Who is the youngest to captain any IPL team?

Who holds the record for most consecutive appearances in IPL? Also, who has appeared in the IPL after the longest gap between matches? From Priyanjalee Vajpayee on Instagram

To answer the first part of your question, that distinction goes to Dinesh Karthik who from 15 May 2008 to 5 May 2019 appeared in 174 IPL games without missing any for the various sides he played for. After appearing in Delhi Daredevils' first eight games, he missed just one game for them against Kolkata Knight Riders at Kolkata on 13 May 2008, when he was dropped for a batsman (Manoj Tiwary), that allowed AB de Villiers to keep wickets for Delhi. Therefore, his two unbeaten streaks during a career tally of 182 IPL matches went like this:

19 April 2008 to 11 May 2008 – appeared in 8 consecutive IPL matches

13 May 2008 – missed one (see above for details)

15 May 2008 to 5 May 2019 – appeared in 174 consecutive IPL matches for six teams (DD twice!)

Summary of Dinesh Karthik's matches for various IPL sides from 2008 

+ in progress

Note: In all, he has appeared in 56 IPL games for Delhi Daredevils and he has appeared in the last 48 games for them without missing any.

To answer your second question, the longest gap for a player to appear in an IPL match is seven years, 305 days. South African, Colin Ingram, holds this record. He appeared in three IPL games in 2011 for Delhi Daredevils, the last of which came on 21 May 2011 against Pune Warriors at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Then last season, he made a comeback, this time for the newly christened Delhi Capitals side against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on 24 March 2019 (scored 47).

Who has dismissed Sachin Tendulkar the most times in IPL? From swords_lightning on Instagram

In 78 innings, Sachin Tendulkar has batted in the IPL, he has remained not out on 11 occasions. This means he has been dismissed 67 times. However, 50 bowlers have claimed his wicket on 61 occasions, as he has been run out six times. 

Are there any Indians who made their first-class debut in a Test Match? Are there any notable International players too? From Ankit Suresh Shukla on Instagram

As of now, no Indian Test player has made his first-class debut in a Test match. During the 19th century (i.e pre-1900) there have been several such instances of players, 28 of them, from other countries, notably from South Africa, since the first-class cricket structure in that country had not taken shape then. Since 1900, there have been only six such instances, the first coming on 5 March 1965 at the Eden Gardens, when New Zealander Graham Vivian made his Test debut, without having played in a first-class match before his debut Test. The last and the sixth instance also came on Indian soil, when Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Zadran made his debut in Afghanistan’s inaugural Test in Bengaluru on 14 June 2018. Interestingly, this as on date, remains the only first-class match of his career.

Among such players, the most notable player in the list has to be former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza who made his first-class debut in the Dhaka Test match against Zimbabwe on 8 November 2001. His first four first-class games were Test matches before he played his first FC domestic match, a year later on 17 December 2002 for Khulna Division against Rajshahi Division in Dhaka.

For the record, the fewest number of first-class matches played by Indian Test debutants is two - by two Indian players – Budhi Kunderan on 1 January 1960 against Australia at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay and Vivek Razdan on 23 November 1989 against Pakistan in Faisalabad.

Is it true that Prithvi Shaw is the youngest to score a 50 in the IPL? Who are the others? From Abhishek Pandey on Instagram

When Prithvi Shaw scored 62 for Delhi Daredevils against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla on 27 April 2018, he was then 18 years, 169 days. He equalled the record of Sanju Samson who was also 18 years, 169 days when had made 63 for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Jaipur on 29 April 2013, five years earlier. However, the record of being the youngest to hit a 50+ score in IPL history belongs to the youngster from Assam, Riyan Parag Das, who was just 17 years 175 days, when he scored 50 for the Rajasthan Royals against Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi on 4 May 2019. Interestingly, both Samson and Shaw played in this match!

For the record, the first teenager to register a fifty-plus score in the IPL is Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Shreevats Goswami, when he made 52 against Delhi Daredevils in Bengaluru on 19 May 2008. He was then just 19 years, 1 day!

Who is the youngest player to captain any IPL team? Who has played the maximum number of matches without captaining a side? From Shireen Quadri on Instagram

Virat Kohli, playing in his 55th IPL match became the fifth captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, when he led the side for the first time on 11 May 2011. He was then 22 years, 187 days, which made the youngest IPL captain. He had replaced Daniel Vettori in the game against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. Kohli thus bettered the previous record of 23 years, 112 days which was held by Chennai Super Kings’ Suresh Raina since 19 March 2010.

Both Kohli and Robin Uthappa have appeared in the same number of IPL matches – 177. The former has been captain of his side (RCB) on 110 occasions, while the latter is yet to lead any of the four sides he has played since inception in 2008 – Mumbai Indians (14), Royal Challengers Bangalore (31), Pune Warriors (46) and Kolkata Knight Riders (86). This answers the second part of your question.

All records mentioned above are updated until 4 May 2020.

If you have any cricket-related questions, then ask them using the #AskMohan and #StatsBurst hashtags on our social media channels. Reputed statistician, Mohandas Menon will be answering the selected questions.