The IPL drew to close on Sunday in Mumbai with MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings going on to lift the trophy at the Wankhede Stadium.
The 11th edition of the IPL turned out to be one of the most entertaining with numerous close games.
Here take a look at the five things we learned from the tournament this year.
STAR POWER DOES NOT GUARANTEE SUCCESS
You can have a side filled with the best players in world cricket but still struggle to make the playoffs, as Royal Challengers Bangalore found out. With the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Brendon McCullum in their line-up, the Bengaluru outfit’s wait for a maiden IPL trophy continued.
Failure to find the right combination was the undoing for Kohli’s men. The same problem affected Mumbai Indians who were unable to defend their IPL crown. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals spent big bucks this season on Ben Stokes and D’Arcy Short but both overseas players failed to live up to the hype as Rajasthan struggled for consistency throughout.
It hasn’t worked out for Kohli and Vettori. Image – RCB/Twitter.
EXPERIENCE TRUMPS YOUTH
Chennai’s triumph on their return from a two-year suspension was a vindication of coach Stephen Fleming’s preference for experience over youth. A lot was written about the ageing squad before the start of the tournament but the men in yellow silenced their critics but capturing the trophy in comprehensive fashion.
The likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson and others all delivered at important junctures of the campaign and showed that experienced heads still rule the roost despite T20 cricket being branded a young man’s game.
CSK’s win showed how valuable experience is. Image – IPL/Twitter
RASHID KHAN LEADS WRIST-SPINNERS’ DOMINANCE
Wrist-spinners are the main weapons for international and domestic teams in limited-overs cricket and it was no different in this year’s IPL. Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s 21 wickets were at the forefront of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s march to the final while Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla played important roles in Kolkata Knight Riders’ strong campaign.
Nepal teenager Sandeep Lamichhane impressed one and all after his arrival in the Delhi Daredevils playing XI while Ish Sodhi gave Rajasthan Royals a fresh lease of life in the bowling department in the second-half of the competition. Mumbai Indian’s Mayank Markande too shone in his very IPL as he captured 15 wickets. The strategy of using leg-spinners as attacking bowlers has paid rich dividends and one can expect this trend to continue in 2019.
Wrist-spinners continued to shine. Image – IPL/Twitter.
THE GAP BETWEEN TEAMS IS DECREASING
This season’s IPL was the most competitive in the tournament’s 11-year history. Almost every second match went down to the wire with a major chunk of games decided in the final over of the match.
Even in the final week of the league stages, seven out of the eight teams were in contention for a playoff spot with the fates of five teams decided on the final day of league matches.
Fortunes of teams changed dramatically with those who looked invincible in the first-half losing their way as the tournament progressed. Kings XI Punjab looked like the team to beat in the early stages but ended up in the penultimate spot on the table. Even Sunrisers Hyderabad had an excellent league-stage but ended up losing five of their final six matches in the tournament.
This year saw many close game. Image – IPL/Twitter.
IPL CONTINUES TO DICTATE INDIAN TEAM SELECTION
The IPL has a history of unearthing fresh talent for the Indian cricket team. This year too, form in the IPL has dictated the international futures of many Indian players. Mayank Agarwal scored 723 in eight matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy but a dismal IPL campaign has seen the batsman miss out on a call-up to the Indian limited-over squads for the tour of England.
On the other hand, Ambati Rayudu’s strong showing in the IPL this year led to an India recall after almost two years out. Similarly, KL Rahul’s remarkable season for Kings XI Punjab led to an ODI recall over Manish Pandey who had an average IPL season. Siddharth Kaul’s form might have tailed off in the latter-half of the tournament but the Sunrisers Hyderabad seamer’s early performances were enough to convince the selectors to pick him in both the ODI and T20I squad for the tour of England.
The likes of Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar and Jaydev Unadkat were part of the Indian squad which lifted the T20 Nidahas Trophy in March but a poor IPL has seen them being discarded already.
KL Rahul and Rayudu’s IPL form earned them an India recall.
