A success story in all its glory!
IPL 2018 aired with a lot at stake. CSK was making its entry after two years, the TRP was under the scanner, many franchises were dreaming to get lucky, and a lot much that happened on the course.
When I say that it did not leave many disappointed, I know that almost all of my readers would agree. Even the star commentator Harsha Bhogle has said that IPL 2018 rocked in every possible way. We saw young guns making their mark on the map of international cricket, we saw old wines coming out as winners, we saw many outstanding fielding moments, we saw a great sportsmen spirit shared between players, we saw a very healthy rivalry coming from everyipating team and we saw ourselves attached to our TV sets every evening.
Thanks, IPL 2018 for giving us the following reasons to believe we saw the best.
NOTE: CSK has defeated SRH by 8 wickets in the final match with a great performance coming from S Watson who hit a maiden century. WittyFeed congratulates them. #WhistlePodu
#1 The most balanced IPL.
In all the other seasons of IPL, what we mostly saw was one team dominating the chart while one team played miserable enough to get swept out very early in the tournament. This time around, no team was able to win more than 9 out of their 14 matches and the team that stood last was also able to win 5 matches.
#2 CSK made a dream comeback.
Now, imagine a team that unfortunately played just 9 of the 11 IPL seasons and still managed to play 7 finals. Damn! This is some sort of a Roger Federer like a record. But CSK ensured that its fans, who were waiting eagerly for past three years, don't settle for anything lesser.
Way to go, MSD and team. #3 Bowlers dominated like anything.
We saw extremely poor totals getting defended successfully and on many occasions, those small totals led to a very tight match just because the bowlers denied to give in. One exceptional performance came from SRH when they put a total of 118 and still defeated MI by 31 runs.
Rashid Khan was at his best and he was one man who made the best in the game bite the dust.
They put up a really great show.
They put up a really great show.
#4 ABD played his last IPL and played it like a true legend.
480 runs in the 12 matches that he played, AB proved that he did not take retirement because his game was suffering. Also, the fact that he chose IPL 2018 to say goodbye to his glittery career is more than overwhelming for all the Indian fans of him. The guy is very close to his teammate Virat and this is where he again wins our heart.
All the best for 2nd innings of your life, AB!
All the best for 2nd innings of your life, AB!
#5 Gautam Gambhir's unforgettable show of maturity.
The most unsuccessful side of IPL, DD was earlier in this season lead by Gautam Gambhir. But after winning just one out of their first six matches, Gautam decided to hand over captaincy to young man Shreyas Iyer and pulled himself out of the playing XI.
DD couldn't qualify for the playoffs but Gautam's sacrifice was appreciated.
DD couldn't qualify for the playoffs but Gautam's sacrifice was appreciated.
#6 MSD played his career best IPL!
Hitting 455 odd runs in the 16 matches at a crazy average of 75+ and at a tremendous strike rate of 150+, MSD had a dream run. Also, one must not forget his exceptional job behind the wickets.
He, as an individual played 10 out of 11 IPL finals. (one while leading Rising Pune Supergiant)
This man is just unstoppable.
#7 Virat Kohli became the overall highest run scorer.
This season, 530 runs in 14 matches. Overall, he left Suresh Raina behind to become the highest ever IPL run scorer (4814 runs). His side could not reach the playoffs but his batting never saw a downside. Not to forget all the big partnerships he pulled with ABD by his side.
#8 IPL ads entertained us like anything.
Be it Deepika Padukone's JIO ad where she made every cricketer dance a super crazy step that looked elegant only on her, be it Vodafone's zoozoos, be it Alia Bhatt's Frooti ad and all the other team ads, IPL 2018 definitely entertained viewers between those breaks and strategic timeouts.
You go, IPL!
You go, IPL!
#9 No negative news surfaced.
The year 2013 spot-fixing scandal is something that no true IPL fan would like to remember. IPL founder Lalit Modi's controversy, the dismissal of Raj Kundra due to betting allegations, a lot many big names surfacing in scandals and all this tainted event's image big time.
But in the year 2018, nothing of that sort happened and it was just clean entertainment and not the Bigg Boss styled. Huhhh!
#10 Upcoming stars sparkled.
684 runs (five 50s and one 100) in just 14 matches with the highest number of sixes and fours, Rishabh Pant definitely took away the limelight. In a comment, his team's head coach Ricky Ponting said that Glenn Maxwell was under pressure because of Rishabh's dominating performance. Whooof!
And yes, others like Rayudu, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul also put up a great show.
And yes, others like Rayudu, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul also put up a great show.
#11 Packed stadiums and entertainment full-on
The average stadium attendance of IPL remains to be a staggering 26,000 and this year did not disappoint. We saw completely packed stadiums and IPL's games are now valued at $8.5 million for each game, that is enough to compete with the likes of English Premier League.
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