Virat Kohli has been in tremendous for for RCB in IPL 2016 AFP
Virat Kohli has been in tremendous for for RCB in IPL 2016 AFP

The glitzy Indian Premier League (IPL) is in full flow, helping to ease the heartache of millions of fans following India’s failure to win the World Twenty20 on home soil from April. India’s short-form extravaganza, famous for its fireworks and dancing cheerleaders as well as unwanted corruption scandals, gets under way with the Mumbai Indians taking on the Rising Pune Supergiants. Fans hope the cash-rich league, featuring blockbuster stars including Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, will soothe the pain of India’s shock semi-final defeat to eventual World T20 champions West Indies, reports AFP. Indian Premier League (IPL 9) 2016 Points Table & Team Standings

The ninth-edition of the franchise-based competition, which has revolutionized world cricket, will see eight teams clash in 60 matches at 10 different venues across India. The IPL is the most popular domestic league in the world but has been plagued by controversies since its inception in 2008, with corruption and match-fixing cases often taking centre-stage. A spot-fixing scandal in 2013 led to two teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals being suspended last year for two seasons, added AFP.

Here is the list of the top run-scorers in the tournament so far:

Player Team M R HS Ave SR 100s 50s 0s
Virat Kohli RCB 15 919 113 83.54 151.9 4 6 1
David Warner SRH 16 779 93* 59.92 149.23 0 8 0
AB de Villiers RCB 15 682 129* 56.83 170.07 1 6 1
Gautam Gambhir KKR 15 501 90* 38.53 121.86 0 5 1
Rohit Sharma MI 14 489 85* 44.45 132.88 0 5 1
Ajinkya Rahane RPS 14 480 74 43.63 126.64 0 6 2
Shikhar Dhawan SRH 16 473 82* 39.41 117.07 0 4 0
Murali Vijay KXIP 14 453 89 34.84 124.45 0 5 0
Quinton de Kock DD 13 445 108 37.08 136.08 1 3 0
Suresh Raina GL 15 399 75 28.50 127.88 0 3 0

NOTE: The table was updated following the conclusion of Qualifier 2 between GL and SRH ,that SRH won by 4-wickets.

The auction of the IPL 2016 saw former Australian cricketer Shane Watson becoming the costliest player in the IPL 9. Watson was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs 9.5 crores. On the other hand, the enigmatic Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was taken by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 7 crores.