After six weeks of pitched battles all over India, the Indian Premier League—the biggest and the most-lucrative cricket franchise in the world—is coming to an end. The May 12 final is slated for Hyderabad, even as one finalist is yet to be decided. With a win in the ‘Qualifier’ on May 8, Mumbai Indians have made it straight into the final while Chhenai Super Kings, despite their loss to MI, get to play Delhi Capitals on May 10 for a place in the Hyderabad final. Our editorial team at APEX couldn’t talk enough about IPL in our lunch breaks and coffee times and we assumed our readers would be interested in taking the rollercoaster IPL ride too. So we asked a few of our readers their favorite teams and their best IPL moment, ever. Here’s what we got.
Niraj Thapa
Chennai Super Kings
I am a huge admirer of Mahindra Singh Dhoni, the CSK skipper. The way he handles pressure situations as well as his teammates, and the way he builds confidence in players and even fans, are just outstanding. Have always been a huge CSK fan. For me, their return to the IPL in 2018 after a two-year hiatus was an overwhelming moment.
Madhu Karki
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Our own spinner Sandeep Lamichhane’s IPL debut is my favorite moment so far. Sandeep debuted for the Delhi Daredevils in a match against Kings XI Punjab in 2018 and managed to get 2 wickets in the third over. Amazing stuff!
Binita Gurung
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The match between RCB and Kings XI Punjab this year where AB De Villiers scored a 44 ball 82 to decimate KXIP. ABD rightly won the man of the match.
Dipendra Khadka
Delhi Capitals
The match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals on March 30 this season. KKR chased and when the match was tied at 185 in 20 overs, it went into a super-over. DC managed to win the match when its strike bowler Kagiso Rabada managed to bowl out the in-form Andre Russel with a perfect yorker.
Krishna Thapa
Chennai Super Kings
The second match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals this year when Kagiso Rabada, in an excellent display of pace bowling, managed to get the dangerous Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik to help his team to victory against KKR for the second time this season.
Binod Neupane
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The 2016 record-breaking stand between Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers where they scored a total of 229 runs between them to give opponents Gujarat Lions a target of 249. Each scored a century and in return RCB managed to bowl out GL for 104 runs, which marked the highest margin of defeat in IPL—144.
Gokul Atreya
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The 2016 season when RCB reached the finals after producing one of the best comebacks in sports history. Having won only two of the first seven matches, they were almost knocked out from the league. Then they went to win six of the next seven and qualified for the finals, which they lost by a narrow margin to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Abhishek Mishra
Delhi Capitals
I never forget David Warner’s scintillating form as a T20 batsman in the 2014-2015 series. Always felt like he would make a big impact in the future. Over 800 runs and an average of 60 is no joke in an IPL season!
Raju Khadka
Kings XI Punjab
The match between KXIP and Delhi Capitals this year when KXIP’s IPL debutant for the season Sam Curran struck three times in a row to claim this season’s first hat-trick. His over also turned the table for KXIP who were on the verge of losing the match.
