THINGS WE LEARNT FROM IPL X BIG BUCKS STOKES TURNED OUT TO BE A ‘PERFECT FIT’ WHILE PACERS HOGGED THE LIMELIGHT DURING THE 49-DAY LEAGUE. A LOOK AT FEW IMPORTANT LESSONS AFTER THE FINAL ON SUNDAY

The fast bowlers also hogged the limelight. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Jaydev Unadkat (Rising Pune Supergiant) and Mitchell McClenaghan (Mumbai Indians) made up the top three in the IPL bowlers rankings and the impact of seamers was evident this season. While Kumar took 26 scalps to get the purple cap for highest wicket taker in season 10, Unadkat (24 wickets) was instrumental in Pune’s success. Mumbai also rode on McClenaghan’s incisive bowling in the first six overs and fellow pacemen Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Johnson’s ability to choke the opposition in the dying overs. “It’s a huge achievement for fast bowlers to have made an impact in T20 cricket which is not an easy format for the quicks,” former India paceman Chetan Sharma said. Just when the match-fixing spectre seemed to have disappeared from the world’s most lucrative cricket league, a betting ring was busted after a Gujarat Lions-Dehli Daredevils game. Three suspected bookies were arrested at the hotel used by the teams in Kanpur. While the Indian board boasted of their anti-corruption team working overtime to keep the league clean, the presence of fixers in the hotel raised eyebrows. A spot-fixing scandal in 2013 led to the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals being suspended in 2015 for two seasons. Lot of debates are being held over the IPL’s rain-rules after an eliminator between holders Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders ended at 1.27am. Rain stopped play after the Sunrisers managed a modest 128-7 in 20 overs and Kolkata were then given a revised target of 48 in six overs. Many believe the current Duckworth-Lewis method should not be used in the 20-over format as it gives an undue advantage to the team batting second — Kolkata won by seven wickets. But the bone of contention remained the IPL ruling of not having a reserve day for play-offs except the final and thus allowing the match to stretch to get a result. Kolkata paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile said: “You can’t be playing cricket at 2am”.

AFP Mumbai Indians players with the trophy after defeating Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 Indian Premier League final in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Agencies Agencies Ben Stokes became the most expensive foreign player this IPL. Rashid Khan and Nabi became first Afghanistan players to play in IPL.

Agencies Agencies A betting ring was busted after the Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils’ match. Rains had put organisers on the backfoot.

Agencies Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was impressive.