Orange Cap: Suryakumar Moves to No. 3

The top three positions on the Orange Cap leaderboard saw a shake-up after the MI vs SRH game. Nicholas Pooran, who had been at the top of the table for several matches, was knocked down as his form dipped. Suryakumar Yadav, with his consistent batting throughout the tournament, now occupies the third spot, just four runs behind Pooran.

Suryakumar’s steady run has been the highlight of MI’s season so far. After scoring an unbeaten 40 runs off just 19 balls against SRH, Suryakumar’s total runs have now reached 373. His consistency has been impressive, with scores of 29, 48, 27*, 67, 28, 40, 26, 68*, and 40*, making him a strong contender for the Orange Cap.

Meanwhile, B Sai Sudharsan, with 377 runs, remains at the top of the leaderboard, while Pooran has now fallen to second place with 375 runs. Other notable batters in the top positions include Jos Buttler of Gujarat Titans (356 runs) and Mitchell Marsh from Lucknow Super Giants (344 runs).

In addition, several other players have crossed the 300-run mark, including Aiden Markram (326), KL Rahul (323), Virat Kohli (322), Yashasvi Jaiswal (307), and Shubman Gill (305). Despite the predictions that SRH would dominate the leaderboard, they have failed to produce a batter in the top ten, with Heinrich Klaasen (281 runs) their best performer currently sitting in 11th.

Purple Cap: Hardik Pandya Joins the Top Contenders

In the race for the Purple Cap, Prasidh Krishna of Gujarat Titans leads the pack with 16 wickets from eight innings. However, a group of bowlers with 12 wickets are closing in, with Hardik Pandya now part of that group after his performance against SRH, where he claimed 1 wicket for 31 runs. Other bowlers in this group include R Sai Kishore (GT), Noor Ahmad (CSK), Kuldeep Yadav (DC), and Josh Hazlewood (RCB).

The ranking for these bowlers is determined by their bowling average, and in this case, R Sai Kishore, with the second-best bowling average, follows Prasidh Krishna. Noor Ahmad and Kuldeep Yadav round out the top four. Pandya’s 12 wickets have come at a crucial point, and his ability to perform under pressure adds significant value to MI’s bowling attack.

Takeaways from SRH vs MI Game

While the game was filled with excitement and high drama, the rise of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya in the IPL 2025 rankings reflects the growing importance of their performances for Mumbai Indians. With the Orange and Purple Cap races intensifying, it is clear that MI’s players are stepping up when it matters the most, and their contributions could very well play a key role in the team’s progress throughout the season.

As the tournament continues, the competition for the top positions on both the Orange and Purple Cap leaderboards is set to get even more thrilling, with players like Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya proving that consistency and impact are key to climbing the rankings.

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Late fireworks from Abdul Samad and Ayush Badoni propelled Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a competitive 171 for 7 on a tricky red-soil pitch after Punjab Kings (PBKS) opted to bowl first in IPL 2025.

LSG faced early trouble as Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson (replacing Azmatullah Omarzai), and Glenn Maxwell tore through their top order. At the end of the powerplay, LSG struggled at 39 for 3, with captain Rishabh Pant falling cheaply to Maxwell for 2 off 5 balls. Lucknow Super Giants Team Page However, a late surge in the final six overs, which yielded 63 runs, helped LSG recover.

While Badoni anchored the innings with 41 off 33 balls, Samad immediately shifted gears, smashing 27 off 12 balls, including two sixes and two fours. The highlight of Samad’s knock was a stunning reverse scoop off Arshdeep for four in the 18th over, which cost PBKS 20 runs. Arshdeep, however, bounced back to remove both Badoni and Samad in the final over, but the duo had already done enough damage to bolster LSG’s total.

Arshdeep Singh made an early impact, dismissing Mitchell Marsh for a golden duck. Aiden Markram, LSG’s other opener, looked promising with 28 off 18 balls before Ferguson knocked him over via an inside edge. PBKS then brought Maxwell into the attack against Pant, a move that paid off Punjab Kings Official Website as the left-hander fell cheaply.

A compelling battle ensued between Nicholas Pooran and Yuzvendra Chahal. Pooran initially dominated, carving two boundaries off Chahal’s wrong’uns. However, Chahal had the last laugh, deceiving Pooran with a loopy googly to dismiss him for 44 off 30 balls. At 89 for 4 in the 12th over, LSG needed a strong finish, and Badoni and Samad stepped up to push their total past 170.

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Shardul Thakur produced a match-winning 4 for 34 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), propelling him to the top of the Purple Cap leaderboard in IPL 2025. Meanwhile, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) continue to dominate the batting charts, with Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh occupying the first two spots in the Orange Cap race.

