The IPL awards that still elude the franchises taking part in the tournament
The IPL awards presented at the end of the tournament are a cherry at the top of the IPL cake for the cricketers and the teams. For their perseverance during the league that pans out for nearly two months, these act as a great token of appreciation.
It takes great endurance and skill to excel from both the teams and the players to perform well over an extended period in such a high-pressure and draining tournament.
When English philosopher Herbert Spencer phrased 'survival of the fittest' nearly 170 years back, few would have imagined that it'd hold even after all these years. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is debatably one of the toughest leagues in the world. Only the tough can survive such a draining tournament - both physically and mentally.
However, some IPL franchises and their players never got their hands on these prestigious awards. They will hope to add the unachieved honors to their cabinet, at least in the upcoming season.
Teams that did not win the following IPL awards:
#7 Purple Cap
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) players have never won the Purple Cap. It remains an achievement to be unlocked for both these sides.
RCB got quite close to the Purple Cap in 2016 when two of their players finished in the top three. Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 21 wickets that season, while Shane Watson accounted for 20 scalps. However, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 23 wickets who went on to win the Purple Cap in IPL.
For KKR, Sunil Narine finished twice in second position in 2012 and 2014. He was just one wicket short of Morne Morkel, who won the Purple Cap in 2012. He picked up 21 wickets in the 2014 season but was a couple of scalps behind CSK's Mohit Sharma.
The Hyderabad-based franchises (Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad) and the Chennai Super Kings have won the Purple Cap four times each. The Delhi Capitals' players have received the Purple Cap on a couple of occasions, while all the other IPL teams won it once.
#6 Orange Cap
Players from the Rajasthan Royals and the Delhi Capitals have never got their hands on the Orange Cap in IPL.
The closest a player from the Rajasthan Royals ever got to the Orange Cap was Ajinkya Rahane in 2015. He finished with 540 runs that season, 22 runs agonizingly short of David Warner, who topped the charts.
For the Capitals, Rishabh Pant is the only player to finish in second place in the last 13 seasons. The wicket-keeper batsman scored 684 runs but was behind Kane Williamson, who accrued 735 runs that season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's players have won the Orange Cap most times (4). The Royal Challengers Bangalore have received it thrice. While Chennai and Punjab have won the Orange Cap twice each, Mumbai and Kolkata have received the honors once apiece.
#5 Maximum Sixes Award
The Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals never won the Maximum Sixes Award in the IPL. The players from these teams came close on a few occasions but never managed to top the charts.
The closest that a player from any of these three teams ever got to winning this award was David Warner. In 2017, he smashed 26 sixes - the same as Glenn Maxwell, who won the prize owing to a better strike rate in the tournament.
Matthew Hayden (2009), Murali Vijay (2010), MS Dhoni (2011), and Shane Watson (2018) got quite close for CSK, but all of them finished second on the list.
For the Royals, Sanju Samson smashed 26 sixes during IPL 2020 but fell four sixes short of Ishan Kishan, who won the award.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore have won this award the most number of times (6). The Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings have won the award twice each, while one player each from Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders has received this award.
#4 Most Valuable Player/Man of the tournament
Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad have never received the Most Valuable Player (earlier known as Man of the tournament) of the tournament award.
In IPL 2020, Kagiso Rabada of the Capitals got close with 298 points but fell short of Jofra Archer by 7 points.
For the Sunrisers, David Warner finished second on the list in 2017, just behind Sunil Narine, who excelled with both the bat and the ball that season. Warner finished second in 2016 as well behind Virat Kohli.
Five CSK players got close to receiving the Most Valuable Player Award in IPL 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2018 but ended up second on the list on each of these occasions.
The Kolkata Knight Riders' players have received the MVP award the highest number of times (4). Shane Watson won it twice for Rajasthan Royals, while Jofra Archer won it once. RCB players have received this award twice while Mumbai and Punjab teams have got it once apiece.
#3 Emerging Player of the Year
The Chennai Super Kings are the only team that has never won the Emerging Player of the Year award in the history of the IPL.
Ruturaj Gaikwad received 21 per cent of the votes for the award during IPL 2020, but Devdutt Padikkal raced past him with 26 per cent of the audience voting in his favour.
Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Punjab-based franchises have each won this award twice in the tournament. The other teams have won the prize on one occasion apiece. Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman is the only overseas cricketer to receive the award.
#2 Fairplay Award
Three IPL teams - Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders - have not won the Fairplay Award since its inception in 2012.
The Knight Riders finished in second spot thrice in 2015, 2016, and 2019 but never traveled the distance.
The best position at which the Delhi Capitals finished in the IPL Fairplay Award was second spot in 2017.
Royal Challengers Bangalore never managed to climb above the 4th position, which they reached in 2013.
The Chennai Super Kings have won this award on 6 occasions - the most for any team. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians won it twice apiece while the other teams participating in IPL 2021 won it once each.
#1 Trophy
The IPL Trophy has eluded the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings so far.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore reached the finals on three occasions but never managed to triumph. The Capitals played in the final once in 2020 but lost to the Mumbai Indians. The Punjab Kings also reached the final once in 2014 but couldn't lift the IPL title.
For the full list of all IPL winners, click here.
(Note: The above stats only apply to the current IPL teams)