Cricket, especially the limited-overs format, is considered the most unforgiving for the bowlers as the game is largely tilted in the batsmen’s favour. The present scenario gives batters ample opportunity to dominate the bowlers, and one of the many reasons is the fielding restrictions in place, apart from the nature of the bats being used.
Fielding restrictions in T20s are commonly dubbed the powerplay, where a fielding team can have only two fielders near the boundaries. This presents the batter with all the freedom in the world to help the ball sail over the ropes, and we will see how often a batter has done that in IPL cricket.
Here are the top 10 batters with the most sixes in powerplay overs in the IPL.
Most Sixes in Powerplay Overs in IPL
| Player | Innings | Sixes in Powerplay Overs |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Gayle | 135 | 138 |
| Rohit Sharma | 183 | 109 |
| David Warner | 175 | 105 |
| Quinton de Kock | 115 | 82 |
| KL Rahul | 120 | 82 |
| Faf du Plessis | 131 | 81 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 213 | 74 |
| Virat Kohli | 208 | 71 |
| Sunil Narine | 70 | 70 |
| Brendon McCullum | 104 | 70 |
Key Insights
Only two batters, Chris Gayle and David Warner, have struck 100 or more sixes in the powerplay overs of the IPL. The former leads the pack with the most maximums (138) in the powerplay phase in 135 innings, scoring 2336 runs.
Shikhar Dhawan has amassed the most runs in the powerplay. The left-hand opener scored 3391 runs, along with 74 sixes in 213 innings. Warner comes in second position, having scored 3303 runs, comprising 105 maximums.
