IPL 2020 has seen the weirdest things happen out of which the primary one being the shift of momentum from the batting powerhouse to the ones with the ball in the hand. With a handful number of 200 plus scores, even the best of batsmen with the bat has struggled vehemently to score at a brisk pace that they are known for.
Similarly, IPL 2020 has seen many weird incidents happen which were not supposed to transpire in the first place. Those weird incidents also capture the essence of new records being created. Despite the tournament being a low-scoring, it has felt the true essence of the sport and has seen some individual or collective brilliance to underline the magnitude of the tournament.
We will sneak a peek into five bizarre records which were created in the latest edition of IPL, starting with ones that you may or may not like.
Chris Gayle became the second-oldest player to score a half-century
The Universe-Boss was launched in the latter half of the tournament after Punjab found themselves at wit’s end after an abysmal first half. The very introduction of the towering Jamaican opener revitalized the team and they led a brilliant resurgence in the games that followed. His first game in the tournament witnessed him hammering a brilliant half-century that sank the Royal Challengers ship in Sharjah without any ado. He became the second-oldest player to chronicle a half-century in the tournament.
In fact, he is one of those three players who have chronicled more than 50 runs in an innings at the age of 40 or more, with Adam Gilchrist and Rahul Dravid being the other two.
MS Dhoni became the first player to play more than 200 IPL matches
It is not an easy feat to achieve this herculean feat of playing more than 200 games in a tournament that gives you 15-16 opportunities in a solitary season. Not only do you need to be a consistent performer but an exemplary leader to grab such magical figures against your name.
MS Dhoni, who led India to their maiden T-20 World Cup triumph, grabbed the captaincy of the Yellow Army in the fray’s maiden edition. Since then, he never had to look back. Staving away all the odds those were stacked against him, he managed to come back again and again and in this IPL where he had a rare failure, he achieved this copious feat of playing his 200th game. Rohit Sharma is in second place with 197 games while Suresh Raina sits in third with 193 games.
Delhi Capitals‘ Shikhar Dhawan had to wait for the longest to register his maiden IPL century
This year’s IPL was just turning worse for the Indian opener as he was struggling to strike the perfect chord right since the onset of the tournament. He did get the starts but failed to flip them into bigger ones every single time.
However, it was the experienced opener who led a fine chase against Chennai with an incredible ton that saw him amassing 101 runs and holding one end of the innings where the other batsmen kept on falling like skittles. He then drafted another century against Punjab in the following game on October 6th.
Now the record that he crafted was of waiting for the longest span of time before he could finally see three figures in a single innings next to his appellation. He had to wait for a prolonged period of 4564 days (12 years, five months, and 28 days) to achieve this monumental feat. Given the magnitude of the feat, the wait was worth it. He surpassed the records of Mayank Agarwal and Ambati Rayudu. To everyone’s surprise, Kohli is the fourth on the list which proves the fact that once you sniff blood, there is no turning back. In fact, going by the number of innings, Dhawan still holds the top spot with 167 innings followed by Kohli who consumed 120 innings.
In IPL 2020, Kagiso Rabada and Rishabh Pant became the best bowler-wicket keeper combination
The South African Express has been the personification of carnage in the ongoing edition of the tournament, claiming 23 wickets so far, locked with Jasprit Bumrah for the Purple Cap. The record that we are talking about here is the alliance that he has formed with Rishabh Pant. The duo has affected 18 dismissals so far in this tournament, surpassing the record of Dhoni and Bravo followed by Saha and Sandeep Sharma.
Kolkata Knightriders have registered the lowest total in IPL after playing the complete quota of 20 overs
Against Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the 39th game at Abu Dhabi in IPL 2020, Kolkata became the owner of this infamous record that saw them scoring the lowest number of runs playing full 20 overs. They chronicled 84 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. They broke the records of Kings XI Punjab followed by Mumbai Indians.
