Most Runs in IPL 2008, Most Wickets and Season Records

IPL 2008 champions and how the eight teams fared

Rajasthan Royals were the standout side of the season. Counting the playoffs, they had 13 wins against only 3 defeats in 16 games. Punjab Kings won 10 of 15 and Chennai Super Kings 9 of 16, with CSK going on to the final, where Rajasthan won by 3 wickets on 1 Jun 2008.

At the other end, Deccan Chargers managed 2 wins all season and RCB only 4, each from 14 games. Deccan Chargers are a separate team that no longer plays and are not part of Sunrisers Hyderabad. Delhi Capitals appear here for the Delhi Daredevils side, and RCB for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The results table simply counts wins and defeats. League positions and net run rate do not feature. For the full list of later champions, see the IPL winners list.

The IPL 2008 Orange Cap race

Marsh’s 616 runs came from only 11 matches, with 1 hundred and 5 fifties, and he also won the most player of the match awards that season, 5. Gautam Gambhir of Delhi Capitals was second with 534 runs, and Jayasuriya third on 514 while striking at 166.34.

Strike rates tell a second story. Virender Sehwag (Delhi Capitals) scored at 184.55 and Yusuf Pathan (Rajasthan Royals) at 179.01, the two fastest in the top 15. Shane Watson (Rajasthan) gave his side 472 runs at 47.20 and also took 17 wickets, the best all-round return in the tables. MS Dhoni made 414 for CSK, and Rohit Sharma scored 404 for Deccan Chargers. Every later season’s leader is on the Orange Cap list.

Tanvir's wickets, Jayasuriya's sixes and six hundreds

Each of Sohail Tanvir’s 22 wickets cost just 12.09 runs, and he went at 6.46 an over. Nobody bowled better in a single game than his 6/14 versus CSK on 4 May 2008. Shane Warne and S Sreesanth (Punjab Kings) shared second place with 19 each, and Rajasthan had five of the top 15 wicket takers, which goes a long way to explaining their title. See the Purple Cap list for later winners.

The season began with its biggest innings. On opening night, 18 Apr 2008, Kolkata Knight Riders’ Brendon McCullum smashed 158* off 73 deliveries at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, clearing the rope 13 times. The next day CSK made 240/5 at Mohali, the top total of the year, helped by Michael Hussey’s 116*. KKR were also on the wrong end of the season’s lowest total, dismissed for 67 by Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on 16 May 2008. Six hundreds were scored in all, and the IPL 2009 records carry the story on.