5 longest sixes in IPL 2023, ft. Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube
The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is officially in the history books. After two months of riveting cricketing action, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were crowned as the champions, beating Gujarat Titans (GT) in a last-over thriller in the IPL 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday, May 29.
Ravindra Jadeja snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat when he hit Mohit Sharma for a six and a four off the last two balls of the summit clash. The rain-affected fixture proved to be one of the matches of the season, with both teams having their moments throughout the game.
It capped off what was also one of the most memorable and tightly contested IPL seasons ever. Having said that, the IPL 2023 was largely dominated by batters.
Apart from the 37 instances where a team piled up 200+ totals, this year's tournament also saw a staggering 1,116 sixes being hit (the most among all 16 IPL editions).
Among those 1,116 maximums, there were some huge ones and in this listicle, we will look at the top five longest sixes of them all in IPL 2023.
#5 110 metres - Rinku Singh vs LSG
Despite his team ending up in the second half of the table, Rinku Singh earned traction with his superb finishing knocks and hard-hitting skills.
Rinku, who smashed five back-to-back sixes earlier in the season, also hit the fifth-longest six of the season.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went head-to-head against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their last league game of the season.
With 41 required in two overs in a 177-run chase against LSG, Rinku smashed LSG seamer Naveen-ul-Haq for three fours before blasting a length ball over deep mid-wicket for a massive six. It was the longer side of the boundary at Eden Gardens but Rinku sailed the ball 110 metres long.
Incidentally, he also brought his fifty by hitting the giant six. However, despite Rinku's best efforts (67* off 33), KKR'S lost the game by a tiny margin of one run.
#4 111 metres - Shivam Dube vs RCB
From one hard-hitting left-hander to another, Shivam Dube hit lusty blows throughout the campaign. His long-levers helped him hit as many as 35 maximums in the campaign (the most by any Indian in IPL 2023).
Dube's longest maximum, however, went 111 metres long when he clobbered Harshal Patel over long on in the clash against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Walking in to bat at 90/2 in 9.3 overs, Dube hardly took any time to get going and began to hit all RCB bowlers all around the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. In the next over, bowled by Harshal, Dube received a slow full toss which he disdainfully dispatched into the second tier.
Dube's 111-metre strike was also the longest six by an Indian in the competition.
#3 112 metres - Jos Buttler vs LSG
Although he might not have enjoyed a wondrous IPL 2023 campaign, Jos Buttler left his impression on youngster Yudhvir Charak when he hit him for a colossal six in IPL 2023.
Chasing 155 runs in the second innings against LSG, Jos Buttler looked very uncomfortable on the crease. He didn't hit a single boundary in his first 14 balls and was looking to break the shackles.
Buttler finally managed to impose himself by clearing the front leg and thwacking a ball by Yudhvir over deep mid-wicket. The strike went 112 metres back in the stands.
Despite an 87-run opening partnership between Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal, RR went on to lose the game by 10 runs courtesy of their batting collapse in the second innings.
#4 114 metres - Tim David vs PBKS
Mumbai's batting unit was undoubtedly one of the most fearsome among all ten franchises this season. The franchise got several hard-hitting players who sent the ball out of the park at will.
However, it was Tim David, who smashed the longest six for them in the recently concluded tournament. In Match 31 between MI and Punjab Kings (PBKS), David hit a 114-metre-long maximum and entertained the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium with his monstrous hit.
The Aussie powerhouse smoked a full-toss delivery from pacer Nathan Ellis over mid-wicket for the huge 114-metre long maximum in the 18th over of Mumbai’s 215-run chase. David’s six was the second-longest maximum in the tournament.
While David was on course to guide MI to a win, Arshdeep Singh had other plans and successfully defended 16 runs off the last over to hand PBKS the win.
#1 115 metres - Faf du Plessis vs LSG
Match 15 between RCB and LSG, which had its fair share of drama and nerve-wreaking moments, saw some monstrous hitting on display at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis led from the front for the hosts in the game and clobbered 79* runs off 46 balls. En route to his innings, the South African created history when he smashed the longest six of the tournament.
It was LSG's Ravi Bishnoi who had to bear the brunt of getting clobbered for a huge maximum over mid-wicket.
The incident took place in the 15th over of RCB's innings. Du Plessis came on strike on the third ball of the over and smashed a six over the cover region before following it with another massive hit that traveled 115 meters.
Bishnoi dropped the ball short and Du Plessis was quick to get to his backfoot and tonk the ball out of the stadium. The big strike left non-striker Glenn Maxwell surprised along with the entire RCB dugout.