IPL: 7 Indians with the most sixes in an innings
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the most prestigious T20 franchise league in the world. Big hits are the order of the day in any T20 tournament, and it is no different in the IPL.
Chris Gayle holds the record of hitting the most sixes in an IPL innings. The Jamaican smashed 17 sixes during his unbeaten 175-run knock for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013.
However, Indian players have also lit up the IPL with their belligerent hitting. Without further ado, let us have a look at the seven Indians who have smashed the most sixes in an IPL game.
Most sixes by an Indian batsman in an IPL innings
#T4: Yuvraj Singh - 9 sixes
Yuvraj Singh is one of four Indian players to have struck nine sixes in an IPL innings. He did so during his unbeaten 68-run knock for RCB against Delhi Capitals, then Delhi Daredevils, in IPL 2014.
In the said game, the Capitals' captain Kevin Pietersen won the toss and opted to field first at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Singh joined AB de Villiers at the crease in the 13th over, with the RCB score reading 94 for the loss of three wickets.
The southpaw acclimatised himself with the conditions, scoring his first ten runs in as many number of deliveries. Yuvraj Singh then broke loose in the 17th over bowled by Imran Tahir, striking the spinner for three consecutive sixes.
Singh struck a six each in the next two overs bowled by Mohammed Shami and Siddarth Kaul respectively. The former Indian middle-order batsman was at his aggressive best in the last over bowled by the young Rahul Shukla, smashing him for four sixes.
The Punjab left-hander's unbeaten 68 runs off just 29 balls, studded with nine sixes, helped RCB post a total of 186/4 in their allotted twenty overs. The Bangalore-based franchise managed to restrict the Capitals to a score of 170/7, thereby emerging victorious by 16 runs in a run-filled IPL match.
Yuvraj Singh was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match for his enterprising knock.
#T4: Rishabh Pant - 9 sixes
Rishabh Pant is the second among four Indian players to have struck nine sixes in an IPL game. This happened during his knock of 97 runs for Delhi Capitals (DC) against Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017.
The Delhi captain Karun Nair won the toss and opted to chase at the Kotla. The decision seemed to have backfired as the Gujarat team posted a massive 208/7 in their allotted twenty overs, with attacking half-centuries from Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik.
Pant came in to bat in the third over after the early dismissal of Nair. He showed his intentions immediately, smashing his second delivery from Basil Thampi for a six.
The wicket-keeper batsman continued the assault in the next over, striking two consecutive sixes off Pradeep Sangwan. After a short respite for the bowlers, Pant smashed Ankit Soni straight over his head for a six in the eighth over of the innings.
This was followed by a six over midwicket against Raina in the next over. Pant contiuned his merry ways in the 11th over bowled by James Faulkner, smashing the left-armer for three sixes in the over.
Pant's final six was struck over long-on off Ravindra Jadeja's bowling. Unfortunately, he was caught behind in Thampi's next over, three runs short of a well-deserved century.
Pant's 97-run knock, studded with nine sixes, and his 143-run second wicket partnership with an equally aggressive Sanju Samson helped DC chase down the mammoth target with seven wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare in a high-scoring IPL game.
Rishabh Pant was unsurprisingly awarded the Man of the Match for his match-winning knock.
#T4: Dinesh Karthik - 9 sixes
Dinesh Karthik is the third Indian to have struck nine sixes in an IPL match. He managed to do so during his unbeaten 97-run knock for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2019.
The RR captain Steven Smith won the toss and opted to field first in an IPL home game for KKR at the Eden Gardens. Karthik walked in to bat at the end of the fifth over, with KKR having lost two 2 wickets with just 31 runs on the board.
The KKR captain started sedately with just three runs coming off the first ten deliveries he faced. The Kolkata team scored just 49 runs in the first ten overs for the loss of three wickets.
Karthik tried to break the shackles by hitting a six followed by three boundaries in the 11th over bowled by Shreyas Gopal. He then flicked Jofra Archer for another six off the first delivery of the next over.
Varun Aaron was slashed over point for a six off the second delivery of the 14th over. This was followed by another flick for six in the 16th over off the bowling of Jaydev Unadkat.
Karthik's fifth six came off a free-hit, with the last ball of the 17th over bowled by Oshane Thomas that sailed over long-on. The wicket-keeper batsman smashed two consecutive sixes off the last two deliveries of the 19th over bowled by Archer.
The KKR captain struck another two sixes in the last over bowled by Unadkat. But to his dismay, he could only get a single off the last delivery to miss out on a richly deserving century by only three runs.
Karthik's 97-run knock, studded with nine sixes, helped KKR reach a score of 175/6 in their allotted twenty overs. Unfortunately, the Kolkata bowling could not defend the target as RR won the match by three wickets and four balls to spare.
Varun Aaron was awarded the Man of the Match for his excellent spell that rocked the KKR top order as Dinesh Karthik's fighting knock went in vain.
#T4: Hardik Pandya - 9 sixes
Hardik Pandya is the other Indian to have struck nine sixes in an IPL encounter. He achieved this feat during his knock of 91 runs for Mumbai Indians (MI) against KKR in IPL 2019.
The MI captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first at the Eden Gardens. But the KKR batsmen made Sharma regret his decision, posting a mammoth score of 232/2 with blistering knocks from Andre Russell, Shubman Gill and Chris Lynn.
The Mumbai franchise seemed to be out of the contest when Pandya walked in to bat. With the score reading 58/4 in the ninth over, Mumbai required another 175 runs from 70 deliveries to pull off an improbable win.
The younger Pandya went on the attack right from the offset. He clubbed two sixes in Piyush Chawla's first over, the 10th over of the MI innings.
