Sooryavanshi, and everything else - the best from the IPL 2026 league stage

This could easily turn out to be one of the most fiercely contested fights in IPL history. There is no clear frontrunner yet. And significantly, seven of the top-ten batters are part of the playoffs. The Gujarat Titans (GT) opening pair of B Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill occupy the top-two spots for now, but the margins are thin: only 81 runs separate Sai Sudharsan at No. 1 from Virat Kohli at No. 8. At this rate, the winner may not be decided until the final.

Take any batting leaderboard and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's name will feature somewhere near the top. But there is one where nobody has come remotely close to him. The 15-year-old has redefined high-tempo batting, striking at a staggering 232.27 after facing 251 balls across 14 innings. The next-best is Finn Allen of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at 214.11, which is impressive but still some distance away from Sooryavanshi's extraordinary numbers.

This one, much like with the Orange Cap, could go well down to the wire. At the moment, it looks like a battle between two bowlers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kagiso Rabada, who have been central to the success of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and GT respectively, are tied on 24 wickets. Jofra Archer, who played a key role in taking Rajasthan Royals (RR) into the playoffs, is third on the list with 21 wickets, and he will need more such performances to overtake the leaders. What stands out in this list is that there are just two spinners - Rashid Khan and Sunil Narine - in the top 10. And of the top ten, only six are still in the fray.

In a season that has offered little mercy to bowlers, this list is led by a spinner who keeps defying… everything. Narine has bowled 51 overs this season and has an economy rate of 6.64, showing that he's still got it at 37. GT's Jason Holder follows at 7.34, one of only two seamers in the top five for bowlers with a minimum of ten overs bowled. Akeal Hosein of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Bhuvneshwar and RR's Ravindra Jadeja round off the list. Only Holder, Bhuvneshwar and Jadeja, of these, are still in the mix.

In a season with so many centuries - quite a few of them coming in losses - one innings from an IPL newcomer still stands out. Mukul Choudhary produced a nerveless 54* in a last-ball win for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) against KKR, an extraordinary effort that came in only his third IPL appearance.

Close behind this comes another non-century: Prabhsimran Singh's 76 off 26 balls that helped Punjab Kings (PBKS) mow down 264 against Delhi Capitals (DC) and complete the highest successful chase in T20s with seven balls to spare.

On a surface that briefly resembled one you would expect for a spicy Test-match morning session, Bhuvneshwar and Josh Hazlewood unleashed a devastating new-ball spell to reduce DC to 8 for 6. The two returned figures of 3-0-5-3 and 3-0-8-3 respectively in the powerplay.

Similarly, against RR, two of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) debutants made a massive impact. Debutant Praful Hinge etched his name into the IPL record books, striking three times in his very first over - the only instance of a bowler achieving this in the league's 18-year history. Sakib Hussain, struck at the other end as well, causing RR to crash to 5 for 4, and then 9 for 5. The two debutants finished with combined figures of 8 for 58.

This isn't just an excuse to mention Sooryavanshi one more time, but who else?

Well, he was, and is, miles ahead of anyone else, but there were others too.

Like three players mentioned just above: Choudhary, Hinge and Sakib. Not to forget Prabhsimran, who finished the season with 510 runs. Or KKR's Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who had 422 runs.

Apart from Hinge and Sakib, who have 11 (economy of 11.40) and 15 (economy of 9.07) wickets respectively at this stage, two quick bowlers who had breakout seasons were LSG's Prince Yadav, who went wicketless in his last four games but still finished with 16, and KKR's Kartik Tyagi, who has been around for a while but never as impressive as this season, when he picked up 17 wickets at an economy rate of 9.76. RCB's Rasikh Salam hasn't been bad either, slotting in after Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood and picking up 14 wickets at an economy of 9.87 so far.

They have a core most teams would envy: several India internationals, and arguably the greatest T20 fast bowler of all time. Yet five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) became one of the first team to be eliminated this season, managing only four wins in 14 matches by the end.

The most startling aspect of their campaign was Jasprit Bumrah's dramatic dip in returns. Across 13 games, he claimed only four wickets, recording his worst bowling average (102.50) in any IPL season he has played. The saving grace was the impressive economy rate: 8.36.

Just when the league stage seemed to be getting predictable, the season took a dramatic turn. PBKS had stormed through the first half, winning six matches in a row (plus a washout) so convincingly that there was talk of an unbeaten campaign. Then came a stunning collapse, when they lost six straight games that left their playoff hopes hanging by a thread. Even their final league win was not enough after that.

On the other hand, GT made a massive turnaround, winning six out of their last seven games to make the playoffs, and they did it by sticking to their philosophy, risk-free batting and a Test-match-type bowling attack. KKR, who did not have a single win in their first six games, too, turned it around with six wins in the next seven games to stay alive until the final day of the league phase, before RR eventually dashed their hopes.

How many "chit-note" celebrations have there been this IPL? Enough to lose count, surely.

Pulling out a slip of paper from the pocket after reaching a milestone has somehow become the IPL's trend of the year. LSG seamer Akash Singh even appeared to recycle the same note each time he struck... have players started running out of fresh ideas?

Maybe this one can go to Akeal Hosein then, for his mask celebration - only for originality's sake.

"It hasn't gone our way and everyone knows that, but that doesn't take away the fact that we are a f*****g good team."

That this came from LSG captain Rishabh Pant after their ninth defeat of the season - live on TV, no less - only made it more memorable - like the language or not.

Players have spent years being media-trained, some even learn fancy vocabulary... but sometimes nothing beats unfiltered thoughts.