Indian Premier League (IPL), India’s cash-rich tournament, is one of the most celebrated sports events. IPL Date and schedule is out. At India Fantasy, we give importance to IPL Stats. It’s your one-stop platform, where you will find every cricket stat related to IPL.
Irrespective of the sports League, the tag of the best team is often carried by the team with the most titles. Like in England, Liverpool and Manchester United are considered to be the best teams due to their incredible history. In the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics enjoy that tag. We can go and on, listing the teams from every league. Here over in the IPL, the parameters and the context remain the same. Mumbai Indians are considered to be the IPL Best Team due to their huge success and their dominance, especially in recent seasons where they have been head and shoulders above the rest of the franchises. Just look at the numbers, Mumbai Indians have won five of the last eight IPL titles, which is staggering in every possible way. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings have a valid shot at the IPL Best Team tag. After all, the Yellow Army, under the tutelage of superstar Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has won three IPL titles, while being on the losing end on five different occasions as well.
There can be other factors in determining the Best IPL Team. It's subjective actually, but the number of titles won is often seen as the most common ground for drawing a conclusion. So that being said, here is the list of titles won by every team in the IPL.
Rank | Teams | Winning Seasons | Total Titles |
01. | Mumbai Indians | 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 | 05 |
02. | Chennai Super Kings | 2010, 2011, 2018 | 03 |
03. | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2012, 2014 | 02 |
04. | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2016 | 01 |
05. | Rajasthan Royals | 2008 | 01 |
06. | Deccan Chargers | 2009 | 01 |
As mentioned above, only six teams have managed to win the IPL trophy to date. With five titles, the Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise in the IPL. Here is the list of IPL winners since the first season in 2008
S. NO. | Season | Winner | Runner-Up | Margin |
01. | 2008 | Rajasthan Royals | Chennai Super Kings | 3 Wickets |
02. | 2009 | Deccan Chargers | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 6 Runs |
03. | 2010 | Chennai Super Kings | Mumbai Indians | 22 Runs |
04. | 2011 | Chennai Super Kings | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 58 Runs |
05. | 2012 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Chennai Super Kings | 5 Wickets |
06. | 2013 | Mumbai Indians | Chennai Super Kings | 23 Runs |
07. | 2014 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Kings XI Punjab | 3 Wickets |
08. | 2015 | Mumbai Indians | Chennai Super Kings | 41 Runs |
09. | 2016 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 8 Runs |
10. | 2017 | Mumbai Indians | Rising Pune Supergiants | 1 Run |
11. | 2018 | Chennai Super Kings | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 8 Wickets |
12. | 2019 | Mumbai Indians | Chennai Super Kings | 1 Run |
13. | 2020 | Mumbai Indians | Delhi Capitals | 5 Wickets |
This award goes to the batsmen with the most runs in a single season. It's important to highlight that the playoff games are not included when counting the runs of batsmen. Punjab Kings' swashbuckling captain and right-handed batsman KL Rahul is the reigning Orange Cap holder having racked up 670 runs in 14 innings during the course of the IPL 2020 season. Rahul was prolific and helped Punjab to remain competitive during the season.
How hard it is to win this award is clear as daylight from the fact that only 2 batsmen have ever managed to win more than one Orange Cap since IPL came into existence in 2008. Self-proclaimed Universe Boss Chris Gayle and former Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner are the only two players who dominated the runs charts in more than one IPL season.
Rashid Khan is amongst the bowlers who is undoubtedly one of the most clutch players in the world at the moment. It doesn't matter whether it's the power play or the middle overs when the batsmen normally shape the innings out, or if the inning is ending when the batsmen have only one gear, that is the highest, Afghanistan's superstar bowler is just too good, a bowler for all weathers and conditions.
But the 22-year-old Afghanistan bowler was pipped by the South African speedster Kagiso Rabada who is the reigning Purple Cap holder. The Delhi Capitals bowler clocked 30 wickets in 17 games last season and helped DC reach the finals where they will be undone by the eventual champions Mumbai Indians. That said, Rashid Khan 22-year-old will be amongst the contenders to don the famous cap at the end of the IPL 2021 which will begin on 19 September 2021. On the India Fantasy website, you can find every piece of information regarding the IPL 2021 Schedule.
Here is the list of winners of Purple Cap In IPL:
Season | Player | Team | Country | Matches | Total Wickets |
2008 | Sohail Tanvir | RR | Pakistan | 11 | 22 |
2009 | R. P. Singh | DC | India | 16 | 23 |
2010 | Pragyan Ojha | DC | India | 16 | 21 |
2011 | Lasith Malinga | MI | Sri Lanka | 16 | 28 |
2012 | Morne Morkel | DD | South Africa | 16 | 25 |
2013 | Dwayne Bravo | CSK | West Indies | 18 | 32 |
2014 | Mohit Sharma | CSK | India | 16 | 23 |
2015 | Dwayne Bravo | CSK | West Indies | 16 | 26 |
2016 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | SRH | India | 17 | 23 |
2017 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | SRH | India | 14 | 26 |
2018 | Andrew Tye | CSK | Australia | 14 | 24 |
2020 | Kagiso Rabada | DC | South Africa | 17 | 30 |
T20s are the batsmen game and the pitches in India are a genuine paradise for the batters. That's why in the IPL, since its inception, there have been many instances when the bowlers were put to the swords by the batsman, far more easily and at will at times, making the game of cricket looks like a trait of one skill. And that is, watch the ball and swing your bat. Needless to say, that the teams are touching the elusive 200-run mark easily these days, while the batsmen are erupting with big innings as if it’s a cakewalk to bat in the T20s.
