The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has reached the playoffs stage after the conclusion of a blockbuster league stage of 70 matches. Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets on Tuesday to qualify for Qualifier 1.
The RCB, Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans and five-time champions Mumbai Indians are qualified for the IPL 2025 playoffs. RCB will clash with the table toppers, PBKS, in the first qualifier on Thursday, whereas Gujarat Titans will take on MI in the Eliminator on Friday in Mullanpur, Chandigarh.
The journey of the league stage of the IPL 2025 was not easy. The caravan started on 22 March and was going smoothly, but the terror attacks of Pahalgam and India's retaliation forced the suspension of the IPL match for a week.
The match between PBKS and DC was suspended due to a technical failure in Dharamsala on 8 May, and the IPL 2025 was halted for a week. The matches resumed after new planning on 17 May, and the league stage games were concluded on 27 May.
Let's take a look at what has happened so far in this IPL season in the league stage
Shockers
The five-time champions Chennai Super Kings finished at the bottom of the points table for the first time in IPL history. The defending champions KKR finished eighth in the table with 12 points. Delhi Capitals were going strong but ended in fifth place in the table with 15 points and missed the seat in the playoffs by a whisker.
Orange Cap
Sai Sudharsan has the orange cap after the conclusion of the league stage matches in the IPL. He has 679 runs in 14 innings and also has the most fours in this season (78). Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill is second on the list with 649 runs in 14 matches. Suryakumar Yadav is third on the list with 640 runs, whereas Mitch Marsh is fourth with 627 runs.
Virat Kohli has 602 runs this season. This is the fifth and third consecutive edition in which Kohli has scored 600-plus runs in an edition of the IPL.
Purple Cap
Noor Ahmad of Chennai Super Kings is the leading wicket-taker of the season with 24 wickets. GT's Prasidh Krishna is second on the list with 23 wickets. He is expected to overtake Ahmad in Qualifier 1. Trent Boult is number three with 19, whereas Arshdeep Singh and Josh Hazlewood share fourth place with 18 wickets each.
Most Sixes
Nicholas Pooran of Lucknow Super Giants has hit 40 sixes in this edition of the IPL. His teammate Mitch Marsh is second with 37 sixes. Since LSG are out of the race for the playoffs, now the onus will be on Suryakumar Yadav, who is next on the list with 32 sixes. Shreyas Iyer has 31 sixes, and his team is also in the playoffs. Can they overtake Pooran? Only time will tell.
Highest Score
Abhishek Sharma of Sunrisers Hyderabad is the highest scorer of this IPL edition. He made 141 off 55 balls, including 14 fours and 10 sixes. Rishabh Pant's unbeaten 118 is the second-best score of the season, which he made in the last group-stage match against RCB in Lucknow.
Most Fifties
Virat Kohli has made eight half-centuries this season. One match of the RCB ended in a washout, so he played in only 13 innings and on eight occasions, he made more than 50 runs. He has the highest score of 73 this season. Shubman Gill of GT has six fifties this season. He also has two nineties with the highest score of 93 runs.
Super Over
In a thrilling match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi Capitals edged out Rajasthan Royals in the only Super Over of the season. RR's Hetmyer and Parag faced DC's ace bowler Mitchell Starc, who brought his best form. Two chaotic run-outs, including a dramatic one involving Jaiswal, restricted RR to 12 runs in the Super Over. In response, DC's KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs showed composure under pressure. Stubbs sealed the win with a six, finishing the chase with two balls to spare, and securing the points for DC.
