Sixes are the soul of T20 cricket. You take those big hits out of the game, and half the fun is gone, isn’t it?
Batters, too, perhaps understand this well. So they go on an all-out attack to deposit the ball into the stands.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen some clean strikers who put up their six-hitting skills on repeat mode in a particular season to enter this list.
Here we’ll talk about the most sixes hit by batters in a single IPL season.
5. Chris Gayle (RCB): 44 Sixes in 2011
It’s impossible not to think of this guy when it comes to six-hitting. And that too in the IPL.
Chris Gayle was perhaps among the few batters who understood the importance of sixes in T20 cricket early on. No wonder he hit 1056 maximums in his T20 career! 357 of them in the IPL.
And 44 of them came in the 2011 season after coming in as an injury replacement for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Gayle was ruthless with the bat as he scored 608 runs at a strike rate of 183.13.
4. Jos Buttler (RR): 45 Sixes in 2022
Fast forward to 11 seasons, Jos Buttler went one up on Gayle’s 2011 tally. The Englishman was at his absolute finest in the 2022 season.
Thanks to his tall contribution of 863 runs and four centuries, Rajasthan Royals (RR) made it to the final. On top of that, Buttler sprinkled his run aggregate with 45 sixes in 17 innings.
3. Chris Gayle (RCB): 51 Sixes in 2013
It’s Gayle once again! This time, the Gayle Storm churned out 51 sixes in the 2013 season.
The Caribbean batter was on a roll from 2011 to 2013 in the IPL. And he capped off the three-season period with 708 runs, alongside his sixes tally. He missed out on the Orange Cap hat-trick by a whisker.
The same season also saw Gayle smash an unbeaten 175 runs against Pune Warriors, which is still the highest score by a batter in the IPL. That inning included 17 sixes, again a record!
2. Andre Russell (KKR): 52 Sixes in 2019
Gayle’s fellow countryman, Andre Russell, makes his presence felt on this list. The Jamaican was in his beast mode in 2019 – his best IPL season with the bat by miles.
He piled up 510 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 204.81. And all these runs came in 249 balls, with a six every fourth ball! Russell ended the season with 52 sixes to become only the second batter with 50+ maximums in an IPL edition.
1. Chris Gayle (RCB): 59 Sixes in 2012
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Gayle holds the top position on this list. The aggressive opener bettered his 2011 tally to set a new record.
Gayle was at his peak in the 2012 season as he took the ball for a ride. He cleared the ropes 59 times across 14 innings. If that wasn’t enough, he plundered 733 runs as well to steal the Orange Cap second time.
Read Next | List: Australian Batters to Score 10000 Runs in Test Cricket
