Most Unique Facts in the Indian T20 League History 

The Indian T20 League is undoubtedly the greatest form of entertainment World cricket has ever witnessed. Starting in 2008, it grew huge popularity among cricket-loving fans. Despite the pandemic situation, there has been no change in the craze of cricket fans all around India and the rest of the world. 

Over the past 13 years, there have been several records made and broken during the tournament. There are many lesser-known facts that many cricket fans are unaware of. Read this blog to know more about them: 

1. Brendon McCullum is the only player to score a century for Kolkata in the Indian T20 League. The present Kolkata team captain scored the century in the very first match of the tournament. He scored 158 runs with 13 sixes in total. McCullum’s 158 runs helped Kolkata to thrash Bangalore in a defeat at m Chinnaswamy stadium in Chennai. Since then, no other batsman from this franchise achieved this feat. The league has seen over 1000 games but not another hundred from any of Kolkata’s batsmen.

2. Amit Mishra has taken the most number of hat tricks in the Indian T20 League. While Yuvraj Singh trails the list with two hattricks to his name. The veteran spinner is one of the most consistent bowlers in the league. He was a very vital player for Delhi and picked a total of 157 wickets since his debut in 2008. He is now the second-highest wicket-taker in the Indian T20 League. He took his three hattricks against Delhi, Deccan, and Hyderabad franchises. He achieved this amazing feat in the years 2008, 2011, and 2013 respectively.

3. Bangalore holds the record for registering the highest as well as the lowest scoring totals in the history of the League. The team registered a score of only 49 runs while chasing Kolkata’s total of 137 runs in the year 2017.The trio of De Grandhomme. Coulter Nile and Chris Woakes took three wickets each, while Kuldeep Yadav took one wicket. On the other hand, the highest total of 263/5 came in the year 2013 against the Pune franchise. While batting first, Chris Gayle smashed a whopping 175* runs to register a total of 263 in 20 overs.

4. Virat Kohli has been part of three out of the four double-century partnerships in the Indian T20 League. All three double centuries came on the 2nd wicket of the partnership of 229 and 215* respectively, both with Mr 360, Ab De Villers, and one of 204* with the universe boss Chris Gayle.  

5. Piyush Chawla bowled his maiden no-ball in the 386th over of the Indian T20 League. He was the only long-term bowler who took an enormous number of overs to bowl a single no-ball against Delhi in the year 2016 of the Indian T20 League. 

6. Chennai is the only franchise to have never changed a captain in the Indian T20 League till 2021. The legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni led the Chennai franchise to four Indian T20 League trophies, the second-most by any team in the league after Mumbai. Captain Cool led Chennai from the inaugural season of 2008 till 2015. Then due to the ban of the franchise for two years, he captained Pune and in 2018 he made a comeback again as the skipper of the Chennai franchise.

7. Basil Thampi has the record of giving away the most runs i.e. 66 in 4 overs in the history of the League. One of the most embarrassing records in the league is of the Indian bowler Basil Thampi. In the year 2018, the right arm pacer conceded a whopping 70 runs in 4 overs while playing for Hyderabad against Bangalore.

8. Harshal Patel became the first-ever uncapped player to be named the Most Valuable Player in the Indian T20 League. The Bangalore pacer achieved this feat in the 2021 edition of the world-famous Indian T20 League. He picked 32 wickets in the tournament and joined horns with Dwayne Bravo who also achieved the same in the year 2013 for the Chennai franchise. Harshal Patel is the third Indian after the Master Blaster- Sachin Tendulkar and the Run Machine- Virat Kohli to become the MVP in an Indian T20 League season.

9. Indian T20 League is the first tournament in cricket history where four female commentators participated in the commentary. The Eighth Edition of the Indian T20 League witnessed an amazing thing i.e. four former cricketers: Anjum Chopra, Isa Guha, Lisa Sthalekar, and Melanie Jones who have represented their national teams in various competitions, participated as commentators in the Indian T20 League.

10. AB De Villiers and Keiron Pollard are the only overseas players to have played more than 100 matches for a single franchise in the Indian T20 League. Although there are only 14 overseas players who have played more than 100 matches in the Indian T20 League. Two players are ABD and Bravo who are the only players to have achieved this feat while staying loyal to a single franchise. ABD did this with Bangalore and Pollard with the Mumbai franchise respectively.

11. Chris Gayle has the record of scoring the most number of centuries in the League. The Universe Boss Chris Gayle is well known for his power-packed performance in the game of cricket. He has a total of 6 centuries to his name and holds the record for most centuries in the Indian T20 League. On the other hand, Virat Kohli scored the most centuries in a single season. The Indian Run Machine has 4 centuries to his name in the Indian T20 League, 2016.

12. Brad Hogg is the most adult player in the league. He played for Kolkata at the age of 45 in the year 2016. The Australian left-hand chinaman bowler is the oldest player in the Indian T20 League. Hogg made his Indian T20 League debut for the Kolkata franchise in 2012 when he was aged 45 years and 65 days. He was not a regular player for the team and took 21 wickets in 17 matches for his team.

13. Aaron Finch has played for the most number of franchises in the IndianT20 League. The Australian white-ball captain locked horns for signing up for the 9th franchise in the Indian T20 League. Finch went unsold in the 2022 Mega auctions but was later replaced with Alex Hales, who pulled out due to bubble fatigue.

14. Delhi is the only team in IPL to have never played an Indian T20 League final. Since the inception of the Indian T20 League games in 2008, Delhi is the only franchise to have never qualified for the finals. Although this year, they are in great touch and hopefully they shall get a spot in the finals if they keep playing this way. 

15. Dale Steyn has the record for the most number of dot balls in a single season of the Indian T20 League. The veteran South African speedster and the current bowling coach of the Hyderabad franchise was one of the most fearsome bowlers in World Cricket. In the 2013 Indian T20 League season, he signed for the Hyderabad franchise and created a world-class record by bowling 211 dot balls, which equals 35.1 overs. With such a prolific rate, the right-arm pacer bowled 67.5 overs in total that year.