The IPL wasn’t timed perfectly for those who were in the national Australian team, but despite that handicap, the Australians made their presence felt quite amply in the 2008 tournament
S Rajesh16-Apr-2009The IPL wasn’t timed perfectly for those who were in the national Australian team, but despite that handicap, the Australians made their presence felt quite amply in the 2008 tournament. The leading run-scorer came from that country, as did the second-highest wicket-taker and the best allrounder.Even those who were around very briefly made their presence felt, with Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Simon Katich all scoring plenty of runs in the few games they played. Ricky Ponting didn’t achieve the same kind of success, but overall the Australian success was especially pronounced with the bat: the 20 players who batted managed a combined average of 37.48 runs per dismissal, at a strike-rate of 8.15 runs per over. Both were better than the tournament average, with the runs per wicket being considerably better than the IPL mean of 25.97.
Total runs*AverageRuns per overAus runs*AverageRuns per overIPL season 200816,80825.977.73318637.488.15While the firepower of Marsh, Watson, Pommersbach, Gilchrist, and several others ensured that the batting stats for Australia were well above par, it wasn’t quite the same with their bowlers. There were three outstanding names in that list, with Watson, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath being among the best bowlers in the tournament, but there were others who pulled the overall averages down: Andrew Symonds was the worst of the lot, leaking 101 in 41 deliveries without taking a wicket for the Deccan Chargers, while Brett Geeves (91 runs in 48 balls for one wicket) and James Hopes (276 runs in 168 balls for seven wickets) were among those who felt the heat. Cameron White had an ‘economy’ rate of 24 runs per over, but thankfully, he only bowled one over for Bangalore Royal Challengers, conceding two fours and two sixes in six deliveries.
Total wickets*AverageEcon rateAus wickets*AverageEcon rateIPL season 200860428.958.106629.668.02(* Includes only bowler wickets)The team that benefited most from the Australian batsmen in the 2008 IPL was Kings XI Punjab. Apart from Marsh, who scored 616 runs in the tournament, they also had Pommersbach (152 runs in five innings), Hopes (221 in 11) and Katich (96 in two). In fact, the top three for the team, in terms of averages, were all Australians.The Australian contribution for Punjab was almost twice the next best team, the Deccan Chargers. The side finished at the bottom of the pile, but in terms of averages Symonds, who scored 161 from 105 balls in his three innings – and Gilchrist finished among the top four, with Gilchrist aggregating 436 from 14 innings. Rajasthan Royals were next in terms of Australian contribution, thanks almost entirely to Watson, who scored 472 runs at an average of 47.20 and a strike rate of 151.76.If Punjab were at the top of the table, their northern neighbours Delhi brought up the rear in terms of Australian contribution with the bat. Their only Australian representatives were McGrath and Geeves, neither of whom is a powerhouse with the bat. Geeves didn’t bat at all in the tournament, while McGrath scored a grand total of four runs in his three innings.
TeamTotal runsAverageRuns per overAus runsAverageRuns per overKings XI Punjab234031.628.33110247.918.58Deccan Chargers211723.527.8059739.808.46Rajasthan Royals242430.308.0756035.008.65Kolkata Knight Riders180121.447.1937023.126.74Chennai Super Kings236431.107.8735789.259.27Bangalore Royal Challengers186519.036.9712320.506.58Mumbai Indians189725.987.547318.255.15Delhi Daredevils200027.777.9844.004.80With Warne and Watson in splendid form with the ball, the Australians contributed plenty to Rajasthan’s bowling success. Though Sohail Tanvir was the leading wicket-taker with 22, Warne (19) and Watson (17) contributed 36 wickets at an average of less than 22. Delhi were next, thanks largely to McGrath, who finished the tournament with an outstanding economy rate of 6.61. Punjab had a reasonable amount of Australian contribution as well, but the teams from the southern parts of the country had minimal Australian bowling presence. Chennai didn’t have any, Ashley Noffke and White did little for Bangalore, while Symonds was a disaster with the ball for Hyderabad.
TeamTotal wicketsAverageEcon rateAus wicketsAverageEcon rateRajasthan Royals9624.577.743621.867.41Delhi Daredevils8226.518.151334.467.22Kings XI Punjab8328.498.351135.278.81Mumbai Indians8324.667.86313.335.71Kolkata Knight Riders6127.167.76265.0010.00Bangalore Royal Challengers5638.238.18164.0012.80Deccan Chargers6037.408.480-14.78Chennai Super Kings8330.108.190–(* Includes only bowler wickets)Most of the Australian frontline batsmen were huge assets, scoring more runs, and at a quicker rate, than the team average. Apart from the obvious stars of the tournament, Marsh and Watson, the others did well too, with Gilchrist top-scoring for his team, and Hayden, Symonds, Katich and Hussey being among the runs as well. The one disappointment was Ponting, who scored only 39 runs in three innings, at a rate well under a run a ball.
BatsmanRunsAverageRuns per overTeam averageTeam RPOShaun Marsh61668.448.3831.628.33Shane Watson47252.449.1030.308.07Adam Gilchrist43633.538.2223.527.80David Hussey31929.007.3821.447.19James Hopes22120.098.9531.628.33Matthew Hayden18963.008.6531.107.87Michael Hussey16884.0010.0831.107.87Andrew Symonds16180.509.2023.527.80Luke Pommersbach152152.009.2131.628.33Cameron White11422.806.7019.036.97Simon Katich9696.008.3431.628.33Shane Warne7014.007.1130.308.07Dominic Thornely3919.504.4125.987.54Ricky Ponting3913.004.4121.447.19Watson and Warne took the bowling honours,but McGrath wasn’t far behind: though his average of 29.75 was higher than the team average, his economy-rate was the second-best in the entire tournament, among bowlers who sent down at least 50 overs.Move down the table, though, and the numbers aren’t as impressive, with Symonds the bowler undoing much of the good work done by Symonds the batsman.
BowlerWicketsAverageRuns per overTeam averageTeam RPOShane Warne1921.267.7624.577.74Shane Watson1722.527.0724.577.74Glenn McGrath1229.756.6126.518.15James Hopes739.429.8528.498.35Brett Lee428.007.0028.498.35Dominic Thornely313.335.7124.667.86David Hussey265.0010.0027.167.76Brett Geeves191.0011.3726.518.15Andrew Symonds0-14.7837.408.48
