All good things come to an end.
Well, well, well – the IPL 2020 festivities have finally come to a close and yet again, the Mumbai Indians emerged as the winner—wait for it—for the 5th time!
Their ability to win consistently is remarkable. The way they were playing, Mumbai Indians winning might be the only predictable event that has occurred in 2020.
The Predictions
Speaking of predictions, we asked our Twitter followers to predict the IPL result and award winners with #IPLPredictions at the start of IPL 2020. Here were the categories:
- #Champions
- #OrangeCap
- #PurpleCap
- #FairPlay
- #EmergingPlayer
- #SurprisePackage
We will reveal who was the closest in their IPL Predictions. Read till the end for poll results conducted at the end of the tournament and surprises.
The Actual Results
The way it turned out, Mumbai Indians swept the awards, even winning the Fairplay Award! Interestingly, they won without winning the Orange Cap, Purple Cap, and the MVP.
Although other teams like RR, KXIP, RCB, and DC had match winners who won awards here, only MI could find consistent performances from most of their members throughout the competition.
In any case, here are the results:
Champions | Mumbai Indians |
Most Valuable Player | Jofra Archer (RR) |
Orange Cap | KL Rahul (KXIP) |
Purple Cap | Kagiso Rabada (DC) |
Emerging Player | Devdutt Padikkal (RCB) |
Fairplay Award | Mumbai Indians |
Super Striker | Kieron Pollard (MI) |
Let’s Crack It (Most Sixes) | Ishan Kishan (MI) |
Power Player | Trent Boult (MI) |
And The Winner Is…
The time has come to announce the winners. (*Drumroll*)
*Note: Sam Curran was the deemed to the winner from the Surprise Package guesses
Awards | Champions | Orange Cap | Purple Cap | Fair Play | Emerging Player | Surprise Package |
My Predictions (0/6) | KKR | Mayank Agarwal | Rashid Khan | DC | Ravi Bishnoi | Anrich Nortje |
Aviral Rai (2/6) | CSK | KL Rahul✅ | Yuzi Chahal | SRH | Devdutt Padikkal✅ | Balwant Rai/Shahbaz Ahmad (RCB) |
Pratyush (0/6) | SRH | Warner | Rashid Khan | CSK | Abdul Samad | Isuru Udana |
JustCricket (2/6) | DC | Virat Kohli | Kagiso Rabada✅ | CSK | Devdutt Padikkal✅ | Josh Philippe |
Ansh Sharma (1/6) | DC | KL Rahul✅ | Ravi Ashwin | CSK | Yashashwi Jaiswal | Daniel Sams |
Rahul Kumar (1/6) | KXIP | KL Rahul✅ | Rashid Khan | CSK | Ravi Bishnoi | Dan Sams |
Sourabh Sanyal (2/6) | MI✅ | KOHLI/ KL ✅ | Chahal/ Narine/ Rashid | SRH/CSK | Yashasvi | Nagarkoti |
Crazy Anand (2/6) | SRH | KL Rahul✅ | Rashid Khan | DC | Abdul Samad | Sam Curran ✅ |
Ganesh giri srt (0/6) | SRH | Warner | Rashid | SRH | Yashasvi | Rutherford |
CricIndeed (1/6) | KXIP | KL Rahul✅ | Imran Tahir | DC | Shubman Gill | Hardus Viljoen |
Mohd Shamir Ansari (0/6) | DC | Virat Kohli | Rashid Khan | RR | Yashasvi Jaiswal | Alex Carey |
The Hundred Report (0/6) | SRH | Kane Williamson | Adam Zampa | KXIP | Riyan Parag | Moeen (I believe!) |
Sourav (0/6) | KKR | KL Rahul✅ | Y Chahal | SRH | Shubman Gill | Kamlesh Nagarkoti |
Vandit (4/6) | MI✅ | KL Rahul✅ | Mohammad Shami | CSK | Devdutt Padikkal✅ | Sam Curran ✅ |
And the winner was Vandit with 4/6 guesses correct! From Twitter, Sourabh Sanyal, JustCricket, Crazy Anand, and Aviral Rai – all got 2/6. Congratulations!
