#AskCDC – Who have been the best batters against purple cap winners?

Welcome to Cricket.com’s first edition of the weekly article, #AskCDC. In this new segment, we will answer all your questions that you sent us through our social platforms – Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Who has the best batting numbers against purple cap winners of last 4 seasons? Share from each season - @FarziCricketer

2019 – Imran Tahir – Among batters who had faced 10+ balls against him in that season, three batters had a strike rate of 150+. Rishabh Pant led the list with 185.7 with one dismissal in 14 balls. Manish Pandey (166.7) and Rohit Sharma (150) are the other two and haven’t been dismissed in 15 and 16 balls respectively. 

2020 – Kagiso Rabada – Eoin Morgan scored 43 runs in 12 balls against Rabada in that season, scoring at 358.3. David Warner was the other - with a strike-rate of 238.5, having been dismissed just once in 13 balls. 

2021 – Harshal Patel – Ravindra Jadeja (380), in his 10 balls, scored 38 runs against Harshal. KL Rahul and Shimron Hetmyer had strike rates of 187.5 and 178.6 after facing 16 and 14 balls. Harshal did not dismiss any of these three. Rishabh Pant was another batter without a dismissal against Harshal, with a strike rate of 164.3 in his 14 balls.

2022 – Yuzvendra Chahal – Abhinav Manohar scored 21 runs against Chahal in 10 balls. His strike rate was the best. However, only in one innings, he scored those many runs and a dismissal. Among batters who faced two-plus innings, Deepak Hooda had the best strike rate (180).

The catching efficiency of teams where Jonty Rhodes has been fielding Coach that particular year - @HitmanCricket

Jonty Rhodes was the fielding coach of the Mumbai Indians for nine seasons (2009-2017). In those nine years, only in the year before he parted his way with them (2017), their fielders had the best catching efficiency (82.9%) among all teams. In the 2016 IPL, Mumbai’s catching efficiency of 72.1 percent, which was the worst among all.  

After that, he was not a part of any IPL franchise until 2019. From 2020 until 2022, he was the fielding coach of the Punjab Kings. In 2020, they were not up to the mark, but in 2021, they were the third-best fielding side (81.5%), and in 2022, their efficiency of 84.8 percent was the best. Punjab was the only team to have an efficiency of over 80 percent. The fielding maestro is currently with Lucknow Super Giants.

Which batter has the most runs while chasing 200+ in IPL? @Cricandcine

In the IPL, eight players have scored 300+ runs while chasing a target of 200+. Manish Pandey leads the list with 389 runs at an average of 55.6 and a strike rate of 155.6. Andre Russell is second with 370 runs at a strike rate of 184.1 and an average of 30.8.

Kieron Pollard has been the most destructive of the lot. In eight innings, he has 328 runs at an average of 61.6 and a strike rate of 201.2.

In a successful chase of 200+, Sanju Samson has 176 runs, the most. He averages 73 and strikes at 200 in two chases.

Where has Rohit Sharma done better for Mumbai Indians? Opening or other positions? @kathir_elango

In the IPL, Rohit Sharma has batted across four different positions for Mumbai Indians. He has batted 74 innings as an opener scoring 2000 runs at an average of 29 and a strike rate of 127.2. He has hit 12 fifties while batting in this position.

As a number three, in 34 innings, he has 759 runs at an average of 25.3 and a strike rate of 130. In this position, he has five half-centuries, and his lone century came when he batted as a number three.

In his 64 innings at number four, Rohit has scored 1785 runs at an average of 33.1 with a strike rate of 129.6. He has hit 14 scores of over 50+, which is the most for him in a batting position. At number five, he has batted seven innings for his 166 runs. He averages 41.5 and strikes at 146.9.

His numbers have been better for Mumbai as a middle-order batter.

What are the current IPL team's lowest defended scores & highest chased scores? - @bana111das

Here is the list of lowest totals defended and highest targets chased for the current ten teams.

The highest-ever IPL chase of 224 was achieved by Rajasthan against Punjab in 2020 in Sharjah. Chennai defended 116/9 against Punjab, the lowest-ever total defended in the IPL.

Note: All the metrics are for matches that are not affected or curtailed by rain – a complete 20-over game for both sides

Which bowler has the best economy rate against the Orange Cap Winners? - @RegeParag

2020 – KL Rahul – Among bowlers who he had faced 10+ balls, against three, he had a strike rate of less than 100. Ravindra Jadeja (72.7 – 8 off 11), Krunal Pandya (81.3 – 13 off 16) & Varun Chakravarthy (94.7 – 18 off 19 with one dismissal).   

2021 – Ruturaj Gaikwad – Mohammed Shami had bowled 15 deliveries to Gaikwad, and the batter had scored at a strike rate of 40. In those 15 balls, Shami had dismissed him once and not conceded a single boundary.  

2022 – Jos Buttler – In 10 deliveries against Riley Meredith, Buttler scored four runs, a strike rate of 40. Interestingly, Buttler did not score a boundary against five different bowlers in 2022. Meredith, Sunil Narine (61.5 SR), Rashid Khan (61.9), Kumar Karthikeya (63.6) & Glenn Maxwell (109.1).

What is Faf du Plessis’ stats against spinner in the last 3 seasons? - @Sagar210000

In the IPL since 2020, Faf has an average of 47.9 against spinners (10 dismissals in 33 innings). However, his strike rate is on the lower side (116). 

In the 2020 season, spinners dismissed Faf only once but had a paltry strike rate of 110.4. 

Overall, among batters who have faced 200+ balls against spin, his strike rate of 116 is the sixth lowest strike rate. Virat Kohli is the worst with 106.4.