For all of Virat Kohli’s four splendid centuries and AB de Villiers' pyrotechnics (though they went noticeably missing in the final), the best moment of the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League did not take place in the final. In fact, it came early in the tournament, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

A muscled Andre Russell stood at the crease, surveying the outfield. Sunrisers Hyderabad had scored just 142 after batting first, and the Kolkata Knight Riders chase looked well on track. Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa had put on a 92-run opening partnership before Uthappa was dismissed, when Russell walked in.

The bowler was a thin, wiry Mustafizur Rahman. Till that game, Rahman had just played just one IPL match and was still a bit of an unknown commodity. He had already carved a name for himself with Bangladesh in international cricket, but this was the IPL and Rahman was up against one of the fiercest hitters of a cricket ball.

Russell's plans of blasting Rahman out of the universe were rudely dismissed. The Fizz delivered a yorker which would have made even Wasim Akram proud. The ball swooped in like a missile, straight and fast, and took out the middle stump. In trying to get out of the way, the big Russell found himself sprawled on the crease, staring back at the damage behind him.

The celebrations were subdued – Kolkata would go on to win the match comfortably. Even Rahman only gave Russell a half-smile, but a marker had been laid down of what would come.

Bhuvi's resurgence

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s victory march, in many ways, epitomised the journey which Rahman’s comrade-in-arms Bhuvneshwar Kumar took through the tournament. Hyderabad lost their first two games – the first game was against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s second over was plundered by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers as they took 16 off him. But the worst was yet to come.

Kumar was handed the ball again in the 19th over and this time, a baby-faced Sarfaraz Khan took a special liking to his bowling. In a flurry of reverse scoops, Khan smashed Kumar’s attempted yorkers all over the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Twenty-eight came off that over and Kumar’s figures read 4-0-55-2.

Such a shelling would have made lesser mortals sway. But such was Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s mental strength that he fought his way back in subsequent matches. By the latter stages of the tournament, Kumar and the Fizz had forged an unbeatable combination. While Rahman applied the squeeze at the other end, tying the batsmen up in knots with his variations, Kumar would apply the killer blow. Together, they wrested the title out of Bangalore’s hands on Sunday just when Virat Kohli thought it couldn’t go wrong anymore.

It wasn’t the Fizz and Bhuvi show all the way, though. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s top two strike bowlers were helped by a motley cast who ensured that there was never any let-up in pressure.

Barinder Sran may not be getting many accolades, but he was the one who did the heavy-lifting for David Warner, bowling at difficult times and picking up the odd wicket. And of course, there was Ashish Nehra, who despite his years, does not like he will fade away anytime soon – in the eight matches he played before injury overtook him, he picked up nine wickets at a strike rate of just over 17.

Leg-spinners deliver a googly

But even beyond Hyderabad, this was an IPL of bowlers, and often those who eschewed the newfangled mystery stuff in favour of the old-school. Kolkata’s Sunil Narine was effective rather than devastating, and for all the talk about their unorthodox actions, Shivil Kaushik and Kuldeep Yadav never really set the tournament on fire.

But Bangalore’s young leggie Yuzvendra Chahal defied the critics by consistently putting in splendid performances on the batsman-friendly Chinnaswamy track, aided by old warhorse Shane Watson. The unassuming Dhawal Kulkarni also played his part for the Gujarat Lions, picking up 18 wickets in the tournament.

Chahal's performance was only part of a larger trend of leg-spinners doing very well this season. Delhi’s Amit Mishra was in fine fettle, while the only bright spot in Rising Pune Supergiants’ disastrous debut was the promise shown by their young Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who recorded figures of 6/19 in a game against the eventual champions.

The breathless nature of modern-day cricket invariably means that much of all this will fade in public memory as the next India tour rolls along. But for what it’s worth, this was a memorable IPL not because of the stratospheric sixes – you get those every season – but because of the bowlers.