Hashim Amla has been a prolific player for South Africa. He was born in Durban in 1983. He started his career with Durban High School and soon made it to the Under-19 South Africa team. He captained South Africa in the 2002 Under-19 World Cup.
He began the South Africa career in 2004 in Tests, playing against India at Kolkata. Soon he made the ODI debut in 2008 and T20I debut in 2009. He was the first South African to score a triple century in Tests. In ODIs, he became quickest to 2000, 3000, 4000, and 5000 Runs. Despite a little dip in the form after that, Amla still managed to average close to 50 in ODIs with 27 centuries. He also scored 28 centuries in Tests and achieved more than 18 thousand runs in international cricket. He retired from all forms of international cricket in August 2019.
With all the runs he was piling around 2014-2015, it was about time he was picked in the most famous T20 league in the world – the Indian Premier League (IPL). He played for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) franchise in the 2016 and 2017 season. These were the only two seasons he played in the IPL. Let’s take a look at his IPL career in detail
Hashim Amla – IPL 2016
The IPL auctions turned out disappointing for Hashim Amla, going unsold through the 2016 auction. He was later called in as a replacement for Shaun Marsh in the Kings XI Punjab squad. Shaun Marsh suffered a back injury in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and had to pull out of the IPL. As a replacement, KXIP got this big player for the base price of USD 1 million.
In the IPL debut match against Deccan Chargers played on 7 May 2016, Amla was run out by Zaheer Khan for 1. KXIP won that close game by 9 runs. Amla was asked to open in the next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He provided a promising start with a solid 21 putting up 45 for the first wicket with Murli Vijay. However, KXIP lost the thriller by just 1 run.
After getting out for naught in the 3rd game, Hashim Amla scored scintillating 96 of just 56 deliveries with 14 fours and 2 sixes, opening the innings against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He scored 53% runs for his team just losing out on the maiden IPL hundred. Unfortunately, KXIP lost the game but Amla was still awarded the Man of the Match.
The rest of the IPL went below par for Hashim as he ended the 2016 season with 157 runs in 6 matches at an average of 26.16 with a decent strike rate of 131.93.
HaHashim Amla – IPL 2017
ter his good batting performance in 2016, KXIP retained Hashim Amla in 2017. After a decent 28 in the successful chase in the first match against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), Amla scored a match-winning half-century – his second in the IPL – against Royal Challengers Bangalore – 58 not-out, chasing 150.
The next three matches yielded just 44 runs – 25, 19 and 0 against Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) respectively. Amla seemed to be losing the touch a bit and needed to respond. In the next game against Mumbai Indians, Hashim Amla scored his maiden IPL century – 104 of 60 balls with 8 fours and 6 sixes – at an extravagant strike rate of about 175. KXIP ended up scoring 198, batting first, with Amla making about 52% of the total runs. A counterattack by Jos Buttler and Hardik Pandya meant Amla’s maiden IPL century went in vain as Mumbai Indians chased down the score in 16th over.
Regardless, Amla continued his good form the next match against Gujarat Lions and scored his third IPL half-century at the opening slot, batting first. He scored 65 of just 40 deliveries with 9 fours and 2 sixes. KXIP eventually set the target of 189 which proved too much for Gujarat Lions who could manage to score just 162 in the allotted 20 overs. Hashim Amla received his second Man of the Match award in that game,
In the next match against Delhi Daredevils, KXIP Punjab were set a target of just 68 runs thanks to 4 for 20 by KXIP pacer Sandeep Sharma. Hashim Amla along with Guptill chased the target down in the 8th over of the innings. Amla scored a slow 16 not-out. There was no rush anyway. KXIP won the match by 10 wickets with 10 wickets to spare.
The match against RCB yielded just 1 run for Amla which seemed like a missed opportunity, judging the form he was in. However, he did not miss out on the next innings against Gujrat Lions. Amla scored his second IPL century of the season and was the last man out in the 20th over. He scored 104 runs in 60 deliveries with 8 fours and 5 sixes. Hashim Amla scored 55% of the team’s run tally in that innings. However, just like with his maiden century, this time as well KXIP ended up on the losing side.
In 2017, Hashim Amla scored 420 runs in 10 innings at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 145.83.
HASHIM AMLA – IPL HASHIM AMLA – IPL Records
rong>scored 577 runs in the IPL with 2 centuries for KXIP and was the leading run-scorer for them in the 2017 season. He was overall 6th on the list of top run-scorers, despite playing just 10 innings in the 2017 season. Amla has achieved the fourth-highest average of 44.38 after 16 matches, among players who have faced a minimum of 60 balls, in the IPL.
He was picked by Cricbuzz in IPL XI of 2017 and was chosen by Cricinfo in the overall T20 side of the year 2017.