IPL 2017: Rising Pune Supergiant – Statistical Preview

Rising Pune Supergiant had a forgettable debut season in the Indian Premier League losing 9 out of the 14 matches they have played in the 2016 edition. The team management has decided to make Steven Smith as the team’s captain ahead of MS Dhoni, the longest serving captain in IPL history. This also meant that Smith will be one of the three Australians who will be captaining a side during this season.

Here we look at all the records and stats related to RPS in the IPL.

0 – Number of matches MS Dhoni has played in IPL without leading his team so far. This season will see the first ever instance of Dhoni playing in the IPL not as a captain.

5 – Number of matches Rising Pune Supergiant won in their first edition of IPL, the 3rd fewest for any team in their debut season. Pune Warriors India in 2011 and Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008 won just 4 games while Deccan Chargers in 2008 won in only 2 games.

7 – Number of times Rising Pune Supergiant batted first in the previous edition, they lost in all those 7 games.

9 – Number of IPL games Steven Smith has captained in so far. His side won in 6 of those and lost in 3. His win % as captain is 66.67, the highest among the players with at least 5 IPL games as captain.

16 – Number of Twenty20 games Steven Smith has played at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Only Robin Uthappa (18) has played more at the venue.

69 – Wickets taken by Rajat Bhatia in IPL so far, the highest for any player among the current RPS squad. Ravi Ashwin has 100 wickets but he is ruled out of this season due to injury.

143 – Number of matches MS Dhoni has played in IPL so far, the second most by any player. He is the only player among the RPS squad with 100+ appearances in IPL given Ashwin’s absence.

480 – Runs scored by Ajinkya Rahane in the previous edition, the 4th most runs scored by a player for a team making their debut in IPL. In maiden season, Shaun Marsh (616), Gautam Gambhir (534) and Sanath Jayasuriya (514) scored for their respective teams.