Dwayne Smith

The arrival

Dwayne Smith was there from the start, in the league's first season, 2008, signed by Mumbai Indians outside the auction.

That first season brought 4 matches, 45 runs and 5 wickets at 7.55 an over. The best was still to come.

The peak

The high point with the bat was 2014, for Chennai Super Kings: 566 runs at an average of 35.4, striking at 136.1 in a season when the league as a whole struck at 129.1, with 5 fifties, and a highest score of 79. There were two seasons of 400 runs or more in all (2013 and 2014).

Measured against the league around it, though, the most destructive season was 2009: 215 runs at a strike rate of 162.9, 46 runs per hundred balls quicker than the IPL as a whole that year.

With the ball, the best season was 2016, for Gujarat Lions: 8 wickets at 8.42 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 8.15, with best figures of 4 for 8.

Franchise by franchise

2008, Mumbai Indians. 4 matches, 45 runs and 5 wickets.

2009 to 2010, Deccan Chargers. Bought at the 2009 auction for ₹48 lakh. 11 matches, 237 runs and 2 wickets; champions in 2009.

2012 to 2013, Mumbai Indians, second time round. Back outside the auction. 20 matches, 575 runs and 4 wickets; champions in 2013.

2014 to 2015, Chennai Super Kings. Bought at the 2014 auction for ₹4.50 cr. 32 matches, 965 runs and 5 wickets.

2016 to 2017, Gujarat Lions. Bought at the 2016 auction for ₹2.30 cr. 24 matches, 563 runs and 10 wickets.

5 spells with four franchises in all. The longest was with Deccan Chargers, 2009 to 2010. 2011 is missing from the record: a season without an IPL appearance.

Bat, ball and method

Across the career, Dwayne Smith struck at 135.2. The league around those same seasons, weighted by how much batting each one involved, struck at 127.6, so Dwayne Smith scored about 8 runs per hundred balls faster than the typical batter of the time. 71% of the runs came in fours and sixes: 245 fours and 117 sixes.

The ball-by-ball record adds the detail. 44.6% of the balls Dwayne Smith faced were dot balls, a higher share than 94% of the 140 batters who have faced 500 balls or more in the IPL. A six came every 15.1 balls, and a four every 7.2.

With the ball, 26 wickets in 543 deliveries, at 8.95 runs an over against a league rate of 7.87 for the same seasons: 1.08 an over more expensive than the typical bowler of the time. There was one four-wicket haul, and the best figures were 4 for 8.

31.2% of the balls Dwayne Smith bowled were dots, a lower share than 87% of the 150 bowlers with 500 balls or more; a wicket came every 20.7 balls.

The fielding record: 41 catches and 3 run-outs.

At the auction

Dwayne Smith went under the hammer four times, bought three times and left unsold once. The highest price was ₹4.50 cr, paid by Chennai Super Kings in 2014, more than 3 times the base price. The price climbed with the reputation: ₹48 lakh in 2009, ₹2.30 cr by 2016. Unsold in 2012, Dwayne Smith was bought again in 2014 by Chennai Super Kings.

Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.

The legacy

Dwayne Smith made 91 IPL appearances, the last for Gujarat Lions in 2017, and won 11 player-of-the-match awards.