50 Interesting facts about Indian Premier League

Indian Premier League was started in 2008, and now it has become the most popular T20 cricket league in the World and is loved and praised by every cricket lover around the globe. Every season of IPL has been super-hit as it features world-class cricketers who produce high intensity of cricket. Eventhough there is almost everything available out there about IPL in public domain, still there's lot to know about this league. Let's see some of the facts you might be unaware of about the Indian Premier League.

50 Key Facts about Indian Premier League :

1. The idea of making a T20 league (IPL) in India came from the mind of then BCCI Vice-president Lalit Modi. He remained the commissioner for the first two editions of the tournament.

2. The inaugural season of IPL was played in the year 2008 which was won by Rajasthan Royals who spent the least money on buying their players as compared to the other franchises.

3. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the most expensive player in the first season of IPL. He was bought at INR 6 crore by Chennai Super Kings.

4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only player in the history of the IPL who was bid by all the eight franchises during the 2008 IPL auction.

5. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, and Virender Sehwag weren't part of the bidding process in the IPL 2008 auction as they were classified as 'Icon Players'.

6. As per the reports, the 'Icon Players' got the mentioned money during the IPL 2008. ( Sachin Tendulkar - INR 4.5 crore, Rahul Dravid - INR 4.1 crore, Sourav Ganguly - INR 4.3 crore, Yuvraj Singh - INR 4.25 crore, Virender Sehwag - INR 3.35 crore)

7. Brendon McCullum kicked off the tournament in style as he smashed brilliant 158 runs in 73 balls in the very first match of IPL history.

8. Shane Watson, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine have won the 'Player of the Tournament twice in their IPL career.

9. Mustafizur Rehman is the only overseas player to have won the 'Emerging Player of the Year' title in this popular T20 league.

10. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only bowler to have won the purple cap and retain it the following year. He was the highest wicket-taker in both the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons.

11. David Warner is the only player to have won the Orange Cap thrice in his IPL career.

12. Sanju Samson is the only captain who scored a century on his captaincy debut in IPL.

13. Chris Gayle holds the record for highest individual score in IPL. He scored 175 runs in 66 balls against Pune Warriors during the 2013 season.

14. Chris Gayle has also smashed the fastest century in IPL history. He got to his century in just 30 balls in his inning of 175 runs.

15. Pat Cummins (2022) and KL Rahul (2018) share the record for the fastest IPL half-century. Both scored fifty in just 14 balls.

 

16. Chris Gayle's inning of 175 is the highest individual score in all professional T20 cricket history.

17. Chris Gayle also holds the record for most IPL centuries (6). He scored five tons for RCB and one for Punjab Kings.

18. Alzarri Joseph holds the record of best bowling figures in IPL history. He gave away just 12 runs in 3.4 overs and picked up 6 wickets for Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad during IPL 2019 season.

19. Pravin Tambe has taken an IPL hat-trick in just two balls. He got Sanju Samson stumped off a wide ball and dismissed Yusuf Pathan and Ryan Ten Doeschate in the next two deliveries.

20. Amit Mishra is the only bowler to have taken three IPL hat-tricks.

21. Virat Kohli and Jos Buttler are the only two batsmen to have scored four centuries in a single season.

22. Virat Kohli scored 973 runs during 2016 IPL season and won Orange Cap that year. No other player has scored that many runs in a single season.

23. Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Virat Kohli (2016), and Harshal Patel (2021) are the only three Indian players to have won the 'Player of the Tournament title in IPL till now.

24. Sunrisers Hyderabad's Umran Malik holds the record for the fastest ball in IPL history. Umran bowled a delivery to Rovman Powell at 156.9 kph during their match against Delhi Capitals.

25. Chris Morris is the most expensive player to have been picked in an IPL auction. Rajasthan Royals bought Morris for INR 16.25 crore during IPL 2021 auction.

26. Prayas Ray Barman is the youngest player ever to make an IPL debut. He made his first tournament appearance in IPL 2019 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

27. Sohail Tanvir, Adam Zampa, and Alzarri Joseph are the only three players to have picked 6 wickets in a single IPL inning.

28. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli have been the most paid cricketers in the IPL history for a single season. Virat earned INR 17 crore per season from 2018 to 2021 while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rahul is playing for LSG at the higher earning of INR 17 crore in IPL 2022.

29. Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Deccan Chargers, Pune Warriors, Gujarat Lions, and Rising Pune Supergiants are the few teams who have also featured in the IPL cricket. Deccan Chargers and Pune Warriors were suspended by the BCCI whereas Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants were on the contract for only two years.

30. Anil Kumble is the only player in the history of the league to have won the 'Player of the Match' award despite ending up on the losing side in an IPL final. He was awarded the title for his great bowling performance as he gave away just 14 runs and took 4 wickets in his quota of 4 Overs.

31. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been featured in ten IPL finals out of which he was crowned as champion four times and suffered losses six times in the final.

32. Rohit Sharma has won six IPL titles till now. He won five trophies with Mumbai Indians while leading the side and won once as a player in 2009 with Deccan Chargers.

33. Rohit Sharma has won five (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020) IPL titles with Mumbai Indians. No other player has won six titles till today.

34. Zaheer Khan is the only player to have featured in both the 1st and 500th match of IPL.

35. Kolkata Knight Riders holds the record for the longest winning streak in the IPL history. KKR won 9 consecutive matches in 2014 and the opening match of the 2015 season.

36. Yuvraj Singh has taken two IPL hat-tricks during the 2009 season. He took his first hat-trick against RCB, dismissing Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher, and Jacques Kallis, and dismissed Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, and Venugopal Rao against Deccan Chargers to register a second hat-trick to his name.

37. Shaun Marsh (2008) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (2021) are the only two batters in IPL history to have won Orange Cap being uncapped.

38. Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane are the only two players to have hit six boundaries (fours) in an over. Shaw hit six fours to Shivam Mavi during the 2021 IPL season whereas Rahane took on Sreenath Aravind to hit six boundaries in IPL 2012.

39. Royal Challengers Bangalore holds the record for the highest team total in an IPL inning. RCB scored a mammoth total of 263 runs for 5 wickets in their 20 Overs during the IPL 2013 season against Pune Warriors.

40. Royal Challengers Bangalore also holds the record for the lowest team total in an IPL inning. RCB were all-out for just 49 runs during IPL 2017 season against Kolkata Knight Riders.

41. RCB's Harshal Patel and KTK's Prasanth Parameswaran share the record of bowling the most expensive over in the history of IPL. Both gave away 37 runs in a single over.

42. Basil Thampi holds the record for worst bowling figure in a single IPL inning. He gave away 70 runs in his quota of 4 Overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore during the IPL 2018 season.

43. Albie Morkel holds the record of hitting the longest six in the IPL history. He banged 124-m maximum during the IPL 2008 season.

44. AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli recorded the highest run partnership during the 2016 IPL season. Both added 229 runs together against Gujarat Lions.

45. Aaron Finch holds the record of having played for most franchises (9) in IPL history.

46. Manish Pandey was the first Indian player to score an IPL century.

47. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are the only two IPL teams to have won Champions League T20 also.

48. Pakistani players also featured in the inaugural season of IPL in 2008 but were banned from taking part in the league from 2009 onwards.

49. Ashish Nehra and Fidel Edwards share the record for the most economical bowling figure in a single IPL inning. Both gave away just 6 runs in their 4 Overs.

50. Mumbai Indians is the most successful team in the IPL history as they have been crowned champions five times (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020).