Indian Premier League: A statistical study

Since its inception in 2008, IPL has grown by leaps and bounds to establish itself as the premier T20 tournament in the world. Ahead of its 10th season, we present you with the overall statistical highlights from the history of IPL.

The 10th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to kickoff on April 5 this year. Since its inception in 2008, the Twenty20 (T20) tournament has grown by leaps and bounds to establish itself as the premier T20 tournament in the world. Its success has also inspired T20 leagues around the world, which have mushroomed over the years. The Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia, Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in West Indies, Pakistan Super League (PSL) in the gulf and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) have gained popularity since, but have failed to match the stature of IPL, whose brand valuation until the 2015-16 year stood at $4.5 billion (approximately Rs 27,000 crore), as per the figures release by BCCI after it’s AGM last year. ALSO READ: Memoirs of an IPL ball-kid

Coming to the league, it started with 8 teams and only 5 of those will take part in IPL 10. Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will return next year to replace Gujarat Lions (GL) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) following the completion of their two-year ban. Deccan Chargers (DC) got replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kochi Tuskers Kerala (KTK) and Pune Warriors India (PWI) are now defunct.

Ahead of the 10th season, we present you with the overall statistical highlights, compiled by Abhishek Kumar, from the history of IPL:

Most matches
Suresh Raina	147
MS Dhoni	143
Rohit Sharma	142
Virat Kohli	139
Dinesh Karthik	139

Former CSK player and now the skipper of GL, Suresh Raina has played most number of games (147) in the history of the tournament. His skipper at CSK, MS Dhoni follows him on the list, with Mumbai Indians’ (MI) captain Rohit Sharma is at No. 3. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik complete the top 5 on a list dominated by Indians.

Most runs
Virat Kohli	4,110
Suresh Raina	4,098
Rohit Sharma	3,874
Guatam Gambhir	3,634
Chris Gayle	3,426

Indians dominate the list of highest run-scorers as well, with Kohli at the top with his record 4,110 runs. Since he is going to miss the initial stages of IPL 10, Raina, who is at No. 2, is set to replace him. Rohit and Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir follow at 3 and 4, with Chris Gayle being the only overseas player in the list at 5.

Most 100s
Chris Gayle	5
Virat Kohli	4
AB de Villiers	3
David Warner	2
Virender Sehwag	2
Shane Watson	2
Murali Vijay	2
Adam Gilchrist	2
Brendon McCullum	2

For a change, overseas players find mention aplenty in the list of highest hundreds. Gayle tops it with 5, followed by Kohli (4). Interestingly, the Team India captain scored all four of them in a single edition last year. AB de Villiers, David Warner Brendon McCullum et al are also on the list.

Most 50s
David Warner	34
Gautam Gambhir	31
Virat Kohli	30
Rohit Sharma	30
Suresh Raina	29

Another list where an overseas player is at the top! Warner has most number of fifties (34) in IPL history. Gambhir, Kohli, Rohit and Raina are not far behind.

Most 4s
Gautam Gambhir	422
Suresh Raina	360
Virat Kohli	359
Shikhar Dhawan	348
Robin Uthappa	340

An Indian makes a comeback at the top, with Gambhir having hit most number of fours (422) in IPL’s history. Raina (360), Kohli (359), Shikhar Dhawan (348) and Robin Uthappa (340) complete yet another all-Indian list.

Most 6s
Chris Gayle	251
Rohit Sharma	163
Suresh Raina	160
Virat Kohli	148
AB de Villiers	141

‘Six Machine’ Gayle tops the list for most number of sixes in IPL history with 251 sixes. Any surprises there? Rohit at No. 2 has 163. Remaining players are not even competing with Gayle, as they continue to fight for the second spot.

Most wickets
Lasith Malinga	143
Amit Mishra	124
Dwayne Bravo	122
Piyush Chawla	120
Harbhajan Singh	119

When it comes to wickets, Sri Lankan slinga Lasith Malinga tops the list. Malinga (143) has most wickets in IPL history, followed by Amit Mishra (124), Dwayne Bravo (122). Piyush Chawla (120) and Harbhajan Singh (119).

Most maidens
Praveen Kumar	14
Irfan Pathan	10
Sandeep Sharma	8
Lasith Malinga	8
Dale Steyn/Dhawal Kulkarni	7

Wily old customer Praveen Kumar tops the list of most maidens. Playing for multiple franchises over the years, Praveen has delivered 14 maidens in IPL history. Irfan Pathan (10), Sandeep Sharma (8), Malinga (8) and Dale Steyn/Dhawal Kulkarni (7) follow in the order.

Most 4WIs
Sunil Narine	7
Lasith Malinga	5
Laxmipathy Balaji	4
Ravindra Jadeja	4
Amit Mishra	4

West Indies’ mystery spinner Sunil Narine enters the list of most 4-wicket hauls at No. 1 place with 7 hauls. He is followed by Malinga (5), Laxmipathy Balaji (4), Ravindra Jadeja (4) and Amit Mishra (4).

