IPL 2020: 6 batsmen who can hit 6 sixes in an over

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is still in its initial stage and it has already rolled out a lot of drama. Rahul Tewatia became the talk of the town after he pulled his team to victory against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday by playing a blistering inning of 53 runs off 31 deliveries.

The highlight of his innings came in the innings 18th over bowled by the Caribbean pacer Sheldon Cottrell where he had struck 5 gigantic sixes and confirmed the victory for his team. He missed the rare feat of 6 sixes in an over and after his innings, there were questions raised if any batsmen can hit 6 sixes in an over in the ongoing IPL?

Only a few batsmen around the world are blessed to clear the boundary on regular basis and it will be a dream come true moment to any batsman to clear the rope off all the 6 balls in an over in the IPL. Yuvraj Singh became the first man in history to achieve the feat in T20I when he sent Stuart Broad for six merciless maximums in an over in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.

Coming to the cash-rich league, no batsman ever achieved the remarkable feat till now. So, in this article, we are going to name 6 players playing in this IPL, who are capable to hit 6 sixes in an over in the coming matches of the season.

Here is the list:

6. Chris Gayle (KXIP)

The Caribbean superpower holds the record for the highest individual score in an IPL game after he scored 175 runs off 66 balls, smashing the Pune Warriors bowlers along all the corners of the ground back in 2013. His breathtaking inning consisted of 17 sixes and 13 fours, showing the world why he is the boss man of T20 cricket.

The Jamaican also holds the record for the greatest number of sixes in the tournament with 326 sixes in 124 innings he has played in the IPL until now. He also bagged the Orange Cap for two years in 2011 and 2012 and scored 4484 runs in the cash-rich league.

Gayle once had scored 37 runs in an over back in 2011 when Kochi Tuskers Kerala bowler Prasanth Parameswaran bowled a no-ball and Gayle smashed 4 sixes and 3 fours in that over. Currently, Gayle is not a part of the Playing XI of KXIP but is expected to play in the latter stages of the tournament.

5. Hardik Pandya (MI)

The Indian all-rounder is capable of hitting huge sixes and showed his tremendous skill many times in all the formats of the game. As he usually bats down the order and slogs the bowlers with an immense strike rate, he has a fairly strong chance to hit six sixes in an over in the on-going IPL.

Especially, he targets the spin bowlers and will punish them by scoring consecutive sixes and smashing three consecutive sixes has become a feature of his batting. He achieved the feat 7 times in international cricket that includes 5 times in ODIs and one time each in T20I and Test cricket.

Hardik, who came back to professional cricket after an operation to his back injury, is struggling to find back his touch in the on-going tournament. He has just scored 47 runs matches at a strike rate of 117.5 in the three he played in IPL 2020 as is expected to crush the bowling line-ups in the later stages of the tournament.

4. Andre Russell (KKR)

Words won’t be enough to describe this destructive Caribbean all-rounder as he is one of the most dangerous players playing the game of cricket in recent times. With his massive arms, Russell can muscle any bowler in the world out of the park. He made a habit of hitting sixes and scoring runs at a really fast rate.

In 2019 IPL, playing for the Kolkata based franchise, Russell became only the second player past his national teammate, Chris Gayle, to hit 50 sixes in a single edition of the league. Batting down the order, Russell just tries to hit every ball out of the park and often won many games for his team which seemed to be impossible at one point of time.

One such innings was against Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the last season. When his team required 54 runs off the last three overs, Russell scored a 13-ball 48 with the help of one four and 7 sixes and took his team to victory. So, considering his power hitting, Russell has the capability to hit six sixes in an over in the on-going IPL.

3. AB de Villiers (RCB)

The South African batsman is one of the best batsmen the game of cricket had ever produced. Due to his ability to hit the ball along all the directions of the ground, the cricket fraternity even called him as Mr.36o of batting. Although he retired from international cricket, he is showing his class in the T20 leagues across the globe.

AB de Villiers is a key member of the RCB squad and won many matches for the franchise. He holds the record for hitting second-most number of sixes in IPL history with 219 sixes to his name. He has a career strike rate of 152.08 which tells us his destructive levels with the bat in his hand.

He is also the sixth-highest run-getter in the cash-rich league, with 4529 runs in 157 matches at an average of 40.44. Currently, Mr.360 is having a very good IPL 2020 in which he has scored 134 runs at a massive strike rate of 186.11.

2. Kieron Pollard (MI)

Another Caribbean allrounder joins the list and this time it is Kieron Pollard of Mumbai Indians. The Trinidadian all-rounder has all the shots under his belt and can clear any boundary in the world with ease with his colossal muscles. His straight sixes from the top of the bowler is a treat to watch on any day.

He stands at the 8th position in the list of most sixes by a batsman in IPL with 182 sixes to his name. He recently played his 150th game for the Mumbai based franchise and has scored 2846 runs in IPL so far.

Pollard led his side to the title in the recently concluded CPL 2020 and was also the star performer of his side in the final by picking 4 crucial wickets in the match. He is expected to continue the same form in the ongoing IPL and play a vital role in the team’s campaign this season.

1. Rohit Sharma (MI)

The Mumbai Indians skipper and Indian limited over vice-captain is currently one of the biggest hitters of the cricket ball and has been nicknamed as ‘HITMAN’ by his fans. He plays the pull shot towards deep square leg boundary with such an ease and is a pleasure to watch for the cricket fans.

Rohit stands at the fourth position of the list of most sixes in IPL with 201 sixes to his name till now. He also is the third-highest run-scorer in IPL with 4998 runs, only behind Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina.

He generally opens the innings for Mumbai Indians and tries to score as many runs possible in the Powerplay. If he gets on gong till the end of the innings, Rohit will just deal with sixes and it can be a nightmare to the bowlers in any level of the game. So, if Rohit bats through the end, he has a pretty good chance to hit six sixes in an over in this season.