The next over saw Sunil Narine being struck for a mighty six over midwicket. Pandya repeated the dose in Chawla's next over, striking the leg-spinner for another couple of sixes.
The introduction of seam bowling could not contain Pandya as Harry Gurney was whipped for a six. Pandya continued to pepper the leg-side boundary, with another six off Narine over midwicket bringing up his half-century in just 17 deliveries.
The Baroda all-rounder smashed a six over midwicket off Narine's bowling in the 17th over. After striking another six over long leg off Gurney's bowling, Pandya was caught at the deep midwicket boundary while trying to go for one more maximum.
This brought to an end Hardik Pandya's 91-run knock off just 34 balls, an innings studded with six fours and nine sixes. Despite his blitzkrieg, the Mumbai team fell short of their target by 34 runs in a high-scoring IPL game.
Although Andre Russell was awarded the Man of the Match for his match-winning unbeaten 80-run knock, it was Hardik Pandya who mesmerised the crowd with his massive hits.
#T2: Sanju Samson - 10 sixes
Sanju Samson is one of the two Indian batsmen to have struck ten sixes in an IPL game. He did so during his unbeaten knock of 92 runs for RR against RCB in IPL 2018.
The RCB captain Virat Kohli won the toss and asked the visiting team to bat first at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Samson strode to the crease in the sixth over after RR had got off to a flying star. The RR score read 49 runs for the loss of Ajinkya Rahane's wicket.
The stylish batsman did not take much time to get into the groove, smashing Kulwant Khejroliya for a six over deep square leg. Samson's next six came off the first ball of the 11th over when Washington Sundar was struck over long-on for a maximum.
Pawan Negi was pulled over square leg in the 14th over as Samson hit his third six. His next two sixes were struck over deep midwicket, one each off Umesh Yadav and Chris Woakes respectively.
Samson struck two consecutive sixes off the last two balls of the 18th over bowled by Khejroliya. Samson was now in the zone, with a six and two boundaries coming off the last three deliveries of the 19th over bowled by Woakes.
The right-hander was not done yet. It was now Yadav's turn to be struck for two consecutive sixes in the final over of the innings. Sanju Samson's unbeaten knock of 92 runs off just 45 balls, studded with 10 sixes, helped RR put up a massive score of 217/4 on the board.
The Rajasthan bowlers managed to restrict RCB to a score of 198/6, thereby winning the high-scoring IPL match by 19 runs. Sanju Samson was deservedly chosen as the Man of the Match for his stroke-filled knock.
#T2: Shreyas Iyer - 10 sixes
Shreyas Iyer is the other Indian batsman to have struck ten sixes in an IPL encounter. This happened during his unbeaten 93-run knock for Delhi Capitals against KKR in IPL 2018.
The KKR captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and opted to field first in an away match at the Kotla. Iyer walked in to bat at the end of the seventh over, with Colin Munro and Prithvi Shaw having added 59 runs for the first wicket.
Iyer took his time to settle in, with seven runs coming off the first nine deliveries he faced. He started his six-hitting spree by depositing Kuldeep Yadav over the midwicket fence off the first ball of the 12th over.
The Mumbai middle-order batsman struck a six each in the 14th and 15th overs, bowled by Piyush Chawla and Andre Russell respectively. Shivam Mavi was then smashed for two consecutive sixes in the 17th over, with the first one courtesy a dropped catch also bringing up Iyer's fifty.
Iyer hit another six in the 18th over bowled by Narine, with the ball again going through the hands of the fielder at long-on. Mavi bore the brunt of Iyer's willow, with four sixes apart from a boundary coming in the final over of the Delhi innings.
Shreyas Iyer ended with an unbeaten innings of 93 runs off just 40 deliveries, a knock that was studded with ten sixes, as the Capitals posted a huge score of 219/4 in their allotted twenty overs.
Chasing a mammoth target, KKR were never in the game and could muster only 164/9 in response, thereby losing the IPL match by 55 runs.
Shreyas Iyer walked away with the Man of the Match award for his breathtaking knock.
#1: Murali Vijay - 11 sixes
Murali Vijay holds the Indian record of having struck the most sixes (11) in an innings in the IPL. He achieved this feat during his knock of 127 runs for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against RR in IPL 2010.
The CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first at the Chepauk. Vijay strode out to open the innings with Matthew Hayden.
The Tamil Nadu opener showed his attacking intent in the second over itself, striking a six and two fours off consecutive deliveries from Sumit Narwal. The next over saw Yusuf Pathan struck for a six straight over his head.
Although Vijay continued to bat aggressively, he did not strike any further sixes in the next few overs. He then struck a six each of Shane Warne and Pathan in the 13th and 14th overs, the first one bringing up his fifty in the process.
The former India opener pulled the trigger in the next two overs bowled by Shaun Tait and Narwal respectively. While Tait was smashed for two sixes off short-pitched deliveries, Narwal was spanked for three maximums in the 16th over.
Shane Watson was then struck for a six each in the 18th and 20th overs of the Chennai innings. But Watson had his revenge by having Vijay caught at deep midwicket while trying to go for another six.
Murali Vijay's knock of 127 runs off just 56 deliveries was studded with eight fours and an Indian record 11 sixes. This belligerent knock and his 152-run third-wicket partnership with Albie Morkel helped CSK amass a massive score of 246/5 in their allotted twenty overs.
RR tried their level best to overhaul the target, with rollicking innings from Naman Ojha and Watson, but fell short by 23 runs.
Murali Vijay was deservingly awarded the Man of the Match for his record-breaking IPL knock.