Besides Virat Kohli, the most talked about things in IPL 2016 till now

One name would have sufficed to end the story. Virat Kohli has undoubtedly been the phenomenon which has caught the fancy of fans and cricketers in this IPL with his insatiable hunger for runs.

One name would have sufficed to end the story. Virat Kohli has undoubtedly been the phenomenon which has caught the fancy of fans and cricketers in this IPL with his insatiable hunger for runs. The last count was 919 runs in 14 matches. But we piece together some other most talked about incidents. Here’s a look:

IPL matches had to be shifted out of Maharashtra due to the water crisis in the state. (PTI)

Save water, shift homes

12 matches were shifted out of Maharashtra as a few sane minds thought it would help conserve water in the drought hit state. The matter went all the way to the Supreme Court. Figures varied from 20,000 litres to over 60,000 litres of water per day that was needed to keep the pitch intact. Much like the Indian curators, nobody had any clue. As matches went out of the state it was time for cashing-in time for ‘home-away-from-home’ grounds. Visakhapatnam became the home ground of Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants! Who gained? Ask the curators in Vizag and those that curated the campaign.

Dog hits the pitch, limelight

This stray hogged the limelight in the game between Rising Pune Supergiants and Delhi Daredevils. (AFP)

The rain-curtailed match on May 17 had a big star on show: A stray dog that became Delhi Daredevils’ 12th man on the field. The second innings had just only begun when the pooch made his grand entry. Rishabh Pant first tried to shoo the dog away — he failed to make an impression. Then Chris Morris tried his luck, but he too couldn’t get him out as the dog rolled over, clearly in a mood to play. It was left to two ground staff, who had to chase him out and end his 15-seconds of fame on live TV.

Bailey’ helmet incident

George Bailey was hit on the helmet by Delhi Daredevils’ Nathan Coulter-Nile. (PTI)

In the same match, George Bailey got a sharp delivery from his Australian teammate Nathan Coulter-Nile. Shaping to pull, the ball crashed into his helmet that fell off. Players rushed to enquire, but he was unscathed. “A couple of them were disappointed that the helmet hadn’t rolled on to the stumps, but most people were just checking on me and how I was,” said the Australian.

Shastri does a Shastri

At the top of his voice, Ravi Shastri announced that Murali Vijay called ‘heads’. The coin landed tails. However, the match referee said Vijay had won the toss. A moment’s awkwardness followed between Vijay and Gautam Gambhir before Shastri approached the Kings XI Punjab captain for his comments. No one knows what exactly happened there but the video went viral.

Apple CEO in Kanpur

A screen shot of Apple CEO Tim Cook with IPl Chairman Rajiv Shukla during the Kolkata Night Riders and Gujarat Lions at Green Park stadium in Kanpur. (Hindustan Times)

You would expect Tim Cook to pop up at some business conclave in Bengaluru, New Delhi or even Mumbai. Kanpur was the last place one would have anticipated finding the Apple CEO. And there wasn’t any air-conditioned lounge. He was seen sitting beside IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla in the stands trying to make out what this Indian version of baseball was all about.

Almost another slapgate

It was shaping up to another slap gate in the IPL. But the spat failed to deliver the punch. Pune’s Saurabh Tiwary’s pulled the off-spinner towards the deep mid-wicket and mid-on fence. For a moment it looked either of the two Ambati Rayudu or Tim Southee was poised to get to the ball. Rayudu dived and tried to scoop the ball towards Southee, but ended up giving away the boundary. An angry Harbhajan gave him a mouthful, Rayudu too replied in kind. Both came head to head and just when we thought a repeat of Sreesanth episode was on, Harbhajan tried to pacify his team mate. Rayudu, snubbed the gesture.

Virat Kohli

Enough have been said and written about him already.