IPL Analysis 2019: The Sportsrush presents before you statistical analysis of the league phase of the Indian Premier League.
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The ongoing 12th edition of the Indian Premier League saw its league phase being culminated last night. Riveting 55 matches played over the span of 44 days saw eight teams fighting it out for the Top Four spots needed to qualify.
In Mumbai Indians, defending champions Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Top four teams in the qualifiers will now be part of an intriguing Qualifying phase.
While Mumbai and Chennai have both won the IPL title thrive, Hyderabad have won it only once in 2016. On the contrary, Delhi are yet to register a title despite playing the tournament since its inception in 2008. Playing with a new name, new kit and new co-owner, Capitals put on display an instrumental brand of cricket this season.
With all the teams having played the same number of matches at this point in time, it is the most apt time to compare them and their performances in the league phase.
IPL Analysis 2019: Home advantage counts big
There is always a debate on whether home advantage benefits the home team or not. In a T20 tournament, one doesn’t expect home conditions to differ in the same country. However, that is seldom the case. With their pitch well-suited for their bowling attack, Super Kings conceded the least number of runs (2,012) in the season.
Bowling-friendly conditions also took a toll on their batting for they scored the least number of runs (2,043) in the league phase. But their bowling kept them covered.
Talking about the overall home-away record, the hosts won nearly double the matches than the visitors. Other than Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals being called-off due to rain, all the other 55 matches yielded results. Out of 55, a commanding 36 matches were won by home teams as compared to 19 matches won by visiting teams.
IPL Analysis 2019: Chase to win?
A lot of T20 franchises strongly believe in the notion of chasing to winning matches of late. The thought process of knowing what to chase is generally considered simpler than the conundrum regarding what total to set. Despite enhanced emphasis on this logic, there isn’t a significant difference in the percentage of matches won by teams chasing and percentage of matches won by teams batting first.
Out of 55 matches, 33 matches (60%) were won by teams batting second as compared to 22 matches won by teams batting first (40%).
IPL Analysis 2019: Is toss the boss?
There is no hiding to the fact that toss plays a crucial role in Test matches. The result of the toss has it in it to affect the course of a Test match. It might be surprising but is the truth that it also plays a vital role in T20 matches.
Out of the 55 matches, 33 were won by teams who won the toss whereas 22 matches were won by teams who lost the toss and yet won the match.
With teams losing the toss winning 40% of the matches, the other side of the coin suggests that losing a toss can also help a team.
IPL Analysis 2019: Where are the Indian all-rounders?
Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Andre Russell was unequivocally their star performer throughout the season. Predominantly unbelievable with the bat, Russell also contributed with the ball in crunch situations.
Having scored 510 runs in 14 matches at an average of 56.66 and a strike rate of 204.81 including four half-centuries, Russell ended the league phase as the third-highest run-scorer after David Warner and Lokesh Rahul.
Russell was declared the ‘Man of the Match’ on a staggering four occasions, highest in IPL 2019 so far. Among the other all-rounders Hardik Pandya (3), Sam Curran (1) and Keemo Paul (1) were the other all-rounders who won the award in IPL 2019.
Hardik Pandya might not have amassed runs like Russell, but he was equally good in terms of generating impact for Mumbai Indians. While his superlative form is a boost for India ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, no other Indian all-rounder winning a Man of the Match awards highlights the dearth of cricketers of this genre in the country.
Since all-rounders have it in them to change the course of a T20 match, no other Indian standing tall on the expectations is a concern which needs to be addressed.
Overall, 30 Indian cricketers (54.54%) were declared the Man of the Match awards as compared to 25 overseas cricketers (45.45%). The fact that there are seven (6.63%) Indian players in a Playing XI as compared to four (36.36%) overseas cricketers generally further pinpoints the extent of overseas cricketers calling the shots in the IPL.
IPL Analysis 2019: Batsmen likely to win matches
Out of the 55 completed matches, batsmen have won the Man of the Match award on 29 occasions (52.72%) as compared to 17 bowlers (30.90%) and nine all-rounders (16.36%). The numbers also throw light on the certitude that batsmen aid teams to win matches as compared to the bowlers helping in winning tournaments.
