The following are the top 10 Indian Premier League innings:
7) Rohit Sharma: 109* (60) – MI vs KKR, 12 May 2012
A clean, classy, almost a perfect (if there ever was one!) Twenty20 hundred are the words which can be used to describe this innings of ever talented Rohit Sharma. Supporters of Rohit Sharma (yes there are many) points to this innings against KKR as the evidence of his abundant talent.
Rohit often flatters to deceive, predominantly at international level, but for he displayed his full repertoire of a superb hand-eye co-ordination, wonderful timing, ability to pick the gap, and of course power hitting.
What makes this innings special was the fact that his runs were scored against arguably the best bowling attack in IPL 2012, which included the likes of almost unpickable Sunil Narine and Brett Lee. In the end it really didn’t matter as to who was bowling because Rohit was in the zone as he found gaps regularly as well as finding the timing to clear the boundary as many as five times.
6) Mahendra Singh Dhoni: 51* (20) – CSK vs MI, 23 May 2012
This knock from Chennai Super King’s skipper MS Dhoni had all his trademark shots balls – the cover drive, an ugly bottom-handed pull, a barely watchable jab through backward point, and, of course, the helicopter shot – in just 20. Dhoni came in to bat with only a few overs left and a mediocre tally on the board, the captain played his best IPL knock as he single-handedly took the match away from Mumbai with calmness personified. In a nutshell that innings was reminder why MS Dhoni is regarded as the greatest finished of his generation.
5) Manvinder Singh Bisla: 89 (48) – KKR vs CSK, 27 May 2012
On the day of final that season when Brendon McCullum‘s name was absent from Kolkata Knight Riders’ team list, KKR fans were outraged at what team were thinking. It, however, turned out to be a masterstroke as Gambhir and Co. pulled a rabbit out of hat by opening with MS Bisla who guided a daunting chase with a memorable knock under intense pressure to guide KKR to its first title in IPL cricket.
Don’t forget CSK were the defending champions and were playing front of a noisy home crowd, and to compound matters further had already posted a huge score on the board. Bisla, though, took KKR on the path to victory, as he smashed 8 fours and 5 sixes. After Bisla fell, his teammates were on hand to bring the silverware home on the foundation laid by their unheralded star.
4) Murali Vijay: 95 – CSK vs RCB, 28 May 2011
For a player predominantly regarded as a Test specialist, this particular innings of Murali Vijay was coming off age. This innings surprised many watching the IPL final that year, as he went on setting up a 200-plus total in the final with a perfect combination of hard hitting, careful placement and good running between the wickets.
Vijay, who plays for Tamil Nadu in Ranji cricket, has scored two hundreds in the IPL so far but his best inning to date came in the 2011 final, when he along with fellow opener Michael Hussey put on a mammoth 159 runs for the first wicket at more than ten runs an over.
As a result of Vijay masterclass under pressure, Royal Challengers Bangalore were batted out of the final.2
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