IPL & cricket glossary

Plain-English definitions of the terms you'll meet across IPLTracker and any IPL broadcast.

Strike rate (batting): Runs scored per 100 balls faced. Calculated as (runs ÷ balls faced) × 100. A strike rate of 150 means 150 runs per 100 balls — a key measure of scoring speed in T20.
Economy rate: Runs conceded by a bowler per over. Calculated as runs conceded ÷ overs bowled. Lower is better; an economy under 7 in T20 is excellent.
Bowling average: Runs conceded per wicket taken (runs ÷ wickets). Lower is better.
Bowling strike rate: Balls bowled per wicket taken (balls ÷ wickets). Lower means a bowler takes wickets more frequently.
Batting average: Runs scored per dismissal (runs ÷ times out). Measures consistency rather than speed.
Powerplay: The first six overs of a T20 innings, during which only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle — encouraging aggressive batting.
Orange Cap: Awarded to the batter with the most runs in an IPL season. In 2026 it was won by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals).
Purple Cap: Awarded to the bowler with the most wickets in an IPL season. In 2026 it was won by Kagiso Rabada (Punjab Kings).
Net run rate (NRR): A tie-breaker in the league table: the average runs a team scores per over minus the average it concedes per over, across the season.
Super Over: A one-over-per-side eliminator used to break a tie. Each team bats one over; the higher score wins. Further Super Overs follow if still tied.
Player of the Match (POTM): The standout performer in a single match, chosen by adjudicators. In the 2026 final it was Virat Kohli.
Death overs: The final overs of an innings (typically overs 16–20), when batters attack hardest and specialist bowlers try to restrict scoring.
Maiden over: An over in which the bowler concedes no runs off the bat (no runs scored, excluding certain extras).
Dot ball: A delivery off which no run is scored — a small but crucial pressure-building unit in T20.
Duck: A batter dismissed without scoring (0 runs). A first-ball dismissal is a "golden duck".
All-rounder: A player who contributes meaningfully with both bat and ball.
Impact Player: An IPL substitution rule (from 2023) letting teams introduce one named substitute during a match, who can bat or bowl in place of a listed player.
Yorker: A delivery pitched at the batter’s feet or base of the stumps, hard to hit — a prized death-overs weapon.
Powerplay total: A team’s score after the six-over powerplay, often used to gauge a fast or slow start.
Run rate (RPO): Runs scored per over; a required run rate is the pace a chasing team must maintain to win.
Boundary: A shot reaching or clearing the rope: four runs along the ground (a "four") or six runs in the air (a "six").
Wicket: Both the set of three stumps and two bails, and the event of a batter being dismissed.
Playoffs: The IPL’s four-team knockout stage: Qualifier 1, Eliminator, Qualifier 2 and the Final. See the playoffs guide for how the routes work.
Cricsheet: An open project publishing detailed ball-by-ball data for cricket matches, including every IPL game — the primary data source behind IPLTracker.