Virat Kohli's 708, Jasprit Bumrah on point, and RCB's resurgence: 10 interesting numbers from IPL 2024 league stage

It has been a fascinating 17th season and as the group stage comes to an end, we look at 10 numbers which have defined the first 70 matches of IPL 2024 – from Virat Kohli’s aggregate of 708 runs to Jasprit Bumrah’s 20 wickets, from the domination of SRH and KKR in the powerplay to RCB’s late resurgence, from MI’s worst season ever in the tournament’s history to CSK’s rare miss at the playoffs.

The season of the batter – most sixes, soaring run-rates, high aggregates

The 17th edition of the IPL has seen bat dominate ball like never before. The tournament has witnessed a record 1208 sixes which are the most for any season, surpassing the 1124 in 2023. The run-rate, at the end of 70 matches, stands at a staggering 9.61. It was 9.39 at the end of the first 17 matches, rose to 9.49 mid-season, went northwards to 9.58 after 54 matches and has continued its trend upwards!

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200+ has been breached 41 times this season – which is again a record overhauling the 37 instances in 2023. Four of the five highest team totals have been smashed in this edition while a match aggregate of 500+ has been crossed on as many as four occasions – a feat never achieved in the first 16 years of the tournament!

Kohli at the top of the run-charts

Virat Kohli is at the peak of his batting prowess this season and is currently the leading run-getter with an aggregate of 708 runs in 14 innings at an average of 64.4 with one hundred and five fifties. Apart from his sheer consistency, what has stood out for Kohli this season is the rate at which he has scored his runs. Kohli’s strike rate of 155.6 in 2024 is his highest for a season surpassing his previous best of 152 in 2016.

Kohli was also at the top of the sixes-chart after his exploits against CSK in Bengaluru before being overtaken by Abhishek Sharma. He is currently at number two with 37 maximums and is the only right-hander in a list dominated by southpaws. Abhishek Sharma (41), Nicholas Pooran (36), Sunil Narine (32) and Travis Head (31) complete the top 5.

Bumrah – the highest impact bowler of the season

Although Harshal Patel has taken two more wickets, it is Jasprit Bumrah, with a tally of 20, who is by far, the highest impact bowler of the tournament. Bumrah led the MI attack through the season without much support from the other end and was the most restrictive bowler in the tournament – overall and in the powerplay (economy of 6) and death (economy of 6.1). Just for perspective, the combined economy of the other MI bowlers was 10.6.

Bumrah returned with three-plus wickets in an innings in four matches and an economy of less than 7 in nine – a phenomenal achievement in a tournament where bat has dominated bowl like never before and run-rates have soared to an all-time high.

KKR’s all-round domination

KKR have been the best all-round team this season and enter the playoffs at the top of the points table with just three losses from 14 encounters. They have the momentum with them having registered four consecutive wins in their last four matches. KKR have the second-best batting average, the best run-rate and the best balls/boundary ratio in the tournament.

KKR also have the best bowling average and strike rate in the tournament. The spin unit, led by Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, has been outstanding and has taken the most wickets (33) with the best average and strike rate. It has also been very restrictive with the second-best economy after CSK.

Sunil Narine – the highest impact player of the tournament

Sunil Narine’s stupendous all-round show is the main reason for KKR’s phenomenal success this season. Narine is the leading run-getter for the Knight Riders with an aggregate of 461 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 182.9. He smashed his maiden T20 hundred in the tournament and has produced four other high impact performances where he has scored 40+ at a strike rate of 200+.

Narine is also the most restrictive spinner in the competition with an economy rate of just 6.63. In a season dominated by wrist spinners, Narine has been the lone off-spinner who has stood out not only controlling the flow of runs in the middle overs but also picking crucial wickets. Narine has an economy of 7.5 or below in as many as 10 matches this season!

SRH’s show in the powerplay & the Head-Sharma partnership

SRH have led a batting revolution this season and have gone ballistic in the powerplay. No team has a higher aggregate in the first six overs than the Sunrisers’ 920. And they have done this at the rate of knots! SRH’s run-rate in the powerplay stands at a staggering 11.8 – by far, the highest in the competition.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have annihilated opposition bowling units in the powerplay this season. No pair has scored more runs than the 676 added by the SRH opening duo – which they have achieved at a lightning rate of 229.2! Their three hundred partnerships are also the most by any pair this season. SRH have blasted 70+ this year in the powerplay in as many as six matches – the most for any team along with KKR. They have also smashed 160 sixes which are the most for any team this season.

RCB’s late resurgence

RCB became the first team in IPL history to make the playoffs after winning just one solitary match from their first eight encounters in a season. Their turnaround in 2024, has been nothing short of sensational and reached its crescendo with a breathtaking 27-run victory against arch-rivals CSK at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. RCB have won six matches on the trot – significantly all of them must-win encounters - which is their second-longest winning streak in the IPL after 2011.

MI’s worst season in history

MI have hit a new low this season and finished at the bottom of the points table with 10 losses from 14 matches. It is their worst showing ever in a season – they also lost 10 matches in the 2022 edition when the team was going through a transformation. However, this time around, they were one of the pre-tournament favourites.

CSK fail to make the playoffs – a rare event

It was only the third-time in 15 editions that five-time champions, CSK, did not make the playoffs in the IPL. CSK were not at their efficient best this season and could not gather any sort of momentum at any stage of their campaign. Their batting was under-par and a tad cautious while the spinners, though restrictive, did not manage to provide the breakthroughs in the middle overs.

CSK did not win more than two consecutive matches at any stage during their campaign. They failed to maximize the powerplay and had the third-lowest run-rate of 8.7 in the first six overs. Their top-order, with the exception of Ruturaj Gaikwad, was inconsistent and their talisman in the middle-order, Shivam Dube, ran out of gas at the business end of the tournament.

Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants – slow and steady does not win the race always!

Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants failed to keep pace with the high batting standards of the tournament and were too sluggish and conservative in the powerplay. They had the worst run-rate overall in the season (GT – 8.7 & LSG – 9.1) and were also at the bottom of the pack in the first six overs.

The Titans hit just 67 sixes in the tournament – by far the fewest in the competition. They also hit a boundary every 5.6 deliveries which was the worst balls per boundary ratio in the season. LSG, on the other hand, had the second-worst balls per boundary ratio in the edition and were also the slowest in the death overs with a run-rate of just 10.6!