:
The Royals had enjoyed a decent outing in UAE last time around. They won three out of their five matches and were the third best side in terms of wins in the UAE-phase of that edition. Except their matches against Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, they went on to win all of their other three matches. However, they couldn’t build on to the advantage as they won only four out of their remaining nine matches after coming to India and thus finished the season as the fifth-best side.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Most Runs: David Warner (163)
Most Wickets: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8)
The Hyderabad-based franchise struggled during their outing in UAE. They won just two — against Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils — out of their five outings but went on to lose their other three matches against Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. SRH couldn’t improve their condition even after returning to India and finished the season at the sixth spot.