STARS FOR THE FUTURE

This IPL had a number of firsts, the anointment of a fresh champion among them, but even that paled before the heroics of the season's young bloods

- By Suhani Singh

It was an IPL of many firsts. The first edition to see a player earn a match suspension, the first to see a player, 23-year-old Riyan Parag, hit six consecutive sixes while his still-a-teen teammate Vaibhav Suryavanshi became IPL's youngest centurion. It was of course also the first IPL to be interrupted by war, and to get a tragic post-script. Cricket-wise, two teams, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, vied for their first title. Digvesh Rathi’s on-pitch theatrics entertained as much as irked opponents, and when these went too far, he was benched. And Krunal Pandya became the first to win Player-of-the-Match award in two IPL finals.

It was also an IPL of redemption, especially for Virat Kohli. The former RCB captain finally got his hands on the trophy that had eluded him for 18 long years, the only blip in his storied career. Shreyas Iyer may have finished runner-up, but he, too, etched his name in the history books—as the first to lead three different teams to the final. Meanwhile, the league's most expensive player Rishabh Pant (price tag: Rs 27 crore) had his worst season, averaging only 24.5 with just one hundred and a fifty. Ageing CSK super icon M.S. Dhoni also struggled to make an impact.