Best economy
Sunil Narine	6.18
Shaun Pollock	6.54
Ravichandran Ashwin	6.54
Anil Kumble	6.57
Glenn McGrath	6.61

Narine is also the most economical bowler in the history of IPL. With an economy rate of 6.18, he beats the likes of Shaun Pollock and Ravichandran Ashwin (6.54), Anil Kumble (6.57) and Glenn McGrath (6.61).

Most catches
Suresh Raina	82
AB de Villiers	66
Rohit Sharma	61
Dwayne Bravo	60
Kieron Pollard/Virat Kohli	55

Raina leads the list of most catches with 82. He has the likes of de Villiers, Rohit, Dwayne Bravo, Kohli and Kieron Pollard in company on the list.

Most stumpings
MS Dhoni	27
Dinesh Karthik	26
Robin Uthappa	26
Adam Gilchrist	16
Wriddhiman Saha	15

Coming to wicketkeepers, Dhoni rules the roost with maximum number of stumpings (27). He has strong competition from Karthik and Uthappa (both 26) amongst active cricketers. Adam Gilchrist (16) and Wriddhiman Saha (15) complete top-5.

Most dismissals
Dinesh Karthik	98
MS Dhoni	89
Robin Uthappa	75
Naman Ojha	69
Adam Gilchrist	67

In terms of dismissals behind the wickets, Karthik (98) beats Dhoni (89). Uthappa (75) and Naman Ojha (69) also find a place there.

Most MoM awards
Chris Gayle	17
Yusuf Pathan	16
AB de Villiers	15
David Warner	13
Rohit Sharma	13
Suresh Raina	13

When it comes to winning the most Man of the Match (MOM) awards in the history of the league, Gayle leads with 17 awards. Following him closely is Pathan senior, with 16 awards in his kitty. De Villiers has 15 while Warner, Rohit and Raina have 13 each.

Most teams represented
Parthiv Patel	6
Aaron Finch	6
Thisara Perara	6
Ashish Nehra	5
RP Singh	5
Praveen Kumar	5
Ashoke Dinda	5
Yuvraj Singh	5
Dinesh Karthik	5
Moises Henriques	5

As mentioned above, there have been 13 teams that have played IPL over the years. Every year, fresh auctions are held as new player come up for grabs. Also, the teams release a few of their existing players who go back into the auction. They, at times, get picked by other franchises. Thus, many players have played for multiple franchises in last 9 years. MI’s current keeper Parthiv Patel tops the list, having played for 6 different franchises. Aaron Finch and Thisara Perera have also played for 6 teams, while quite a few players including the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Karthik having played for 5 different teams.

Hat-trick player	Batsmen	Team	Against	Season
Laxmipathy Balaji	Irfan Pathan	Chennai Super Kings	Kings XI Punjab	2008
	Piyush Chawla
	VRV Singh
Amit Mishra	Ravi Teja	Delhi Daredevils	Deccan Chargers	2008
	RP Sing
	Pragyan Ojha
Makhaya Ntini	Sourav Ganguly	Chennai Super Kings	Kolkata Knight Riders	2008
	Debabrata Das
	David Hussey
Yuvraj Singh	Robin Uthappa	Kings XI Punjab	Royal Challengers Bangalore	2009
	Mark Boucher
	Jacques Kallis
Rohit Sharma	Abhishek Nayar	Deccan Chargers	Mumbai Indians	2009
	Harbhajan Singh
	JP Duminy
Yuvraj Singh	Herschelle Gibbs	Kings XI Punjab	Deccan Chargers	2009
	Andrew Symonds
	Venugopal Rao
Praveen Kumar	Damien Martyn	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Rajasthan Royals	2010
	Sumit Narwal
	Paras Dogra
Amit Mishra	Ryan McLaren	Deccan Chargers	Kings XI Punjab	2011
	Mandeep Singh
	Ryan Harris
Ajit Chandila	Jesse Ryder	Rajasthan Royals	Pune Warriors	2012
	Sourav Ganguly
	Robin Uthappa
Sunil Narine	David Hussey	Kolkata Knight Riders	Kings XI Punjab	2013
	Azhar Mahmood
	Gurkeerat Singh
Amit Mishra	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	Sunrisers Hyderabad	Pune Warriors	2013
	Rahul Sharma
	Ashoke Dinda
Pravin Tambe	Manish Pandey	Rajasthan Royals	Kolkata Knight Riders	2014
	Yusuf Pathan
	Ryan ten Doeschate
Shane Watson	Shikhar Dhawan	Rajasthan Royals	Sunrisers Hyderabad	2014
	Moises Henriques
	Karn Sharma
Akshar Patel	Dwayne Bravo	Kings XI Punjab	Gujarat Lions	2016
	Ravindra Jadeja
	Dinesh Karthik TRENDING NOW

Last but not the least, total of 11 players have taken a hat-trick in the history of IPL. Out of these, 8 have been Indians. Laxmipathy Balaji was the first player to take a hat-trick playing for CSK in the inaugural season. Amit Mishra is the only player to have taken 3 hat-tricks in IPL history (2008 and 2011 for DC and 2013 for SRH). Yuvraj is the only player to have taken 2 hat-tricks in the same season (for Kings XI Punjab in 2009).

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