IPL’s old jungle rule: Six-hitting teams make it to the finals

The 17th edition of the IPL is bringing along a trimester of big-hitting. The tournament is expected to gain extensive interest this year with the marquee T20 World Cup commencing shortly after the tournament in June.

Six hitting is paramount and one of the most fool proof methods to make the IPL final, exemplified by the finalists over the years. Barring the inaugural season in 2008, at least one of the two teams in every final has invariably finished in the top-two of most sixes hit in that particular edition.

1548 – The Mumbai Indians lead the six-hitting charts in the history of the IPL, striking a maximum of every 18.48 balls they have faced in the tournament.

357 – Chris Gayle remains the leading six-hitter in the tournament, with the second-best Rohit Sharma still 100 sixes away. The West Indian struck a six every 9.34 deliveries across his 142-match career.

6.74 – Caribbean powerhouse Andre Russell possesses the best balls-per-six ratio in the tournament (min. 100 runs). Russell has clobbered 193 sixes in only 96 innings in the league.

51.19% – Russell is the only batter in the IPL to aggregate at least 50 percent of his career runs (min. 500) through sixes, with his 96 maximums generating a chunk of his 2262 runs.

218 – MS Dhoni is the only batter to record 200-plus sixes as captain in the tournament.

138 – Gayle is the only batter to hit 100-plus sixes in the PowerPlay (overs 1-6).

162 – Dhoni is the highest six-hitter charts in the death overs (17-20), with 67.7 percent of his career sixes coming in the last four overs. Kieron Pollard and AB de Villiers are the only other batters to have struck 100-plus sixes in the death.

1 – Shivam Dube (58 fours, 73 sixes) is the only Indian to have hit more career sixes than fours in the IPL (min. 500 runs). Five others also currently hold the feat – Liam Livingstone (58, 59), Shimron Hetmyer (67, 75), Nicholas Pooran (78, 91), Andre Russell (150, 193) and Kieron Pollard (218, 223).

98 – Glenn Maxwell is two sixes short of becoming the first batter to strike 100 maximums against spin in the league. Virat Kohli (97) and Sanju Samson (93) follow the Australian in the list.

59 – Gayle holds the record for smashing most sixes in a season, slamming 59 in 14 innings in 2012. Gayle also piled up 51 maximums in the 2013 season.

1124 – The IPL 2023 witnessed the most sixes in an edition of the IPL from 147 innings, 62 ahead of the second-best 2022 season.

79 – The sixes hit by Gujarat Titans during their title-winning run in their inaugural season in 2022 – the least for a victorious side across 16 editions.

145 – Chennai Super Kings hold the record for most sixes hit by a team in a season. In their title-winning season in 2018 following a two-year ban, CSK struck 145 maximums in 16 matches.

17 – Gayle is the only batter to hit 12 or more sixes in an innings thrice in the IPL. He struck a record 17 sixes in his unbeaten 175 against Pune Warriors India, in 2013.

21 – On the might of Gayle’s 17-six onslaught, RCB totalled 21 maximums against PWI in the 2013 clash in Bengaluru – the most by any team in a match.

33 – The highest number of sixes aggregated in a match. The mark was touched thrice in the IPL by RCB-CSK in 2018 and 2023, and RR-CSK in 2020.

Most sixes in each edition

How not being captain could benefit Rohit Sharma, the batter

Rohit Sharma is returning to the IPL without the weight of captaincy after 11 years. Rohit took on the Mumbai Indians leadership midway through the 2013 season and led them to their maiden title with his best batting season (538 runs). While he has won MI four more titles, Rohit’s presence as a batter witnessed a gradual decline.

Former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma during the practice session. (X | Rohit Sharma)

A deadly middle-order batter in his early days, Rohit amassed 2205 runs in 84 matches before leading MI for the first time. MI will hope that Rohit summons his ‘Hitman’ version this season.

🔴Did You Know? Rohit has only played one match under another MI captain since taking over on April 24, 2013. Suryakumar Yadav skippered Rohit in an IPL 2023 match where he featured as an Impact Player against Kolkata Knight Riders.

🔴Rohit Sharma as captain: Inns :157; Runs: 3986; SR :129.37; HS: 98*; Ave: 28.07; 50s: 25; 4s : 372; 6s :158.

🔴Rohit Sharma as non-captain: Inns :81; Runs: 2225; SR :131.26; HS :109*; Ave :32.72; 50s: 17; 100: 1; 4s :182; 6s: 99.

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