Purple Cap Standings: Thakur Leads the Way

Thakur’s six wickets in two games put him ahead of Chennai Super Kings’ Noor Ahmad, who delivered a stellar 4 for 18 against Mumbai Indians. Krunal Pandya follows closely in third place after a 3 for 29 spell for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Orange Cap Standings: Pooran’s Power-Hitting Prowess

Pooran has been the standout batter of IPL 2025, hammering 75 off 30 balls against Delhi Capitals and 70 off 26 against SRH. With 13 sixes in just two games and a strike rate of 258.91, he leads the run-scoring charts.

His LSG teammate Mitchell Marsh follows with 124 runs from two games, including a dominant 72 against Delhi Capitals. Travis Head, fresh off an explosive IPL 2024, holds third place with 114 runs.

Strike Rate Kings & Best Economy Bowlers

Pooran also tops the strike rate leaderboard, while bowlers with exceptional economy rates continue to make an impact.

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Nicholas Pooran once again showcased his devastating batting skills, smashing a breathtaking 70 off 26 balls as LSG cruised to a five-wicket win over SRH. Despite hitting 13 sixes in just two IPL 2025 outings, Pooran insists he never focuses on power-hitting but instead relies on his timing.

“I Never Worked on My Bat Speed”

The explosive left-hander played a defining role in LSG’s chase, reaching his fifty in just 18 balls. When asked about his batting style, Pooran humbly credited his natural ability rather than technical drills.

“I’ve never worked on my bat speed; I’m just blessed with incredible talent,” he told The Hindu. “I’ve been refining my game for nine years, and now I’m reaping the rewards on the field by winning matches for my team.”

LSG’s Strategic Move: Pooran at No. 3

LSG’s management made a crucial tactical decision to push Pooran up the order while Rishabh Pant dropped to the middle order. The move paid off spectacularly, with Pooran forming a match-winning 116-run stand with Mitchell Marsh.

Mitchell Marsh Praises Pooran’s Unstoppable Knock

Marsh, who also notched up a half-century, was in awe of Pooran’s batting display. “It was fascinating to watch. I’ve played against Nicky for a long time, but to be on his team now is special,” Marsh said during the post-match press conference.

With this win, LSG continues to make a strong statement in IPL 2025, powered by Pooran’s fearless batting and the team’s tactical flexibility.

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LSG delivered a clinical performance, comfortably chasing down 191 against SRH with 23 balls to spare. Nicholas Pooran’s explosive 70 off 26 balls and Shardul Thakur’s four-wicket haul ensured LSG’s five-wicket victory in Hyderabad.

Thakur’s Early Breakthroughs Set the Tone

SRH, known for their aggressive batting, struggled against Thakur’s precision. He removed Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan off consecutive deliveries, halting SRH’s early momentum.

Despite Travis Head’s brisk 47 and Aniket Verma’s fiery 36 off 13 balls, SRH’s innings never gained full control. Their lower-order contributions weren’t enough to push them past the 200-run mark.

Pooran’s Power-Hitting Destroys SRH’s Defense

LSG’s chase got off to a rocky start with the early dismissal of Aiden Markram. However, Pooran turned the game on its head, launching sixes at will. He dominated SRH’s bowlers, particularly taking on left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma and legspinner Adam Zampa.

Mitchell Marsh played a solid supporting role with a 52-run knock, ensuring LSG remained in control throughout the chase. Abdul Samad’s unbeaten cameo of 22 from 8 balls provided the finishing

LSG’s Bold Approach Earns Crucial Victory

This emphatic win was a statement from LSG, showcasing their fearless approach in IPL 2025. With Thakur leading the bowling attack and Pooran dismantling oppositions with the bat, LSG looks set for a dominant season ahead.

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West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran broke the world record for the most T20 runs in a single year, surpassing Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan. He reached this milestone during the Trinbago Knight Riders vs. Barbados Royals match in the 2024 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on September 28, 2024. Pooran scored a quick 27 off 15 balls, bringing his total T20 runs for the year to 2,059, beating Rizwan’s 2021 record of 2,036 runs.

Pooran, who has been in great form throughout 2024, achieved this while playing for teams like Durban Super Giants, Lucknow Super Giants, MI Emirates, MI New York, Northern Super Chargers, Rangpur Riders, and the West Indies. His total includes runs from T20 Internationals, franchise leagues, and domestic T20 matches.

Rizwan had scored his 2,036 runs from 45 innings in 2021, with an impressive average of 56.66, including one century and 18 fifties. Pooran took 65 innings to pass the record, with an average of over 42, and has hit 14 fifties, including several scores in the 90s.

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What sets Pooran apart is his aggressive batting style. His strike rate of 160.63 in 2024 is much higher than Rizwan’s 132.03. This is the third time Pooran has scored over 1,000 T20 runs in a year, having done so before in 2019 and 2023.

