The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League started on March 26 with a high-profile clash between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and last season’s runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders. A month has passed since that match, and interestingly, there are some similarities between IPL 2016 and 2022 seasons.
The most noticed similarity being the fact that two new teams joined the tournaments. Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiant were the new entrants in IPL 2016, while in 2022, Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans are the new franchises.
Speaking of IPL 2016 and 2022 seasons, here are some unnoticed similarities between the two tournaments.
1. Gujarat team wins 6 out of first 7 matches in IPL 2016 and 2022; SRH only team to defeat them
Gujarat Lions and Gujarat Titans both franchises won six out of their first seven matches in their debut IPL seasons. Interestingly, the only defeat in the first half of their respective seasons came against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Another interesting coincidence is that SRH won the match by chasing, and it was the fourth match of the tournament for both Gujarat franchises.
2. MS Dhoni’s team and Mumbai Indians struggled in IPL 2016 and 2022 seasons
MS Dhoni played for the Rising Pune Supergiant team in the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League. He was the captain of that side, and while Dhoni has an exceptional record as IPL skipper, he failed to lead his team to the playoffs that season. In 2022, CSK have struggled so far, but they still have a chance of qualifying. MI failed to qualify in 2016 and are likely out of 2022 as well.
3. IPL Playoffs dates are the same
In 2016, Qualifier 1, Eliminator, Qualifier 2 and Final happened on May 24, 25, 27 and 29, respectively. Incidentally, even this year, the dates for the final four matches are the same. SRH won the 2016 IPL season, and it will be interesting to see if they can do it again.
