We are now a week and a half into the 11th season of the Indian Premier League, with 14 games having been played across the length and breadth of the country. A quarter of the league stage has been completed, and certain trends have emerged. Winning the toss and electing to chase has been the flavour of the season. It's hardly surprising that a captain hasn't yet opted to bat first in the tournament so far. Among other notable points, DRS has finally arrived in the IPL and has had a major say in the outcomes with several decisions overturned at key junctures of various matches. It's been a welcome sign that Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Zadran have proved there's T20 talent beyond the traditional bastions of cricket and their performances testify they are here to stay. A look at the numerous patterns from the first quarter of the league phase.
IPL 2018 trends - Soaring run-rates and bat second formula
Scoring rates soar to unprecedented heights
The season's run rate after the first 14 games - 8.86 - is the highest in 11 editions after the completion of first 14 scheduled matches each season. While the run rates in middle overs (overs 7-15) and slog overs (16-20) have increased in relation to the tournament average across the 11 editions, the biggest difference has been the approach of teams in the first six overs.
The tournament run rate in the first six overs so far - 9.36 per over - a marked increase from the overall run rate in the history of the IPL in the first six overs, which stands at 7.71 after the first 14 scheduled games of every season. Teams scored at under seven an over in the four years between 2011 and 2014 and though there has been a steady increase in the Powerplay run rates in the last five years - the 9.39% rise from 2017 to 2018 is the second highest year-to-year increase after 10.20% from 2016 to 2017. So far this season, every innings has seen teams scoring at over run-a-ball at the end of the first six overs, and in 23 of the 28 innings, teams have managed to score at above eight runs per over which is considered as a par scoring rate in T20 cricket.
Chasing teams have done marginally better in the first six overs, scoring at 9.51 compared to 9.20 by teams batting first. While the first over of the innings has consistently remained the lowest scoring rate in all IPLs, teams have been scoring at 7.96 in the first over of the innings after 14 matches during this season. Like the scoring pattern in the first six overs, teams scoring more in the first over of the innings is something which has increased uniformly since 2014 - 4.39 in 2013, 5.64 in 2014, 6.07 in 2015, 6.21 in 2016, 6.32 in 2017 and 7.96 this year - first over stats of first 14 scheduled games each season.
Teams scoring rates each season after first 14 scheduled games
| Year | Mat | Overall RR | RR in first six | RR in middle phase | RR in death |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 14 | 8.63 | 8.10 | 8.21 | 10.40 |
| 2009 | 12 | 7.83 | 7.82 | 7.03 | 9.60 |
| 2010 | 14 | 8.23 | 8.09 | 7.74 | 9.39 |
| 2011 | 14 | 7.91 | 6.95 | 7.55 | 10.02 |
| 2012 | 14 | 7.65 | 6.95 | 7.41 | 9.15 |
| 2013 | 14 | 7.32 | 6.74 | 6.83 | 9.10 |
| 2014 | 14 | 7.77 | 6.93 | 7.52 | 9.54 |
| 2015 | 14 | 8.47 | 7.57 | 7.86 | 10.87 |
| 2016 | 14 | 8.16 | 7.76 | 7.70 | 9.89 |
| 2017 | 14 | 8.66 | 8.55 | 8.09 | 10.11 |
| 2018 | 14 | 8.86 | 9.36 | 7.82 | 10.28 |
** Two matches in 2009 season were washed out
Undervaluing the cost of a wicket
It's often said by analysts across the world that most teams overvalue the importance of wickets in hand in the shortest format, which in the end may cause teams 10-15 runs short of the desired total. Often in IPL's history, teams like
