Introduction Cricket is full of unforgettable images. Rinku Singh hitting five sixes. Dhoni’s helicopter shot. Chris Gayle’s 175*. Among the unexpected images that have become part of IPL folklore is one that has nothing to do with a boundary or a wicket: Kieron Pollard, Mumbai Indians’ giant West Indian all-rounder, walking onto the field in...
Introduction There are many ways to measure cricket’s commercial value. Total audience. Social media followers. Franchise valuations. But one number captures the IPL’s extraordinary position in global sport more precisely than any other: approximately ₹21 lakh per ball bowled. That is the per-delivery value of Star India’s broadcasting deal with the BCCI, which paid Rs....
Introduction At the start of IPL 2021, Umran Malik had played one T20 match in his entire career. He had been invited to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s pre-season camp as a net bowler — someone who bowls at the main squad players in training to help them prepare. He went home after the initial camp without being...
Introduction Everything about MS Dhoni’s cricketing identity is built on composure. He does not show emotions on the field. He does not argue with umpires. He does not react to bad decisions with visible frustration. For 17 years across international and IPL cricket, the running joke was that Dhoni would remain calm during an earthquake....
Introduction March 25, 2019. Punjab Kings versus Rajasthan Royals at Mohali. With RR chasing down a target, Jos Buttler was batting brilliantly. PBKS captain R. Ashwin was bowling. On a ball that Buttler expected to be bowled, Ashwin stopped at the crease and removed the bails — Buttler had backed up too far. The umpire...
Introduction The cruelest phrase in Indian cricket is ‘not in the system.’ For years, Suryakumar Yadav was one of the most destructive T20 batters in India — consistently scoring 400+ runs per IPL season, with a strike rate above 150, against the best bowling attacks in the world. And he was consistently not selected for...
Introduction There are IPL stories and then there is T. Natarajan’s story. His father ran powerloom machines in Salem, Tamil Nadu, for a living. His mother sold pakodas at a roadside stall. The family’s combined income was enough to get by, not enough to buy cricket equipment without sacrifice. Natarajan was discovered playing with a...
Introduction The defending champion in the Indian Premier League faces a specific, structural disadvantage that no other major sports league quite replicates. Only Mumbai Indians (2019-20) and Chennai Super Kings (2010-11) have ever won back-to-back IPL titles. The competition’s auction system, its retentions constraints, the schedule compression, and the pure statistical variance of T20 cricket...
Introduction When Vaibhav Suryavanshi arrives at the RR team hotel ahead of IPL 2026, he will be 15 years old. He will also be the most googled cricketer in India, the holder of the record for the youngest centurion in men’s T20 history, and one of the most watched athletes in the world. The question...
Introduction There is one bowling action in cricket that is immediately recognisable. The very low, wide release point. The slinging delivery that arrives from a completely different angle than conventional pace bowling. The toe-crushing yorker that seems to emerge from nowhere and arrive too quickly to play comfortably. Lasith Malinga owned this action for 13...