Indian Premier League 2018 – Statistical Preview

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League will be witnessing the return of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals after serving a two-year ban. This season also marks the return of veteran players Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh to their home franchises where they might be seen ending their career. Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad roping new captains ahead of the season brings in the unpredictability of their tactics and adaptability.

Key stats and numbers to be looked out ahead of the 11th edition of the IPL:

1 – Mumbai Indians are the only team in this IPL to not have a win-loss ratio under 1 against all the remaining seven teams. They have a win-loss record of 10-10 against KXIP and 5-5 against SRH in the IPL.

7.91 – Number of balls Evin Lewis took for every six in his last 45 innings in the Twenty20 format. He scored 1597 runs in his 45 T20 innings at an S/R of 164.13 with 122 fours and 123 sixes.

In the year 2017, Lewis hit 89 sixes in just 31 innings at an average of 2.87 sixes every innings. Only Chris Gayle (101) and Brendon McCullum (94) hit more sixes in the T20 format in 2017 than Lewis.

8.58 – Chris Lynn hit a six every 8.58 balls he faced during the 2017 IPL. He hit 19 sixes in the seven matches he played in the last season. Since the conclusion of the 2016 IPL, Lynn hit 84 sixes in 33 T20 innings at an average of 9.95 balls for every six.

76.31 – Rajasthan Royals’ win percentage at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in the Twenty20 cricket. RR won 29 games at this venue and lost nine out of the 38 T20s they played at the venue. This is the best T20 winning percentage for the home team at a venue.

80 – Rashid Khan was the leading wicket-taker in the T20 format in 2017 with 80 wickets in 56 matches. SRH used right to match card for the young leg-spinner after KXIP bought him for Rs. 9 crores. KKR’s Sunil Narine and CSK’s Imran Tahir took 2nd and 3rd positions in the 2017 leading wicket-takers list with 62 and 55 T20 wickets respectively.

94 – Chennai Super Kings have won 94 matches in the Twenty20 format. Mumbai Indians (102) are the only team to win 100 games in the T20 history. Four England county sides have accounted for 95 wins apiece in this format.

100 – Number of wickets Bhuvneshwar Kumar bagged in the last five IPL editions. He is the only player to take as many as 100 IPL wickets since the start of 2013. Bhuvneshwar was the purple cap winner in the past two IPL seasons with 23 wickets in 2016 and 26 in the 2017 season.

2051 – Runs David Warner scored in the last three IPL seasons. He stood among the top two run-getters in each of the last three IPL editions. Virat Kohli (1786 runs) is the only other player to score more than 1500 runs in the last three editions of the IPL. Warner won’t be taking part in the IPL as the governing council followed Cricket Australia’s decision of banning their players involved in the ball tampering.