There are a lot of factors that work in favour of the batsmen. First, the pitches in India tend to assist the batsmen more, while the game of T20 is a money-making machine for the simple fact that we get to see more sixes and fours, which is the main attraction point for the sponsors. Here is the list of the five highest team score in the IPL:
Rank | Team | Opponent | Score |
01. | RCB | PWI | 263/5 |
02. | RCB | GL | 248/3 |
03. | CSK | RR | 246/5 |
04. | KKR | PBKS | 245/6 |
05. | CSK | PBKS | 240/5 |
Chris Gayle’s incredible 175 not-out inning against Pune Warriors India is the highest individual score by a batsman in the IPL. Here is the list of the highest individual scores by a batsman in the IPL:
Rank | Player | Team | Opponent | Score |
01. | Chris Gayle | RCB | PWI | 175* |
02. | Brendon McCullum | KKR | RCB | 158* |
03. | AB De Villiers | RCB | MI | 133* |
04. | KL Rahul | PBKS | RCB | 132* |
05. | AB De Villiers | RCB | GL | 129* |
It's not just the batsman who touched the surreal heights at times. Bowlers have had their moments as well. There have been times when the pitch is too much to negotiate for the batsmen. And that's when the bowlers take over the game. Teams have fallen like a house of cards on more than one occasion, and our own superstar batsmen looked like amateurs. Low score matches have their own beauty. When the pitch behaves for the bowlers, the game of cricket seems like chess. The batsmen have to be ultra-cautious, with every shot requiring the focus of the highest degree. You will be surprised and maybe caught off guard if you go through the list of lowest scored in IPL because the scores are unbelievably low. Here is the list of lowest team totals in the IPL:
Rank | Team | Opponent | Score |
01. | RCB | KKR | 49/10 |
02. | RR | RCB | 58/10 |
03. | DD | MI | 66/10 |
04. | DD | PBKS | 67/10 |
05. | KKR | MI | 67/10 |
There's no sight better for a batsman than his bat sending the ball out of the park. With the bowler running in and pumping all his heart out, channelling all his power into his delivery, it's a sense of achievement for a batsman when he gets the dream contact of the ball on his bat and swings it away and over the park.
As per IPL Stats, Chris Gayle is leading the charts for the most sixes hit in the league. The superstar from the Caribbean is light-years away in this department, having slogged 357 sixes in the Indian Premier League so far. Sitting at second is RCB’s legend and fan-favourite AB De Villiers. Mr 360 degree has hit 245 maximums in 161 games IPL games across two careers with DD and RCB.
Two Indian batsmen come in the top five list, in the shape of Rohit Sharma and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Mumbai Indians’ captain carries the “Hitman” tag, and at 224 sixes in 202 innings, we know why. MS Dhoni is also famous for hitting the maximums and in his 217 sixes in 186 games, we can find his signature helicopter shots. Here are the top five batsmen who have slogged the maximum number of sixes in the IPL:
Rank | Player | Sixes | Team | Innings | Runs |
01. | Chris Gayle | 357 | KKR/RCB/PBKS | 139 | 4950 |
02. | AB DE Villiers | 246 | DD/RCB | 161 | 5053 |
03. | Rohit Sharma | 224 | DC/MI | 202 | 5480 |
04. | MS Dhoni | 217 | CSK/RPS | 186 | 4669 |
05. | Kieron Pollard | 211 | MI | 154 | 3191 |
Time and time again, we witness innings that become part of the IPL folklore. And India’s cash-rich T20 tournament is now old enough to fill the history books. On some odd days, batsmen come with just one intent, watch and hit, send it over and out of the park. Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball exploit against England at the 2007 T20 World Cup may not have been broken, but the way the batsmen are going these days with their no-hold approach, that record could come under serious threat.
India’s KL Rahul, who captains Punjab Kings in the IPL, came agonizingly close to break Yuvi’s fastest 50 records in the T20s when he smashed his way to a 14-ball 50 against Delhi Capitals a couple of seasons ago.
Yusuf Pathan used to send shivers down the spine of every bowler with his mere presence on the pitch and it’s no surprise that he holds the second-fastest record for the half-century in the IPL. The former Indian batsman scored fifty off just 15 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. KKR’s Sunil Narine has also scored a fifty off just 15 balls, while Suresh Raina managed to go past the half-century mark in his 16 balls against RCB. Here is the list of batsmen who hold the record for the fastest 50 in IPL
Rank | Balls | Player | Team | Opponent |
01. | 14 | KL Rahul | PBKS | DD |
02. | 15 | Yusuf Pathan | KKR | SRH |
03. | 15 | Sunil Narine | KKR | RCB |
04. | 16 | Suresh Raina | CSK | PBKS |
05. | 17 | Adam Gilchrist | DC | DD |
06. | 17 | Chris Gayle | RCB | PWI |
07. | 17 | Chris Morris | DD | GL |
07. | 17 | Kieron Pollard | MI | KKR |
09. | 17 | Hardik Pandya | MI | KKR |
10. | 17 | Sunil Narine | KKR | RCB |
11. | 17 | Ishan Kishan | MI | KKR |
12. | 17 | Nicholas Pooran | PBKS | SRH |
13. | 17 | Kieron Pollard | MI | CSK |