Most Runs in a Calendar Year in T20 Cricket:

Nicholas Pooran (WI, DSG, NOS, LSG, TKR, MIE, MINY, RR) – 2,059 runs in 65 innings (2024)

Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, MS, PAK) – 2,036 runs in 45 innings (2021)

Alex Hales (ENG, IU, Notts, THU, TRT) – 1,946 runs in 61 innings (2022)

Jos Buttler (ENG, Lancs, MNO, PR, RR) – 1,833 runs in 55 innings (2023)

Mohammad Rizwan (Sussex, MS, PAK) – 1,817 runs in 44 innings (2022)

DALLAS: After three weeks of high-octane cricketing action spread over 19 games, a Nicholas Pooran blitzkrieg provided the final flourish to the American cricket extravaganza before Major League Cricket (MLC) called curtains on its inaugural season, comprising of single round-robin games and a playoff series among six franchise teams.

The 7,200 capacity Grand Prairie stadium on the outskirts of Dallas was packed to the rafters to witness the landmark final game between MI New York and Seattle Orcas, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as one of the lead investors. MLC was truly the flavour of the month in the Dallas Metroplex area as an extraordinary demand for tickets compelled MLC to sell standing-room only tickets on multiple occasions, including the final.

“This was always meant to be inaugural. Let’s just launch it properly. Don’t cut corners. Make sure the facilities are top notch, make sure the staff is well-equipped to deal with world-class players so we don’t compromise on salary cap stuff, and so on,” said Sameer Mehta, co-founder of MLC.

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The league’s team purse at around $1.15 million for five league games makes MLC’s average wages per game the highest among all cricket leagues after the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“We want to play a full season next year with double round robin, sitting next to the World Cup. So, we want to look like a product that deserves to sit next to the World Cup. We want some breathing space and a lot of time to market properly.

“This year, obviously, the product was the most important thing, not the marketing around it. And fans came because the product is great. But next year, we’ll be trying to get more new fans in, creating some uniquely American angles, which allows them to stand out among a lot of other leagues that are out there.”

For Mehta and company, right from the time they bagged the rights to own and operate a flagship T20 league in America, the focus has always been to roll out the league as a fully American product. Like their counterparts in the Caribbean and Canada, they chose to stay away from the lure of hosting games on India prime time, which is mornings in America.

“There are a few uniquely American elements in other sports we want to learn and inculcate in our products. Those unique rhythms at baseball when a seventh inning happens, when the first inning happens, sort of chant that happens and the crowd gets in.

“There’s a flow to it. There’s a set of choreographed elements in American sport. Like what happens pre-game in an NFL game, the fans go out of the field and stand on the edge of the field during practice.”

Mehta further acknowledged the need to push for better cricketing infrastructure and stadiums in the rest of the franchise cities.

The way MLC struck gold with sell-out crowds in Morrisville and Dallas has galvanized their ongoing negotiating agreements with city councils in Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington DC and San Francisco.

“The folks from George Mason University around the DC area came out in force, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. They are definitely more motivated now than they were two weeks back on building cricket at George Mason. What they love is seeing the community excited by the sport. And seeing, you know, 7000 fans packet in week, day after day, is really what they were looking for, because they know they have the same similar demographics (South Asian) in their areas.

“The Bay Area is similar demographics, to Dallas, so does Bellevue and Redmond in King County in the greater Seattle area. And it was an intensely hyper-local effort. So, this is just for them a very significant data point that they can now look at and say we should do this.

While MLC had been diligently working on shoring up the cricketing infrastructure and building professional ecosystems with a robust domestic calendar over the past couple of years, some arm twisting over contract negotiations with USA Cricket meant MLC was left with about a month’s time to announce schedules and tickets, which has a direct bearing on generating sponsor and broadcast interest.

Nevertheless, TOI under stands that ticket sales were double of Major League Cricket (MLC) initial forecasts and revenue from sponsorships was well over a million dollars.

Considering the USA sports sponsorship market is one of the most sophisticated in the world, where budgets are locked out a year in advance, all things considered it is a major shot in the arm for the fledgling league.

“We will have strong sponsors and where I think we will eclipse most leagues outside the IPL. Again, after the IPL, we hope that our league will be, on a broadcast basis, in the next three to four to five years pretty much the most significant. It’s a three or four or five-year journey,” added Mehta.

While the success of a league has various indicators, one of the primary indicators is whether your star international players want to come back season after season. It is a silver lining for MLC that cricket voices like Keiron Pollard and Glenn Maxwell have already thrown their weight behind MLC ahead of incumbent T20 leagues like the Blast and the Hundred, that compete with the MLC for playing windows in a packed cricket calendar.