IPL 2018: 5 statistical records from the tournament

Yet another star-studded IPL 2018 season has come to an end and the spectators are already waiting for next season of the Indian Premier League with their bated breath.

The banished lions Chennai Super Kings won the 'Best vs Best' tournament this year and announced their comeback with a bang. But, it was not only Chennai Super Kings who had an exceptional run this season, the tournament that went on for more than two months witnessed a cut-throat competition among the eight teams who battled it out for the ultimate glory.

Although the Indian Premier League has departed, we are still trying to get over the tinge of nostalgia of those huge sixes, those breath-taking marvelous catches and some unbelievable super-human knocks.

The number of sixes increased this season and bowlers came up with some menacing bowling actions that stunned the batsmen.

Some new kids on the blocks like Shreyas Iyer came into the limelight while as some old warhorses like Ambati Rayudu and Jos Buttler earned a call from their national side.

A lot of records shattered whereas many new records were inked. Here's our pick of the best records and milestone that were the highlight of the season:

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#5 A season studded with fireworks

Kane Williamson of Sunrisers Hyderabad became the highest scorer of the season

Eight players who crossed the 500 runs mark were Kane Williamson, Shane Watson, Rishabh Pant, Jos Buttler, Ambati Rayudu, Lokesh Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli. Unfortunately, Dinesh Karthik (498) and Shikhar Dhawan (496) fell only two and four runs short. Despite that, a record eight players scored more than 500+ runs and broke the previous record when seven players achieved the feat in 2013.

This season two bowlers also conceded more than 500 runs with the ball. Dwayne Bravo and Siddharth Kaul gave away 547 runs and 533 runs. Kaul's also set a record as it is the most runs given away by a bowler in an IPL season. Kaul broke Bravo's record a couple of hours before having after bowling the first innings of the final.

Earlier the record was held by bowlers Umesh Yadav who had conceded 508 in 2013 and Mitchell McClenaghan had given away 507 runs in 2017 in the previous editions.

#4 RCB's record of sixes

RCB's batsmen smashed the bowlers to hit big sixes this season

Although the batting and bowling of the side couldn't stand up to the expectations of its fans, their batsmen continued making big strides. Despite starting the season with high confidence, Royal Challengers couldn't lay their hands on the IPL trophy.

In the 2018 season, the team boasting of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Brendon McCullum became the first side to hit 1000 sixes in the IPL.

Brendon McCullum sent a full-toss from Hardik Pandya over the ropes in the third-man region to hit RCB's 1000th six in the Indian Premier League.

RCB have hit 1038 sixes in the history of the tournament so far which is 58 more than the Mumbai Indians (980).

#3 A season of wicket-keeper batsmen

DD's Rishabh Pant had a stellar IPL season in 2018

2018 IPL was a season for the wicket-keeper batsman as four of the eight wicket-keeper batsmen were also the highest run-getters for their respective franchises.

Rishabh Pant stood-out in the tournament as he scored 684 runs in 14 innings at an amazing strike rate of 173.60.

KL Rahul also performed consistently throughout the tournament for his team Kings XI Punjab and finished his season with 659 runs at an average of 54.91 with the help of six half-centuries.

Jos Butler also played a pivotal role in guiding the Rajasthan Royals to the playoffs and scored 548 runs in 12 innings which also included five consecutive fifties.

Dinesh Karthik, the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, had his second most prolific season with the bat in hand. Despite batting down the order, the 32-year-old scored 498 runs in 16 games as he led his team into the playoffs.

#2 Rare records made in the Playoffs

Two unique records were made in the Qualifier 2 between KKR and SRH. While KKR opted to field only three overseas players in their playing XI, SRH roped in Khaleel Ahmed to make his debut in the qualifier 2.

The game was the first-ever playoff in the history of IPL where a team didn’t go for four overseas players in their playing XI.

SRH's Khaleel Ahmed became 3rd player to make this IPL debut in a playoff.

#1 Dhoni's unique record

Dhoni has registered many records to his name with his glovework

MS Dhoni is now the wicket-keeper with the most number of stumpings in the IPL. He made this record when after he stumped Kane Williamson in the final. He has affected 33 stumpings which is one more than that of Robin Uthappa. Dhoni also holds the record of for most dismissal (78) and most catches (49) as a keeper in the T20s.

Dhoni surpassed Kamran Akmal's record of 219 dismissals and Kumar Sangakkara' record of 142 catches during their final league stage game.