Year-ender: Uncanny records from 2024 Indian Premier League season
In 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) claimed their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in a high-octane final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Shreyas Iyer powered the Knight Riders to the coveted trophy, which they also won in 2012 and 2014. The tournament saw some ground-breaking records, both by players and teams. Here are some of them.
Over 1,200 maximums
As many as 1,260 maximums were hit in IPL 2024, the most in a season. Only two other seasons have recorded more than 1,000 sixes - 1,124 in 2023 and 1,062 in 2022. In 2024, the 1,000-six mark was breached in the 57th game, the fastest in this regard. This achievement took a record 13,079 balls to be unlocked.
Centuries galore!
The 2024 IPL season saw as many as 14 centuries, the most in a season. Jos Buttler (2), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Suryakumar Yadav, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Travis Head, Rohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli were the centurions. Notably, 2023 remains the only other IPL season with over 10 centuries (12).
Most sixes, match aggregate in a T20
The match between Punjab Kings and KKR recorded 42 sixes, the highest in any T20. Notably, the matches between SRH and Mumbai Indians as well as Royal Challengers Bengaluru and SRH saw 38 sixes each. Meanwhile, as many as 549 aggregate runs were hit in the SRH-RCB encounter in Bengaluru. No other T20 game has seen more than 520 runs being struck.
RCB's miraculous turnaround
Royal Challengers Bangaluru (RCB) miraculously reached the IPL 2024 playoffs after beating Chennai Super Kings in their final league game. RCB became the first side to go through after winning only one of their first eight matches. The Royal Challengers were winless for a month before bagging six straight victories. This became the second-longest winning streak for RCB in the IPL.
Jake Fraser-McGurk goes berserk
In his maiden IPL season, Australian opener Jake Fraser-McGurk played one breathtaking knock after another and shattered many records. He became the first-ever player to record two 15-ball half-centuries in IPL history. Overall, he slammed four half-centuries, out of which three came under 19 balls or lesser. He struck at a jaw-dropping rate of 234.04 in IPL 2024.
Highest successful run-chase in T20 history
Two of the top-three successful run-chases were recorded in IPL 2024. In Match 42, Punjab Kings stunned KKR by recording the highest-ever successful run-chase in T20 cricket. They chased down 262 with eight balls to spare. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals emulated their record of chasing down 224, the joint second-highest successful run-chase in the IPL. They also did so against KKR.
Change in SRH's strategy produced uncanny records
The league stage of IPL 2024 saw SRH compile the top-two highest powerplay scores in the history of the cash-rich league (125/0 against DC and 107/0 against LSG). SRH also had the best Powerplay run-rate (11.17) and were the only team to hit 50+ sixes during this phase (59). SRH recorded three 250+ totals (287/3 vs RCB, 277/3 vs MI, and 266/7 vs DC).
Chasing 166 before 10-over mark!
In a match against LSG, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head helped SRH chase down a target of 166 in just 9.4 overs. They broke their own record for the highest total after the first 10 overs in IPL history.
Other notable records from the season
During the season, Kohli became the first-ever player with 8,000 runs in the IPL. He also raced to eight tons. Sunil Narine became only the third player to score a hundred and take at least one wicket in an IPL match. Jasprit Bumrah became the first bowler with multiple fifers for MI. Marcus Stoinis recorded the highest-ever individual score in IPL run-chases.
