Top 10 most memorable IPL moments etched in memory of every fan

The Indian premier league is the most popular T20 domestic competition going around the world. The international calendar of almost every team stops during the major part of Indian summer. After the initial edition of the T20 world cup in 2007, a franchise-based T20 tournament came into the limelight and since then there has been never looking back.

The popularity of IPL grew exponentially and now the cash-rich league is stepping into its 13th edition in less than 50 days. Here is a look back into the 10 moments in no particular order of IPL that you simply can’t stop watching.

1. Brendon McCullum’s 158

The swashbuckling innings of Baz was the perfect advertisement for the glitz and glamour of IPL. In many ways that was the innings that acted as a projection of what this league is all about. McCullum came out and smashed every bowler to all parts of the ground while donning the colours of KKR.

For many years that remained the highest score by an individual not only in IPL but in any recognised T20 cricket.

2. Chris Gayle’s 175

This will just go down in history as one of the best T20 innings of all time. All kinds of batting records for T20 were broken in this innings by Chris Gayle when he scored 175 off 66 balls.

Many of those records still stand tall from that April 23rd 2013 to date. It is the highest score by an individual in T20, it was the fastest T20 100, it contained the most sixes and numerous other records.

3. Dhoni smashing Irfan to send CSK into semis

CSK needed 16 runs off the last over and it was all upto the captain MS Dhoni to pull off an amazing chase. Irfan Pathan was the bowler and Dharamsala was the iconic venue. Many still remember the venue with that iconic six with which Dhoni finished the innings and the aggression to boot of was just so incredible.

Dhoni's innings in Dharmasala in 2010 was one of the memorable moments as a CSK fan. MS Dhoni exploded to viscerally demolish Irfan Pathan in the final over of the game to give CSK a much needed win. #PerfectFan #VIVOIPL #Chennai pic.twitter.com/zve03DtUdO

— Zubair (@zubbi_44) April 17, 2019

No one had seen Dhoni so expressive until then and it never happened after but that was a rare instance. Dhoni punched his face a couple of times after the win and then embraced Albie Morkel to round off wild celebrations in the ground. This is surely a moment that one would watch again and again.

4. Sohail Tavir’s 6/14

Sohail Tanvir’s 6/14 was a long-standing record for the best bowling figures in an IPL game. Tanvir turned out in the IPL in only one edition and it was the first-ever edition of IPL back in 2008. He bowled Rajasthan Royals-the surprise package of IPL to victory against CSK by taking as many as 6 wickets in a 4 over spell. The record stood for 11 long years as the best bowling figures.

5. Suresh Raina 87 off 25

This was a special knock from a special player, known as Mr. IPL, Mr. Consistent. Suresh Raina produced one of the best batting performances of IPL. He scored 87 runs off just 25 balls and was well on his way to make the fastest century and take his side to victory against KXIP but the masterclass was cut short by a runout. 100 runs in the power play was unheard of but Raina made CSK to achieve that.

One of the purest ball striking from ball one was seen as the magic happened on a cricket field.

6. Anil Kumble’s 5/5

Anil Kumble’s best-ever bowling performance in a T20 game arrived when he turned up for Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy. He had incredible figures of 5 wickets and 5 runs in his 3.1 overs. Till date that is the fourth-best bowling performance and best ever by an Indian. His spell read –
1st Over – 1 1 1 0 1 0
2nd Over – W W 0 0 0 0
3rd Over – 0 1 W 0 W 1lb
4th Over – W

7&8. Virat Kohli and ABD partnership

We have two separate instances of the same batsmen who put up the highest partnership in IPL history 2 times. On 10th May 2015 they both put on 215 runs breaking a long time record of 206 runs by Gilly and Marsh. Then in 2016, they both broke their own record to put on 229 runs against Gujarat Lions in what was the most amazing batting performance by a pair.

The bowlers were mauled, to say the least. Both Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers completed their centuries and plundered the bowling to all parts of the ground. Both the partnerships were just brilliant and may never be bettered again by any pair in IPL cricket hence both instances deserved a mention in this list.

9. The tied super over

IPL has seen everything from the highest score of 175 by an individual to team getting all out for 49. Brilliant bowling performances, breathtaking batting performances have all come and gone but one moment that showed the smartness of a player to a great extent is the tied super over game by the genius Steve Smith. 3 runs were needed of the last ball of a super over when Smith faced Narine.

When everyone expected a boundary attempt Smith nudged the ball into extra covers to take one of the calmest doubles.

He knew that by virtue of having scored more boundaries during the actual game( world cup2019 final memories flashes in mind), RR would be declared winners if the super over was tied and he achieved the target ever so calmly. One could simply not stop watching the smartest chase in a super over

10. Joseph’s 6/12

Alzarri Joseph all of 21 years old produced the magic spell of bowling in IPL 2019. He broke the previous record of 6/14 to register figures of 6/12. In a dream debut outing with Mumbai Indians, Joseph literally took a wicket every time he bowled a ball.

That was some performance with the ball and the record is here to stand the test of time because anyone cannot imagine a bowler taking 6 wickets in a 4 over spell that too conceding only 12 runs. This is a spell that can be watched on a loop.