What will be the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season remembered for?
Recency bias might suggest the closely-contested matches it produced, or the underdog stories. Beyond the prima facie observations, however, the tournament was all about debunking narratives, as it taught us some consequential lessons, which could shape how the format, the tournament, and also the Indian cricket team, will transition from here onwards.
Here are what we learned from IPL 2024:
1. Adios Anchors, Make Way for the New Template
IPL 2024: The likes of Jake Fraser-McGurk have established a new template for T20 batting.
(Photo: BCCI)
Two decades since its inception, the shortest format of the game has gone through a metamorphosis. The ideal T20 template – a phrase used in every debate across the Indian cricketing circles since the 2022 T20 World Cup – has been entrenched, and it has no provision for the now-anachronistic terms like ‘anchor,’ ‘holding the fort’ and ‘calculative cricket.’ The new format is all about being uninhibited with the bat, unceasingly attacking the bowlers.
To contextualise – in the first 16 editions of the tournament, where 1032 matches were played, we witnessed only a couple of 250+ scores. In this edition, that barrier has been traversed an astonishing eight times in 74 matches.
A total of 1260 sixes were hit, which outclassed the previous best figure of 1124 by a mile. 42 of those sixes were struck in the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings, which happens to be the highest-ever figure in any T20 match. Notably, Punjab chased down a target of 262 runs in that match, which was the highest successful chase in this format.
The match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad saw 549 runs being scored, which is the highest aggregate in a T20 match. That, however, is not all, for the pre-IPL highest aggregate (517) was surpassed on two other occasions – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians. Hyderabad’s score of 287/3 was also the highest ever by a team in any franchise league across the globe.
The Multi-Faceted Problems of the Impact Substitute Rule
IPL 2024: The impact substitute rule has stagnated
(Photo: BCCI)
Purists blaming solitarily the impact substitute rule for the incredible disempowerment of the bowlers will be misapprehension, for the exorbitant scores stem from the amalgamation of multiple factors, predominantly the rationale of the modern-day T20 batter. Albeit, it cannot be denied that the rule has had a role to play in the monstrosity we witnessed this year.
Orange Cap winner Virat Kohli, who recorded his best-ever strike rate this year, admitted having an additional batter led to the transformation in his approach, but is not a proponent of the rule.
I say it how it is. Entertainment is on one side, but never in my life have I seen a situation where bowlers think they will concede a four or a six every ball. Not every team has a Jasprit Bumrah, or a Rashid Khan, or a mystery bowler. So what will you do? I am telling you, one extra batter is the reason why I am playing with a 200-plus strike rate in the powerplay. I know there is a batsman coming in at number 8 as well.Virat Kohli
This is one facet of the criticism of the rule. The other, and perhaps, more consequential facet, is that it has completely stagnated the development of potential all-rounders for the Indian cricket team.
Consider Shivam Dube’s example as a case study. He already has 8 T20I wickets and 46 T20 wickets to his name, but since the impact player rule was introduced, has only bowled a solitary over.
Among the reasons why KKR found it justifiable to retain Venkatesh Iyer ahead of Shubman Gill prior to the 2022 mega auction was the former’s all-round skills, with Iyer picking up three wickets in IPL 2021. He also made it to the Indian team and picked up five wickets. Since the rule was implemented, however, he has bowled only one over like Dube, with the teams no longer requiring jacks of all trades.
Speaking on this, Indian captain Rohit Sharma told on the Club Prairie Podcast:
I am not a big fan of impact substitute rule. It is going to hold all-rounders back. Eventually, cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. You are taking out so much from the game to make it entertaining for people around. If you look just from the cricketing aspect of it I feel guys like Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar aren't getting to bowl, which for us is not a good thing.Rohit Sharma
Crores of Rupees Down the Drain? You Better Think Again
IPL 2024: Eyebrows were raised when KKR signed Mitchell Starc for Rs 24.75 crore, but in the end, it was all worth it.
