Despite major controversies – the Slapgate and spot-fixing, for example – the Indian Premier League (IPL) continued to draw tremendous crowd, year after year. The eleventh edition was no exception.
Gujarat Lions (GL) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) were disbanded following their two allotted seasons. As replacement, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) returned to the fray.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) failed to ensure a Playoffs berth. Rohit Sharma’s men finished fifth in the league table, two points behind fourth-placed Rajasthan. With 512 runs at 133, Suryakumar Yadav was their leading run-scorer, while Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah shared 35 wickets.
With nine wins, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) topped the table despite the absence of David Warner. Stand-in skipper Kane Williamson won the Orange Cap: he scored 735 at 52.5 with a strike rate of 142. On the other hand, Rashid Khan (21) and Siddarth Kaul (21) were only behind Andrew Tye’s 24 in the Purple Cap list.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) finished in the bottom three, in that order. Despite that, Delhi’s Rishabh Pant (684 at 174) and Punjab’s KL Rahul (659 at 158) finished second and third on the top-run getters tally. Both played three matches fewer than Williamson’s 17.
Chennai clinched the same number of wins as Hyderabad in the league stage. The two teams were separated only on net run rate. A revamped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), with eight wins, filled the remaining Playoffs spot.
In Qualifier 1, Hyderabad struggled to reach 139/7, Carlos Brathwaite top-scoring with a 29-ball 43 not out. Coming at the chase, Chennai were reduced to 92/7 at one stage. However, Faf du Plessis (67* off 42) remained till the end and took Chennai past the finishing line with five balls in hand.
Kolkata cruised past Rajasthan in the Eliminator to face Hyderabad in Qualifier 2. Then, Rashid played a crucial cameo before tore Kolkata batters apart with 3-19. Chasing 175, Kolkata ended on 160/9. With that, Hyderabad reached an IPL final twice in three years.
Despite the defeat, Kolkata’s Sunil Narine bagged the MVP award for his all-round show. Narine scored 357 runs at a strike rate of 190 and picked up 17 wickets at an economy rate of 7.65.
Hyderabad piled a formidable 178/6 on board after MS Dhoni won the toss and asked them to bat. Yusuf Pathan remained not out at 45 off 25 balls, while Williamson top-scored with 47. Apart from Deepak Chahar, each of the five Chennai bowlers have had a wicket apiece.
Shane Watson then set the stage on fire after struggling the entire season. He effectively killed the contest with a 57-ball 117 not out, guiding Chennai to their third IPL title with nine balls to spare. Until then, only Mumbai had won as many titles.