Spread over two months, the Indian Premier League 2022 has given fans great entertainment and plenty of talking points on and off the field.
The tournament, which saw the league’s re-expansion to 10 teams after a decade, has been the longest in recent history. But also one with multiple moments of excitement, mishappenings on the ground and controversies off it.
As the season comes to its close, we focus on ten of these moments, which have grabbed the fans’ attention and limelight over the last 60 odd days.
R Ashwin involved in IPL’s first-ever tactical retire out
A flagbearer of detaching stigma around rules, R Ashwin got the cricket world buzzing once again after becoming IPL’s first-ever tactical retiree in the league stage encounter against the Lucknow Super Giants.
Promoted to No.6 by the Rajasthan Royals to arrest their collapse, Ashwin made a sensible 28 off 23 balls and stitched a critical 68-run partnership with Shimron Hetmyer.
But once his utility was achieved as the pinch-blocker, the RR think-tank had a brief discussion with the player and Ashwin volunteered to walk off the ground, allowing RR’s designated power-hitter Riyan Parag to join Hetmyer for the last 10 balls of the innings. RR eventually won the game by 3 runs.
Tewatia does it again versus PBKS
After making a name for himself with a scintillating finish against Punjab Kings, which included five consecutive sixes, in the 2020 season, Rahul Tewatia did it again versus the same opposition in IPL 2022.
Playing for Gujarat Titans this time, the valiant left-hander smashed PBKS’ Odean Smith for two successive maximums to snatch a victory out of the opposition’s hands when his team needed 12 off the last two balls.
Rinku denied moment of glory by Lewis’ spectacular catch
Playing a tremendous knock of 40 off 15 balls to almost steer Kolkata Knight Riders to victory in a must-win encounter against Lucknow Super Giants, Rinku Singh was denied his moment of great fame by a spectacular catch from substitute fielder Evin Lewis.
Lewis took a one-handed stunner near the edge of the circle through the off-side after Singh ended up slicing a full-pitched ball from Marcus Stoinis with 3 needed off the last two balls. As it turned out, KKR couldn’t add another run to their tally and crashed out of the playoffs race.
Pant ask for DC batters to return after no-ball controversy
Missing out on the playoffs by just one win, Delhi Capitals may look back in agony at this moment. With 24 needed off the last 4 balls, DC’s designated power-hitter Rovman Powell received a waist-high full-toss from Rajasthan Royals pacer Obed McCoy and smashed it for six.
While the ball looked like it was on its way down the waistline of the batter, the DC camp felt angst when the standing umpire decided not to give it a no-ball and neither verified it with the television official.
The second part offended Pant so much from the DC dugout that he gestured Powell and his batting partner Kuldeep Yadav to return to the shed, while support staff member Pravin Amre went up to the two umpires to query why they didn’t check the no-ball again, leading to a controversial halt in play.
Soon it emerged that the umpires were only following the rule book, as the IPL playing conditions allow for the match officials to verify a no-ball with the technology only if the delivery concerns a dismissal. Whereas, in this case, Powell had clearly dispatched the ball for a six and was due to continue his innings. DC eventually lost the game.
Jadeja hands over CSK captaincy back to MS Dhoni
Appointed captain for CSK at the start of the season, Ravindra Jadeja handed the reigns back to MS Dhoni after just eight games at the helm. The franchise confirmed the switch back to Dhoni was Jadeja’s brainchild, as he felt overburdened by the extra responsibility and wanted to rejuvenate himself as an allround cricketer.
Dhoni spoke with great sympathy for Jadeja after accepting his request for him to wear the captaincy badge again. But his return to the post left a few question marks rising on CSK’s head, as the franchise took a step back after clearly announcing their intent to move out of Dhoni’s shadows and approach a new era under a new leader.
Karthik fulfils India comeback dream after tremendous run with RCB
At the age of 36, Dinesh Karthik looked like a protagonist of the past for the Indian selectors. But the experienced wicketkeeper-batter resurrected himself and earned a T20I comeback for the series against South Africa in June following a bumper season with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Karthik, in a passionate post-match chat with teammate Virat Kohli, asserted his dream to represent India again and help the side to reclaim the T20 World Cup trophy. He took a giant leap towards achieving that with an excellent run as an end-overs aggressor for RCB, scoring 330 runs at a strike-rate of 183.33.
New teams GT, LSG make the playoffs in first go
When the IPL first expanded to 10 teams, new entrants Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala not only failed to make the playoffs but also never really competed on an equal footing with the other, more established sides, leading to an overall lower quality competition.
Fear of a similar tournament loomed large over the IPL 2022 as it brought Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans into the fold. But that was dispelled by an inspirational maiden season from the two new teams, with both making the final round. Led by KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya, the Giants and Titans managed to assert their presence and built a strong core that shall help them stand the test of time.
Hardik the allrounder returns with a bang
Facing doubts and criticism around his fitness ahead of the season, Pandya shut his naysayers up with a terrific allround campaign as the captain of Gujarat Titans.
The Titans skipper led his troops from the front with the bat and the ball towards their maiden IPL trophy. He top-scored for the new entrants with 487 runs at an average of 44.27 with a strike-rate of 131.26, featuring four half-centuries.
On the bowling front, Hardik rejuvenated himself by producing spells at full tilt once again and delivering his overs in the fifth bowler’s capacity at an economy rate of 7.27 on good batting tracks. The 28-year-old reserved his best for the last, with a spell of 3 for 17 in the final against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Rohit done in by a technological loophole
Going through a disappointing IPL season with the bat, Rohit Sharma had salt rubbed into his wounds by a technological loophole on the UltraEdge after the Mumbai Indians was given out caught behind even as the snicko appeared on the screen before the ball touched his bat. The incident is from MI’s second league game against Kolkata Knight Riders.
The television umpire decided to give Rohit out caught off an outside edge even as the ultra edge had a spike before the ball made contact with the willow. It was probably because the spike persisted when the ball actually went the nearest to the bat.
Wade’s moment of anger; throws helmet in disgust
The usually calm Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade had an alarming moment of anger inside the Gujarat Titans dressing room as he threw his helmet around in disgust over a questionable on-field decision given against him.
Wade was given out LBW after another contentious UltraEdge error. The left-hander was forced to make his way back to the pavilion after sweeping and edging a ball onto his pads. In the real-time replay, it was visible that the player made some contact with the left-hander’s willow. But when the DRS was called for, the UltraEdge showed no spike at all, leading the television official to give Wade out.
Soon the batter reached inside the Titans dressing room and threw his helmet in anger over the television umpire’s call, as the official decided to go with what the technology said without paying heed to the details of the ball in real time.
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