At last, the ending is in sight, with the IPL set to terminate itself before your job or your relationship. This means that you can finally return to spending your evenings by staring at the ceiling. Or your resumes. Whichever has more cracks. This also means that the most rollicking set of awards known to gossip mongers is coming to a close. We promise we will not be back, unless boredom forces us to.
For our final instalment of 2024, we revive the stat attack, recognise two moments that had nothing to do with bat or ball, and fling the White Cap on a head that has been on the chopping block all season long. Without any further ado, here are our winners for all things brilliant and bizarre (often one and the same thing) from the last two weeks of the IPL.
The Socrates Award for the Best On-Field Dialogue
Who would have thought that 16 years after Ponting was tormented by a scintillating spell at Perth from Ishant Sharma, the latter would call the former “my elder brother”! Now coach and “elder statesman of the bowling attack” at the Delhi Capitals (DC), respectively, Ponting and Ishant exchanged memories and insights in a nostalgic chat following DC’s last game of the season against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The two big revelations from the chat were that Ponting loves golf to the extent of playing it in hotel lobbies and that Ishant’s golfing skills are about as accomplished as his batting
Most Startling Statistic
Travis Head has been at the forefront of the six-hitting in this year’s IPL TT Archives
This IPL has seen more sixes hit than balls bowled. Okay, maybe not quite. But we are getting there. What is indisputable (unless someone messed up elementary maths) is that two teams have hit more than 150 sixes in a single season for the first time in IPL history. They are the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with 180 sixes and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) with 157 sixes. The previous best belonged to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with 145 maximums in 2018, back when a six was more of an event than a dot ball.
The ‘I Know Better’ Award for Peak Uncle Behaviour
At 42, most Indian men struggle to stand in one place for more than two minutes without feeling a twinge in their back. No wonder then that Mahendra Singh Dhoni got tired of waiting for the RCB players to complete their cartwheels and handstands and stormed off the ground for what may prove to be the last time we see him in a competitive game (it will not, but one can always despair). Should Dhoni have been more patient than the average Indian uncle? Should RCB’s overzealous squad, delighted to have made the playoffs, have been more cognisant of the occasion (and how it might be the last time they beat CSK)? Should the commentators have avoided so much hand-wringing over a no-handshake? Yes and no, for everyone thinks they know better.
The Easter Award for Remarkable Resurrection
Dayal has been RCB’s top wicket-taker this season with 15 scalps to his name TT Archives
It is not often that getting hit for a six proves to be a blessing for a bowler, let alone in the last over of a T20 game. But that is exactly what happened to Yash Dayal, when Dhoni smashed the left-armer into the upper tiers of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium or beyond. While that particular ball never came back, Dayal got a less wet one, which proved easier to grip, and duly deceived Dhoni with a slower ball. The 26-year-old held his nerve equally well against Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja to take RCB over the line and into the playoffs. What a turnaround for the man who conceded five sixes in five balls against Rinku Singh last year! With redemption secured, Dayal can finally go back to reading and sharing IPL memes.
The Oops Award for the Most Awkward Viral Moment
Regardless of whether Star Sports deliberately recorded Rohit Sharma’s chat with Abhishek Nayar ahead of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Eden Gardens, the internet found out, or rather, deciphered what Rohit was saying. In his typical Mumbai speak, Rohit made it clear that he did not see himself at MI next season, while lamenting the fact that he had been sidelined from the very team he had built. This is the cricketing equivalent of catching Sam Altman airing his grievances about OpenAI to a friend at Microsoft at a San Francisco coffee shop. Maybe the Hitman can spill more beans the next time he is on Star Sports for a day-long interview, this time as the Indian captain.
The White Cap
It has been a harrowing homecoming for Hardik, with MI finishing bottom of the table, with the most losses and as the only team to not have reached double figures in terms of points. Bat in hand, Hardik scored 216 runs at a strike rate of 143.05. With the ball, the MI skipper picked up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 10.75. While Hardik the all-rounder got better as the season progressed, Hardik the captain rarely found his groove. The decisive call over retaining Hardik for next season will likely be made after looking at his performance metrics during MI ads. The only consolation for now is that Hardik ends up with the White Cap in his possession, although he might wish for a white flag to wave in front of Rohit Sharma when joining the Indian camp for the T20 World Cup.
