IPL 2019: 4 Indian stars eye unique IPL record in the upcoming edition

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The 12th edition of Indian Premier League is set to begin from 23rd March and excitement for the tournament cannot be contained amongst the fans. Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Chennai Super Kings in the opening match at M Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

In the upcoming season, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina will be in the race to become the first Indian player in IPL to hit 200 sixes.

Chris Gayle is currently at the top with 292 sixes in 112 matches (111 innings). He has played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. From 2018, he has been playing for Kings XI Punjab.

AB de Villiers is in second spot with 187 sixes in 141 matches (129 innings). From 2008- 2010, he has played for Delhi Daredevils. From 2011 onwards, he has been playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Among the Indians, MS Dhoni is currently first (and 3rd overall) with 186 sixes in 175 matches (158 innings). He has led Chennai Super Kings from 2008, bar a couple of years when the franchise was suspended for its involvement in the betting scandal. In 2016 and 2017, MS Dhoni played for Rising Pune Supergiants.

Suresh Raina is 4th with 185 sixes in 176 matches (172 innings) with 1 century. He played for CSK for first 8 years. In 2016 and 2017, he played for Gujarat Lions.

Rohit Sharma has hit 184 sixes in 173 matches (168 innings). From 2008-2010, He had played for Deccan Chargers. Since 2011, he has turned up for Mumbai Indians. Under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, Mumbai Indians had won 3 titles.

Indian captain Virat Kohli is also in the running for the record, standing 6th in the list. Having played for Royal Challengers Bangalore since the inception of the league, Virat Kohli has hit 178 sixes in 163 matches (155 innings).

In 2018, MS Dhoni hit 30 sixes and with an amazing strike rate of 150.66. Suresh Raina just hit 12 sixes in last year’s edition. He was one of the reasons why CSK won the tournament.

Rohit Sharma did not have a great season last year with 286 runs from 14 matches, with just 2 half-centuries to his name. He hit 12 sixes for Mumbai Indians.

Vira Kohli had a good season last year, scoring 530 runs in 14 matches despite the rest of the team faltering throughout. He tonked 18 sixes in the process. Given that he is in much better form this time around, expect him to breach the 200-six mark during the season.

These four greats will be looking to be the first Indian player to hit 200 sixes in the IPL.