IPL Records: Most number of maiden overs bowled
When you have only 20 overs to bat, every over and every ball becomes important. Every single over represents 5% of your total resources. Not scoring from one over means you will be utilizing only 95% of the allotted resources. Thus bowling a maiden over in T20 cricket is tougher than any other format.
At the Indian Premier League, we have the best of the bests competing against each other. In such conditions, bowling six dot balls in a row is no mean feat. In an IPL season, more fifties are scored than the number of maiden overs bowled.
The best chance of bowling a maiden is in the opening overs when the batsmen may not take too many risks and try to consolidate. The top seven in the all-time list of bowling most maidens in the IPL are all fast bowlers.
Spinners languish at the bottom. Here is the countdown of eleven bowlers who have bowled the most maiden overs in the IPL.
All Stats courtesy: iplt20.com
#11 Zaheer Khan (5 maidens)
When the IPL started in 2008, Zaheer Khan was the most popular fast bowler in Indian cricket. The left-arm pacer had re-invented himself with county cricket experience in 2006. Royal Challengers Bangalore secured Zaheer’s services for $4,50,000. He bowled the first-ever ball of the IPL.
Zaheer joined his home franchise, Mumbai Indians, in the following season. After two years, he returned to RCB for the next three years. The bowler then ultimately settled down with the Delhi franchise. In his 100-match IPL career, Zaheer Khan finished with 102 wickets and five maidens from 366.4 overs.
#10 Munaf Patel (5 maidens)
The bowler from Gujarat first hogged the limelight for his breakthrough pace. Munaf soon enrolled in the MRF Pace academy where he impressed his mentors. Patel earned India debut and became a metronome who was renowned for his consistency more than his pace.
Munaf’s precision proved immensely useful in T20 cricket where he could choke the opposition by withholding runs. The bowler spent his first three years in the IPL at Rajasthan Royals and later shifted to the Mumbai Indians for three seasons.
With a final stint with the Gujarat Lions, Munaf completed 225.5 overs with five maidens in 63 IPL matches.