IPL 2018: Five statistical milestones and records of the season

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 started with big changes in the squads of all the eight franchises. The season witnessed a huge spike in the number of sixes and also new variations by the bowlers. The tournament witnessed a lot of records being bettered and some first-time occurrences in the history of the league as well. We picked out five of the best records and milestone that constitute the highlight of the season. 1. Dhoni the keeper: MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings. (Photo Source: Twitter) The spotlight is on MS Dhoni‘s captaincy and batting whenever he leads his troops in Twenty20 cricket and his primary role that of a wicketkeeper is given little attention. Dhoni has constantly managed to bag a few records here and there with his glove-work. The CSK skipper now has 219 dismissals behind the wickets including 146 catches which is the most for any player in the Twenty20 format. He surpassed Kamran Akmal’s tally of 219 dismissals and Kumar Sangakkara’s 142 catches during their final league stage game. Dhoni now also holds the record for most number of stumpings in the IPL with the stumping of Kane Williamson in the final. He has effected 33 stumpings one more than Robin Uthappa (32). Dhoni already has the record for most dismissals (78) and most catches (49) as a keeper in the T20Is to his name. 2. Rare IPL playoff game: Khaleel Ahmed. (Photo Source: Twitter) When the playing XI for the Qualifier 2 between KKR and SRH was named it surprised most as Knight Riders opted to field only three foreigners while Sunrisers brought in a debutant. The game was the first ever knockout/playoff in the history of IPL where a team didn’t have four overseas players in their playing XI. SRH’s Khaleel Ahmed became only the 3rd player to make his IPL debut in a knockout/playoff match. Nayan Doshi played his only IPL game in the 2010 season for RCB in the 3rd place playoff game. Delhi Daredevils handed the debut to Sunny Gupta at the cost of Morne Morkel in the 2nd qualifier against CSK to fit Andre Russell in the equation. The decision didn’t work well for DD as the debutant conceded 47 runs in his three overs. 3. A tournament for keeper-batsmen: Delhi Daredevils’ Rishabh Pant. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/IANS) 2018 IPL was a season for the wicketkeeper batsmen as four of the eight teams had their keepers listed as the leading run-getter. Rishabh Pant was the standout performer for wooden spoon holders Delhi Daredevils as he scored 684 runs in 14 innings at an amazing strike rate of 173.60. KL Rahul carried the KXIP batting on his shoulders finishing with 659 runs at an average of 54.91 with the help of six fifties. Jos Buttler was crucial in taking the Royals to the playoffs with 548 runs in 12 innings which included five consecutive fifties. Prior to this IPL, only three wicket-keepers managed to score over 500 runs in any Twenty20 tournament/series. Robin Uthappa had accumulated 660 runs in the 2014 IPL while Quinton de Kock in the Ram Slam 2013 and Dinesh Karthik in the 2013 IPL scored 524 and 510 runs respectively. IPL 2018 witnessed nearly five keepers accumulate 500+ runs as Karthik finished with 498 runs while MS Dhoni scored 455 runs. 4. RCB’s record sixes: Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/IANS) While the Royal Challengers Bangalore extended their wait for an IPL title, their batsmen continued to put the franchise on top of various lists. In the 2018 season, boasting of the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Brendon McCullum the team from Bangalore became the first side to hit 1000 sixes in the IPL. The high full-toss from Hardik Pandya was edged over the ropes in the third-man region by McCullum during their home game and that was RCB’s 1000th six in the IPL. They have hit 1038 sixes in the history of the tournament thus far which is 58 more than the 2nd best Mumbai Indians (980). 5. A season worth 500 runs for batsmen and bowlers: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Kane Williamson. (Photo by IANS) The season witnessed a total of eight players score 500+ runs surpassing the previous record where seven players had done the same in 2013. In fact, Dinesh Karthik (498) and Shikhar Dhawan (497) were one shot away from making it a list of ten players. The eight who scored over 500 runs are – Kane Williamson, Ambati Rayudu, Lokesh Rahul, Shane Watson, Rishabh Pant, Jos Buttler, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. Siddarth Kaul of Sunrisers Hyderabad. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) On the other hand, Dwayne Bravo and Siddarth Kaul also touched the 500-run mark but with the ball. Kaul conceded 547 runs this year which is the most in an IPL season. He broke Bravo’s record which he set at 533 runs a couple of hours ago having bowled in the first innings of the final. Umesh Yadav (508 in 2013) and Mitchell McClenaghan (507 in 2017) are the other players to have conceded 500 runs in an IPL season. For all the latest cricket news and other updates follow CricTracker.

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

IPL 2025 Auction

IPL Teams

Cricket Fantasy Tips

Cricket Stats

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

IPL 2018: Five statistical milestones and records of the season

Here we look at five best records and milestones accomplished during the 11th edition of the IPL.

2. Rare IPL playoff game:

Latest Articles

TR: Head slams another century vs India in BGT 2024-25

BBL looking to expand presence overseas with Asian nations

WPL Auction 2025 Live Updates