IPL 2024 started with a big advantage for the home team, but after the opening set of matches, the pattern changed. The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has reached its halfway point, and the biggest talking point this year has been the dominance of the bat over the ball with record totals and aggregations, soaring run rates, and plenty of sixes. Season. While Sunrisers Hyderabad revolutionized batting at the top of the order and Kolkata Knight Riders followed suit, others, like Royal Challengers Bengaluru, were abysmal with the ball and languished at the bottom of the table.
While some of the big players have failed miserably in the season, the arrival of the new ‘desi’ striker is one of the highlights of the tournament. The IPL season also started with a big advantage for the home team, but after the opening set of matches, things turned around.
Rising run rate, record totals and sixes galore
The batsmen have dominated the bowlers like never before in this IPL season. The average run rate in IPL 2024 is a staggering 9.49, the highest in any season by some distance, both after 35 matches and overall! Just for perspective, 2023 was the previous highest-scoring season, with an 8.99 success rate. This season, SRH is at the top of the pack with a run rate of 11.2, and KKR is in second place with a run rate of 10.6.
The 2024 season also saw the highest team total in IPL history, which SRH broke not once but twice! They smashed 277/3 against Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad, only to better it a few days later by blasting 287/3 against the Challengers in Bengaluru. Four of the five highest team totals in IPL history have come this season. There have been nine over 220 totals this year, and we’re only halfway through the tournament! There were a total of seven totals over 220 last season.
After the first 35 matches, a total of 618 sixes have been hit in this edition, and the season record of 1124 achieved last year is under real threat!
SRH’s revolutionary batting template
The Sunrisers completely overhauled their batting template at the top of the order and went on a rampage in the power play, destroying opposition attacks. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, the team’s opening pair, led the attack by scoring 404 runs in six innings with 200 partnerships in a staggering 254 pitches! SRH has a run-rate of 12.4 in the powerplay, which is by far the best in the tournament. They smashed a stunning 125 against the Capitals in Delhi—the highest powerplay team score in T20 history!
Challengers’ eternal bowling woes
Habit is an iron shirt! RCB once again had a nightmare season with the ball—their worst to date, in fact, and found themselves at the bottom of the points table. RCB have the worst bowling average, strike rate, and economy in the tournament. Mohammed Siraj’s poor form with the new ball this year meant that RCB failed to make any significant breakthrough in the powerplay and was also the most expensive bowling unit in the first six overs. The lack of a quality spinner hurts them a lot in the mid-overs, where they haven’t been able to stem the flow of runs this season.
Home-Advantage – no more advantage
The home team has won 17 of their first 22 games this season. However, the Sunrisers defeated the Punjab Kings at Mullanpur in the 23rd match, and the trend reversed after that. The ‘away’ team has won 10 of their last 13 matches.
Again, the pursuit of advantage
The chase has been a historic advantage, not just in the IPL but in all T20 cricket in general! The chasing team won as many as 37 matches (and lost only 22) in the IPL 2021 edition. It was even in 2022 when the team set the target and the defending team won both after 37 matches. Last year, the trend was reversed, with the team batting first, winning 40 of 73 games for results. The same pattern continued in the first quarter of this season. teams that set the goal won 10 of their first 17 games. However, the chase became more successful after that, as the team batting second won 11 of the next 18 encounters. Overall, the chasing team won 18 and lost 17 of their 35 games this season.
Emergence of the ‘desi’ hitter
While some of the big players have failed to impress, the rise of the fearless ‘desi’ batsman has been a growing trend this season. Abhishek Sharma took the tournament by storm, blasting 170 runs off just 73 deliveries at a pace of 232.9 in the powerplay. Ashutosh Sharma broke the record for most runs from number 8 in a season as he rescued PBKS from hopeless situations and gave them a chance with his breathtaking counter-attacking stroke play.
Riyan Parag has finally come of age and is the leading run-scorer for the Royals, scoring 161.4 in the tournament. Shashank Singh, Shivam Dube and Abdul Samad have also impressed with their striking abilities this season. In fact, it’s not just the youngsters and Indian batsmen who have grabbed the headlines in the competition – some old heroes have also made a comeback in the tournament. Dinesh Karthik was in menacing form at the death, scoring 137 runs off just 54 deliveries in the last year at a strike rate of 253.7
Pacers are more threatening, but spinners are more restrictive.
Fast bowlers have shown a greater propensity to pick wickets but have also been taken to the cleaners this season. They picked up a total of 305 wickets at an average of 29.5 and a strike rate of 18, but conceded runs at 9.86. The spinners, on the other hand, amassed 108 wickets at an average of 35 and a strike rate of 24.3 but were more restrictive, with an economy of 8.6 per over. There are only two spinners on the list of the 15 highest wicket-takers of the tournament: Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.