The 2022 season of the Indian Premier League turned out to be a huge success. Two newly added teams and an expanded player pool increased the charm of the event further. The tournament was quite action-packed throughout its course and here we shall take a look at the major IPL highlights from this season.
Gujarat Titans emerge as the Champions in their maiden IPL season
After the IPL 2022 auction and before the beginning of the season, almost nobody tipped the Gujarat Titans as one of the teams to win the title. Leave thoughts about becoming the Champions, very few people had them as one of the playoff contenders in their predictions. But the Titans silenced all of their critics and overcame all odds to go all the way and win the title. It was a terrific season for them as they not only won the final but also finished at the top of the table in the league stage and were the first team to make it to the finals as well. So, it was a thoroughly dominating performance by them.
Fifth IPL Final win for Hardik Pandya
The Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya had made it to the finals four times previously with the Mumbai Indians and had won all four. Now this was his fifth IPL final, but with the Titans this time, and he made it a perfect five! Only Rohit Sharma has more wins in the IPL finals than Pandya, without being on the losing side. Rohit has won the IPL title six times — five times with the Mumbai Indians and once with the Deccan Chargers. It will be interesting to see if Hardik manages to equal Rohit’s record in the IPL 2023 season.
Jos Buttler records the highest run tally by an overseas player in an IPL season
English wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler, who played a pivotal role in the Rajasthan Royals’ run to the IPL 2022 final, recorded the highest total of runs by an overseas player in an IPL season. He went past David Warner’s tally of 848 runs in the 2016 edition to register 863 runs in the season, at a superb average and strike rate of 57.53 and 149.05 respectively. Overall, his tally of runs is the second highest ever in the history of the IPL, next only to Virat Kohli’s record of 973 runs in the 2016 edition.
Jos Buttler equals Virat Kohli’s record of most centuries in an IPL season
Buttler not only broke the record for the most runs in an IPL season by an overseas player but he also equalled Kohli’s record of most centuries in a season, and this constituted one of the major IPL highlights of the season. Buttler scored four centuries, including one in the second qualifier against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, to lead the Royals’ charge towards the finals. Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals are the other three teams against whom he got his centuries.
Yuzvendra Chahal breaks the record for the most wickets by a spinner in an IPL season
Wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal played a pivotal role in the Rajasthan Royals’ journey to the finals. He picked up a total of 27 wickets in the season and won the Purple Cap for it as well. In doing so, he also went past Imran Tahir and Wanindu Hasaranga’s record of 26 wickets in a season. Chahal is playing once again in the ongoing T20I series between India and South Africa that started on 9th June. You can follow the live scores for the series on 1xBet.
Most Sixes in an IPL season
We saw a total of 1062 sixes being hit in this IPL 2022 edition, the highest ever in the history of the league. The true nature of the wickets in Mumbai and Pune aided the batters immensely and thus made hitting big shots easier in the death overs. Batters hit a six every 16.21 balls in this season, which is only the next best to the figure of 15.88 recorded in 2018.
Most Ducks in an IPL season
While the Mumbai and Pune decks turned out to be very good for the middle and lower-order batters, it can’t be said the same for the top-order batters. The openers struggled a lot to deal with the early movement from the seamers in the initial few overs and thus we saw a flurry of wickets in the Powerplay in most of the matches. A total of 107 ducks were recorded in this IPL edition, the highest ever recorded in a season. This certainly makes quite a bizarre IPL highlight for this edition.
RCB recorded the highest number of sixes conceded by a team in an IPL season
RCB had a great outing as they finished third in the league this time but they had an unwanted record to their name as well. Faf du Plessis and his bowlers were hit for a total of 147 sixes in the season, the highest ever conceded by a team in an edition of the IPL. Incidentally, two of their bowlers — Mohammed Siraj and Wanindu Hasaranga — were hit for 31 and 30 sixes respectively, again the top two names in the list of most sixes ever conceded by a bowler in a season.
Mumbai Indians lose eight matches in a row
Five-time Champions Mumbai Indians endured a disastrous season as they finished right at the bottom of the IPL 2022 table with only four wins to their name. But things could have been even worse for them as they were on an eight-match losing streak at one point — the most number of matches lost by a team since the beginning of the season. Fortunately, they improved a bit and finished with four wins in their last six games, thus giving their fans something to cheer for. The MI setup and their fans will be hoping for a much better performance in the IPL 2023 season.
Tim David — A future Superstar for the Mumbai Indians
The entire tournament was pretty dull for the Mumbai Indians fans as the end result wasn’t good. But they have potentially found a gem for the future in Tim David. The Singaporean batter showed his powerhitting prowess in the middle and death overs once he was given a consistent run towards the business end of the season. David amassed 186 runs in the season, at a strike rate of 216.27 — the highest among players with a minimum of 100 runs in the season. The youngster will be looking to carry this format forward into the IPL 2023 season. This IPL season might be over but you can still watch David play in the ongoing T20 Blast season and can bet on his team Lancashire’s matches on 1xBet, a platform that offers one of the best odds.