There were some close guesses with CSK ending #2 in the FairPlay and DC/SRH coming 2nd/3rd in the overall competition respectively.
Great work everybody!
*The Cricket Scholar was right – RCB did not make it while Dan Cricket‘s “Delhi Daredevils” also almost made it. Only if they had changed their name back…
Twitter Polls
We decided to spice things up with some polls at the end of the tournament. Some interesting questions and responses! Let us know what you think in the comments below and wait till you get to #5.
1. Emerging Players and Surprise Package
Although Padikkal was by far the most consistent, the likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Riyan Parag, the trios of Abdul Samad-Priyam Garg-Abhishek Sharma from SRH, and Kamlesh Nagarkoti-Shivam Mavi-Prasidh Krishna from KKR caught the eye.
In terms of surprise packages, Tewatia, Anrich Nortje, and Natarajan unexpectedly came to the party apart from Sam Curran.
2. The one that Bamboozled and the Wow Factor
There were some things that completely bamboozled us. The reality finally caught up with CSK’s Dad Army, while the fielding ranged from mind boggling acrobatics to utterly poor drops.
The most discussed topic that perplexed everybody?
Why has Suryakumar Yadav (SKY) not made the Indian squad yet?
In addition, there were some WOW moments as well—Tewatia’s cracker of an innings, Saha turning around SRH’s campaign, Stokes with that century as an opener, and Stoinis finally coming to the IPL party. What was your moment of the IPL?
3. The Benchwarmers and Saddest sight of IPL 2020
Now to the broken cricket dreams of IPL 2020. Although the likes of Rahane, Gayle, Tahir, and Ferguson got to showcase their skills at the end of the tournament, some never got a chance to play. David Miller (run out without facing a ball) and Chris Lynn startled me the most.
On the other hand, there were some sad sights as well. Once feared, a smiling Dale Steyn without venom was very hard to watch this time. It might be the end of his career, Maxwell’s IPL journey—and the end of CSK as we know it.
4. Sam Curran
And we are back to Sam Curran. He could do everything. Opened the batting, finished the innings, opened the bowling, bowled at the death, and even took some great catches.
Which Sam Curran did you like the best?
The day is not too far when Sam Curran takes the wicketkeeping gloves as well.
5. The Real Surprise Package
Here is the real winner of IPL 2020 – Pashchim Pathak!
Conclusion
Cricket is unpredictable, and predicting the unpredictable even more so. So do not be disheartened if your predictions did not match the final outcome. IPL 2021 is around the corner, so you always have another chance!
The beauty in cricket is the uncertainty. You never know when a struggling Tewatia can hit it out the park for five sixes, or if you miss a World Cup trophy by the barest of margins.
What is in our control though is to sit back, relax, and appreciate the fickle nature of this game.
Cricket is unpredictable. 2020 might have been unpredictable. Life is definitely unpredictable. Let us be grateful and enjoy each moment.
COVID has turned the world upside down. This pandemic has impacted almost everybody and has given us nothing but grief, despair, and uncertainty. The fact that IPL 2020 was completed without much external noise and disruptions is a tremendous effort from the organizers, the UAE, and the BCCI. Kudos to all the players, commentators, support staff, and everybody else that made this happen.
The 4 hours of joy and entertainment provided every day is exactly what the fans around the world needed in midst of a pandemic.
When life gives you 50 reasons to cry, it also provides 64 matches to smile about.
*56 league, 4 playoffs, and 4 Women T20 Challenge games
Coming up Soon!
Stay tuned for my IPL 2020 XIs, Broken Cricket Diary, and What I Learned from the IPL coming up in the next couple of days!
Comment below your favorite memories from this IPL, share with your friends, and subscribe below to receive email alerts when new articles come out!
My predictions for the tournament weren’t much better than yours, if not worse. My favourite moment of the tournament has to be that Tewatia innings v KXIP in the 1st week of the tournament
Tewatia definitely defined IPL 2020 – Never Give Up Hope