Has any other player won the Purple Cap twice in IPL like Harshal Patel? – Ask Steven

Earlier in the day in the county match Calvin Harrison had bowled an over which was described as a „smudger”. What does this mean? asked Bill Dunmore from England

That over from Nottinghamshire leg-spinner Calvin Harrison came during the Championship match against Hampshire at Trent Bridge last week. It was the 48th over of Hampshire’s second innings towards the end of play. The first ball went for five wides, then the subsequent balls went for three, two, six, four and one, with the final ball being dot. Each ball of the over had a different result: this unusual phenomenon is known on the county circuit as a „smudger”, after former Middlesex opener Mike „MJ” Smith. He was a tall batsman, with unusual movement across the crease as the bowler bowled, and played five one-day internationals for England in 1973 and 1974.

Such overs are hard to spot, but I asked Melbourne statistician Charles Davies if his impressive international database could turn up any other examples. It’s not a definitive list, but he found a few: „In India’s ODI against Pakistan in Mohali in April 1999, in one over of Virender Sehwag – he was making his debut – (out of order) one dot ball, three singles. , one single off a no-ball (total two), one ball went for three wides, one boundary, one boundary off a no-ball (five runs in total), and I haven’t found six-delivery overs 012345 or 123456 in Tests or ODIs, but some 012346 (not in that order) 1951- Must have come in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 44th over of India’s first innings, when England’s Brian Statham bowled 4, 0, 1, 2, 3… 8.

Harshal Patel won the Purple Cap for the second time this year. Has anyone else won twice? asked Mahendra Sundaram from India

Harshal Patel became the highest wicket-taker in this year’s IPL with 24 wickets for Punjab Kings. He also won it in 2021 when Patel took 32 wickets (highest in an IPL season) for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The award is shared the most: since the 2008 IPL, only two other men have won twice. Bhuvneshwar Kumar topped the table with 23 wickets in 2016 and 23 in 2017 for Sunrisers in successive years, while Dwayne Bravo topped the list with 32 wickets in 2013 and 26 in 2015 for Chennai Super Kings.

Coming back to batting, Virat Kohli has won the Orange Cap for the most runs for the second time in the IPL season; He topped the list in 2016 with 973 runs, the most in any season. Chris Gayle topped the list twice for RCB in 2011 and 2012, but David Warner has done it thrice (2015, 2017 and 2019, all for Sunrisers). For the list of highest runs scored in IPL season, click here.

Who has been ducked out most often in Tests? asked Richard Sullivan from England

Courtney Walsh, the number one West Indian fast bowler here, has been out for no runs in 43 of his 185 innings, including 61 not out. Second was Stuart Broad who was dismissed 39 times (244 innings, 41 not out). But in terms of percentage, at least the leading man with the most dismissals in Tests is New Zealander Chris Martin, who has been dismissed 52 times, 36 of them without scoring (he also had 52 not out). Martin took seven pairs in Tests – no one else had more than four.

With the next T20 World Cup tournament fast approaching, who has been the highest run-scorer and highest wicket-taker over the years? asked Christopher Glass from Australia

Both the table leaders are likely to increase their tally in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli leads the batsmen with 1141 runs. Only Mahela Jayawardene (1016) has more than 1000 runs. Rohit Sharma goes into the 2024 tournament with 963 runs.

The USA, who came out on top in the second game following their win over Bangladesh, clinched the series against a Test nation.