(Photo: BCCI)
The IPL 2024 auction saw more eyebrows being raised than paddles, with a few preposterous price tags floating around. Pat Cummins was the first cricketer who broke the record for the highest-ever bid, as Sunrisers Hyderabad spent Rs 20.50 for his services.
Cummins might have the honour of being called the World Cup-winning captain for eternity, albeit the honour of being IPL’s most expensive cricketer lasted only a few minutes. The abdication took place when Kolkata Knight Riders spent Rs 24.75 crores on Cummins’ Australian teammate, Mitchell Starc.
The general consensus on 19 December 2024 was that the Sunrisers and the Knight Riders have all but lost their rationale, and have committed to almighty blunders.
Six months down the line, those two teams competed in the final.
With his 18 wickets, and his excellent leadership, Cummins led the Hyderabad resurgence, taking the last-placed team of IPL 2023 to second in the standings.
Starc, meanwhile, had a difficult start to his life in purple and gold. Yet, considering the way he bowled in the second half of the competition – ending up with 17 wickets, and delivering arguably the ball of the tournament in the final – it seemed that he had taken co-owner Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Haar kar jeetne waalon ko Baazigar kehte hain’ a bit too seriously.
What’s the bottomline?
That, with teams deploying analysts and strategists like Nathan Leamon and Gaurav Sundaraman, it is likely that they know what they are doing.
Pace-Bowling All-Rounder – Found. Power-Hitting Finisher – Found.
IPL 2024: Nitish Reddy could be the pace-bowling all-rounder India are looking for.
(Photo: BCCI)
An uncontested prior to IPL 2024 was that India lacked youngsters for two specific roles – a pace-bowling all-rounder, and a power-hitting finisher.
Let’s consider the former first. The ‘Who after Hardik Pandya?’ question has been doing rounds in the Indian cricketing circuit for a while now, with answers being only names without any corroboration.
But this edition saw the emergence of a certain Nitish Reddy – the 21-year-old all-rounder from Andhra, who won the Emerging Player of the Season award. Not only did he score 303 runs at a strike rate of 142.92, but Reddy also scalped three wickets in the limited bowling opportunities he was provided with.
Now coming to the latter. The presumed lack of a power-hitting Indian finisher sparked bidding wars whenever Shahrukh Khan came to auction, for he was among the rare cricketers to fit the bill.
That list has had new additions, with arguably the most prominent among those being Ashutosh Sharma. The Punjab Kings batter scored 189 runs at a strike rate of 167.25, including a 28-ball 61 against Mumbai. Another player on this list, albeit comparatively older, is Ramandeep Singh. The Kolkata Knight Riders batter scored 125 runs at a strike rate of 201.61, including an unbeaten 6-ball 25 against Lucknow Super Giants.
The Kids Are Alright
IPL 2024: Riyan Parag could be seen in the Indian blue very soon.
(Photo: BCCI)
Barring the Virat Kohli-led team of 2008, the 2018 batch was contestably the most proficient Indian U-19 team, considering the panache and flair with which they blew away every single opponent who stood in their way. It seemed that the majority of those players will represent the nation in the years to come, albeit, only Shubman Gill has managed to carve his identity.
But when India take on Zimbabwe for a five-match T20I series in July, expect a couple of Gill’s teammates to debut in blue, in Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag.
The former had an excellent campaign in 2022, but the foundation for escalation slipped from under his feet when he could only score 226 runs last season. This year, however, Abhishek was among the standout performers, scoring 484 runs at a strike rate of 204.22 – the highest among players with 350+ runs.
Parag’s case is slightly different, for despite making his IPL debut way back in 2019, he had never really established himself. Having scored 600 runs in the first five seasons, he has quietened the sceptics with a 573-run season, at an average of 52.09.
Questions on Umpiring Standards
IPL 2024: The umpiring standard this season has raised questions.
(Photo: BCCI)
Considering this tournament is called the Indian Premier League, it is only right that over 80% of the umpires are Indians – 17 among 21. However, the standard on display this season has sparked questions.
There were plenty of controversial decisions across the 74 matches, despite having the assistance of technology. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), alongside the players and coaches, will be hoping for a better show from the umpires next season.
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