Data check: From Kishan’s 30 sixes to terrific trio Archer-Rabada-Bumrah, chart-toppers of IPL 2020

Here’s a question for you: back when the Indian Premier League started in September 2020, how many of you expected Ishan Kishan to be the tournament’s leading six-hitter?

That the Mumbai Indians batsman hit 30 sixes in IPL 2020 will go down as arguably the most jaw-dropping individual statistic of the season that produced many jaw-dropping moments and matches.

Here’s a look at the chart-toppers by various metrics as the 13th season of IPL came to a close with Mumbai Indians extending their record of most triumphs with fifth titles.

Batting

KL Rahul’s season deserves to be dissected on its own for being a case study like no other. He now has two 600-plus seasons in IPL and one where he scored 593 in Kings XI Punjab colours. But sample this, for a conundrum:

In the 13 seasons of IPL, there have been 19 instances of players scoring 600+ runs in a season.

KL Rahul is in an elite group because he is among only 4 to have done it more than once.

KL Rahul’s SR of 129.34 in IPL2020 is the lowest among those 600-plus tallies.

Rahul won the Orange Cap yet again and rightly figures in most dream teams of the season (even ours) but there will always be a what if next to his 670-run tally in UAE.

It was also a special season for Dhawan, who hit 600-plus for the first time in his IPL career and became the first man to score back-to-back centuries in the tournament history.

The top 10 had usual suspects like David Warner (only man to have three 600-plus seasons) and Virat Kohli but both will be feeling they could have done a bit better at the end of it all. And in good news for Indian cricket, three uncapped batsmen feature in the top 10.

Nicholas Pooran was arguably the most exciting overseas batsman of this season. His 17-ball half-century in a losing cause against SRH was an innings to behold, he finished second on the list of six-hitters and he was the only batsman to hit three sixes measured longer than 100 meters.

Among the five centuries and two sensational 99s, Ben Stokes 107* against eventual champions Mumbai will likely go down as the best individual innings of the tournament.

In the top 10 six-hitters, five Mumbai Indians players feature who hit a phenomenal 118 sixes among them.

There were five instances of 150-plus run partnerships in the tournament with two of them, rather surprisingly, coming against the champions Mumbai.

Bowling

The record of most wickets in a single season (32 by Dwayne Bravo) was under threat from Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah but both of them fell short at the end. But take nothing away from the serious heat they, along with the likes of Jofra Archer, Trent Boult and Anrich Nortje, brought in what was a season for pace. The early prediction of the pitches getting tired and turning out to be slow and low was true eventually only in Sharjah but the pacers were effective throughout.

Sample this for a brilliant stat: Archer bowled dot balls with 52.4% deliveries he bowled. And considering he bowled in the powerplay as well as the death, that is a stunning number.

And, after a rollercoaster start, Bumrah finished the season as a constant at the top in all of the key metrics, surprise surprise.

Rashid Khan once again proved hard to score off and was the only bowler to finish with 10-plus wickets and an economy rate of less than 6.00.

Wicketkeeping / fielding

Statistics courtesy iplt20.com and ESPNCricinfo.