IPL 2020: 5 bowlers with the most maiden overs in the league's history
When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) initiated the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, the fans expected the batsmen to rule this tournament as they had the license to go hard right from the first ball. Centuries from Brendon McCullum and Michael Hussey in the first two matches of the league further solidified these expectations as the batsmen wreaked havoc in the IPL.
However, over the last few years the bowlers have managed to tilt back the skewed balance with the advent of variations like the knuckle ball, slower bouncer, and the toe-crushing as well as wide yorkers. The trends have changed in the spin department also as the teams prefer to have a wrist spinner in their playing XI ahead of a finger spinner.
As the batsmen play aggressively in IPL, to bowl a maiden over is a big thing and here are the 5 bowlers who have bowled the maximum number of maiden overs in IPL history.
#5 Sandeep Sharma - 8 maiden overs
In the 90 matches he has played, Kulkarni has bowled 290.5 overs. Eight of those overs were maidens as just like Sandeep Sharma, Kulkarni can trouble the batsmen with his swing in the early overs. It will be interesting to see how Mumbai Indians use him in IPL 2020.
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He was a part of the U-19 World Cup team that won the World Cup in 2012 and he soon made it to the Indian national team. His swing bowling skills have helped him trouble the opening batsmen in the powerplay overs and this is the main reason why he has managed to bowl 8 maiden overs in IPL thus far. Sharma's best IPL season was in 2014 when picked up 18 wickets in 11 matches.
#4 Lasith Malinga - 8 maidens
The veteran fast bowler from Sri Lanka, Lasith Malinga is one of the few players in IPL history who have played for the same franchise in their entire career. Malinga has even served as the bowling coach of the franchise. He is known for his toe-crushing yorkers in the slog overs which have won multiple games for Mumbai Indians.
The right-arm pacer has played 122 IPL games in his career where he has bowled 471.1 overs in which he did not concede a single run in 8 overs. He bowls in the powerplay overs and the death overs but his maiden overs have majorly come in the first half of the innings.
#3 Dhawal Kulkarni - 8 maidens
Another player from the Mumbai Indians squad to feature on this elite list is their local pacer -Dhawal Kulkarni. The right-arm medium fast bowler will return to his home side after stints with Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Lions. Although he has not achieved much success at the international level, he has been an integral part of the IPL teams.
In the 90 matches he has played, Kulkarni has bowled 290.5 overs. Eight of those overs were maidens as just like Sandeep Sharma, Kulkarni can trouble the batsmen with his swing in the early overs. It will be interesting to see how Mumbai Indians use him in IPL 2020.
#2 Irfan Pathan - 10 maidens
One of the only two bowlers to have bowled ten or more maiden overs in IPL history is the Baroda-based all-rounder Irfan Pathan. The former India player was in the news recently for his exploits in the Road Safety World Series 2020. He played for several franchises in the IPL - from Kings XI Punjab to Gujarat Lions.
Pathan was a new ball bowler who could swing the ball well and 10 of his 340.3 overs were maiden overs. A majority of fans feel that the left-arm pacer never received proper opportunities to showcase his talent still, he holds the second position on this list.
#1 Praveen Kumar - 14 maidens
Praveen Kumar will always be remembered as one of the best new ball bowlers that India has ever produced. He could swing the ball in both the directions and in his prime, he was a hot commodity in the IPL. Kumar began his IPL career with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008 and he played his last IPL game for Gujarat Lions a few years ago.
During his career, he featured in 119 IPL games, bowling 420.4 overs. Even though there were fielding restrictions in the opening overs, Kumar bowled 14 maiden overs in his IPL career. He picked up 90 wickets in his career while his economy rate was 7.72.
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