Introduction
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It’s one of the most-watched sporting leagues globally. IPL has set the benchmark for excellence in T20 cricket. Players from around the world participate in this competitive tournament.
IPL is known for its big hitting. Each year, teams try to hit the most sixes. This guide provides an overview of the teams that have hit the most sixes in IPL history (2008-2019). Here you can find out how many sixes have been hit by each team. Plus, compare the overall numbers with other tournaments such as Big Bash League and T20 Blast.
Top 10 Teams with Most Sixes in IPL
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a famous, challenging T20 cricket league. In it, teams often score plenty of sixes to send the ball out of bounds. Here, we’ll check the top 10 teams with the highest sixes in IPL history. This list is based on the sixes each team has hit in all IPL seasons combined.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK have established themselves as one of the most iconic teams in Indian Premier League history since their founding in 2008. They have smashed 1196 sixes, the most out of any team! Mumbai Indians have 1085, and Royal Challengers Bangalore 1165, yet CSK remain at the top.
MS Dhoni has led them to glory with explosive performances from Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo and Shane Watson. Out of all the sixes hit in IPL, 506 belong to Dhoni alone. He is a leader who continues to lead from the front with big strokes and high scores.
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians are the most successful team in IPL history. They’ve hit 912 sixes from 2008-2019, nearly double the mark set by their closest competitors. Despite playing only 44 out of 65 possible matches, MI’s six-hitting prowess is impressive.
Two-time champions and seven-time finalists Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have been instrumental, with the latter’s 185 maximums and 150 strike rate with sixes particularly noteworthy. Hardik Pandya (135) and Lasith Malinga (100) are also amongst the seven players to have hit triple figures with sixes for Mumbai throughout IPL’s history.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) takes first place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the most sixes hit by a team. RCB, representing Bengaluru, has smashed 1906 sixes in 132 matches between 2008-2021. With a winning percentage of 42.88%, RCB is led by their captain Virat Kohli.
Their batting lineups feature some of the top players, such as Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, and AB de Villiers. This powerful batting has been key to their success in IPL tournaments.
The following teams follow RCB in sixes hit:
- Mumbai Indians (MI) with 1811 sixes in 119 matches.
- Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with 1737 sixes in 127 matches.
- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with 1699 sixes from 132 games.
- Delhi Daredevils (DD) with 1553 sixes from 133 matches.
- Rajasthan Royals with 1501 sixes from 132 games.
- Sunrisers Hyderabad 1433 from 103.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders are famed for their success in the IPL. They have hit a total of 3,783 sixes in all of their tournaments. Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik have led them to many victories. 2012 and 2014 were stellar seasons for KKR, with Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine all contributing to their Championships. From IPL 0 in 2008 to IPL12 in 2019, KKR have made 8% of the total sixes in the tournament. As COVID-19 restrictions force them to play in Abu Dhabi, they hope for a great season ahead.
Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals is an Indian professional cricket team based in Delhi. Before the 12th season of IPL in 2019, they signed big names like Shikhar Dhawan and Colin Ingram. They had also picked up players like Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult and Hanuma Vihari as part of their rebuilding process.
In 2019, their performance saw a huge turnaround. They became the first team from Delhi to qualify for IPL playoffs and even broke Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) record by accumulating over 500 runs in 3 consecutive matches while chasing.
Delhi Capitals is known for their power-hitting and ability to hit maximum sixes consecutively. In fact, they have accumulated 6,126 sixes in IPL till date (2020), making them fourth on the list of teams with most sixes in IPL overall. Shreyas Iyer is the current captain with Ravi Ashwin as his deputy. Ricky Ponting will continue to coach the team for 2021 season.
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals are one of the most successful teams in the IPL. They won the inaugural tournament in 2008. But, they missed the playoffs for two consecutive years in 2017 and 2018. They have the record for most sixes hit by a team in any IPL season – 500 sixes in their title-winning 2008 campaign. They also have the most sixes hit by a team in an innings – 37 sixes against Pune Warriors India.
Their six-hitting prowess is due to their formidable opening combination – Shane Watson and Ajinkya Rahane. These two have scored 3370 and 3371 runs respectively in their IPL careers. Dhawal Kulkarni, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny and Ravindra Jadeja form RR’s lower order batting line-up. They have helped RR score more than 200 runs while batting first. This has improved RR’s strike rate to 8.24 over the years.
RR have accumulated 5736 sixes over 11 editions – more than any other team. Even though they have not made it past playoffs since 2008, they still stand as one of the most competitive sides in IPL history for maximum hits.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad is the 5th team to enter the IPL. This Hyderabad based team has won the championship once already. They have been consistent over the years and are among the top teams. Presently, SRH is at 4th in the points table with 4 wins from 8 matches.
They have made a name for themselves by showing impressive records in terms of sixes. Statsguru states that SRH tops the league for most sixes scored with 1065. Mumbai Indians come in second with 981. This season alone, they have hit 255 maximums, more than any other side as per Cricbuzz Stat Video stats.
Kings XI Punjab
Kings XI Punjab have hit 1403 sixes across 383 matches in the IPL. That’s 2.27 sixes per match, just below the average. Some great batsmen like Adam Gilchrist, Yuvraj Singh and more have added to their total.
- Chris Gayle has hit the most with 82 sixes.
- David Miller is next with 63.
- Wriddhiman Saha has 42 and Shaun Marsh and Glenn Maxwell have 37 each.
- Axar Patel has 11 sixes, the highest from any KXIP bowler. He achieved this in only 33 matches, compared to R Ashwin needing 101 matches.
Deccan Chargers
The Deccan Chargers was one of the 10 original teams in the Indian Premier League from 2008 to 2013. Owned by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, it featured star players such as captain Kumar Sangakkara, all-rounder Shahid Afridi and top order batsman Adam Gilchrist.
Across the 6 IPL seasons, the Chargers scored 6,103 sixes. This puts them 5th in IPL history for most sixes. They also set a record for most sixes in a single season twice – first 761 in 2008 and then 930 in 2011. They had several match records for maximum sixes too. For example, they hit more than 20 successful sixes 3 times in 2009 – against DC (21), MI (25) and KXIP (20). Plus, they hit over 10 sixes 11 times and over 15 successful hits 4 times.
In total, they played 1126 matches and 90 of them were with the Deccan Chargers. Their average strike rate per game was 66.76%.
Pune Warriors India
Pune Warriors India was a cricket team from Pune, India in the Indian Premier League. But, despite their poor performance, they managed to hold some records! In their three seasons, they scored 704 sixes – 5th highest amongst all teams. In IPL 2012, they had 1029 boundaries – which was the same as Mumbai Indians. This was likely due to Robin Uthappa and Marlon Samuels – both of who were amongst the ten players with most sixes in IPL 2013.
Pune Warriors India has made impressive contributions in their short spell. Yet, they weren’t able to capitalize on their potential due to their short stay in the tournament.
Conclusion
The four teams with the most IPL sixes are Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Interestingly, Mumbai Indians, the one with the highest number of sixes, has won the most titles in IPL history. This could be due to their aggressive play and risk-taking.
However, it must be remembered that too many sixes can be dangerous. If teams don’t control their strike play, they might suffer a downfall when least expected. Thus, it is important for teams to balance boundary shots and smarter cricket for sustained success in IPL.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What teams have hit the most sixes in the IPL?
A1: The teams with the most sixes in the IPL are Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Q2: How many sixes have been hit in the IPL?
A2: As of April 2021, there have been 57,923 sixes hit in the IPL.
Q3: Who has hit the most sixes in the IPL?
A3: Chris Gayle has hit the most sixes in the IPL with 326 sixes.
