As dust settles down at the IPL 2016, to cap off the global extravaganza here are 3 reasons why this edition of the IPL turned out to be the best so far-
- The Most Competitive IPL Of All Time– Until the last league match of the tournament there were three probable teams that could make it to the playoffs. Barring the bottom two (RPS & KXIP) all the other 6 had a chance of qualifying until the last 2 matches, such was the level of competition. Runs over 200 being chased down consistently, the points table changing dramatically with every single match, RCB a team which was as bottom as the 7th position fighting and being one of the finalists and innumerable nail biting finishes, this IPL kept the fans engrossed like never before and every team on their toes giving them no other option but to give it their all each time they stepped out to play.
- Both Orange and Purple Cap Bagged by Indians– In the history of the Indian Premier League it has happened twice that both the highest run getter and wicket taker has been from India. It happened this year round too but the level of performances by both was exceptional. They were in their never seen before avatar. On one hand where Virat Kohli made close to 1000 runs in one IPL season, Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the other hand left everyone mesmerised with his spells and was a major reason why SRH triumphed. Kohli in his prime hitting as many as four centuries and the economical bowling figures of Kumar who took 23 wickets in total, turns out to be a great plus for the Indian team and its fans.
- The Rise Of the Underdogs – Before the IPL began SRH had many teams ahead of it in the list of favourites, the reason being that other teams had many more big names and seemed to be solid on paper. However as far as Hyderabad was concerned apart from Warner or Dhawan there were no big names as such. Yuvraj Singh was one such name but he sat out due to an injury for a major part of the tournament. It was due to the players Mustafizur Rahim, Bipul Sharma, Ben Cutting that the team rose to the title of the champions and these players were unknown to a lot of people before the tournament started. A cohesive team performance throughout with underrated players making it big was something that gave SRH the strength to outdo the other teams.
With every new season of the IPL, the quality of the performances pushes a notch up and we hope that it continues to remain the same in future.
-Jayati Jain
