Since its inception, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen over two thousand sixes being hit. Chris Gayle alone has accounted for over 200 of those, while the likes of Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and others have hit over 100 each. Shiamak Unwalla picks out six of the most iconic sixes hit in IPL.
AB de Villiers is perhaps one of the few batsmen in world cricket who has time and again smashed Dale Steyn to all ends of the park. The two were teammates at RCB for a while, but ever since Steyn was absorbed by Deccan Chargers/ Sunrisers Hyderabad, almost every time the two have come up against each other de Villiers has come out on top.
Deccan Chargers batted first in their IPL 2012 encounter, and amassed 181 for two. Tillakaratane Dilshan got RCB off to a good start. But then RCB got themselves in a spot of bother. With 39 runs needed off the last three overs, de Villiers launched into Steyn, taking 23 runs off an over. The shot that stood out was off a 145-plus kmph yorker that de Villiers nonchalantly made room for and hit over the covers for six. It was a shot that showed in several ways that de Villiers was a class apart from any modern batsman. And that for all his genius, Steyn was a mere mortal.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were far from the dominant force they usually were in IPL 2012. They finished all their matches of the group stage early, and were just about surviving at No. 4 in the table, with at least two teams in with a serious chance of usurping their place. CSK stayed alive on sheer luck, as the two teams that could have gone past them stumbled.
Once CSK reached the final four though, their dominance came through. Playing the elimination final against Mumbai Indians, MS Dhoni led the way with a 20-ball 51 not out batting first, as CSK scored 187. One shot stood out, and in many ways set the tone for the game. Bowling the all-important 19th over, Malinga was hit for a boundary by Dwayne Bravo early on. Dhoni then took centre-stage, stepping out against IPL’s most successful bowler, and playing his trademark helicopter shot over midwicket. A total of 18 runs were scored off that over, and CSK ended up thrashing MI by 38 runs.
The two locked horns again in IPL 2014, when SRH and RCB played out a close match. Batting first, SRH scored 155. RCB started poorly, with the first two wickets falling for just six runs. They were soon 59 for four and then 95 for five. Through all this, de Villiers kept going. The equation finally came down to 28 runs needed off the last two overs.
Dale Steyn came on to bowl, with de Villiers on strike. Steyn’s first two balls were hit for sixes; one over square-leg, and the other down the ground. Two singles came off the next two balls before de Villiers hit a boundary over long-off. With 18 runs having come off the first five balls, de Villiers played the shot of the match: before Steyn even bowled the delivery, de Villiers went way outside off and got down on one knee; he hit the ball that would have been outside off over fine-leg for six to score 22 of the 24 runs off that Steyn over.
Mumbai Indians (MI) had got off to a terrible start in IPL 2014, losing each of their first five matches before finally getting into some winning form. They managed to boost themselves into a position where they were in with a chance in the very last match of the group stage. Playing against Rajasthan Royals (RR), MI needed to score a certain number of runs in 14.4 overs to knock out RR and progress to the final four.
RR made 189, and some tedious calculations were made. With Corey Anderson playing the innings of his life at one end, the other batsmen contributed as well. Finally, the equation came down to MI needing six runs off the fourth ball of the 15th over to qualify. Aditya Tare took strike to the first ball James Faulkner was the bowler. The scenes that followed were iconic. Faulkner bowled a terrible full toss that Tare hit the first ball over square-leg for a six. MI erupted, Tare ran around the ground bare-chested, and Rahul Dravid showed a rare moment of disgust in the RR dugout.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) played out a tense final that saw the game see-saw throughout. First Wriddhiman Saha scored the first — and only — century in an IPL final to take KXIP to 199. Manish Pandey guided KKR’s chase with 94, but was out with the game hanging in the balance.
With 15 runs needed off 12 balls, Mitchell Johnson came on to bowl. Suryakumar Yadav took two off the first ball before holing out to midwicket. Just two runs came off the next three balls. With 11 needed off seven, Johnson banged one in short. Piyush Chawla, who was batting on three, swung with all his might and got six over square-leg. It was the moment the final was won, and Chawla gained cult status as an IPL finisher. The balance of the game tilted and KKR went on to beat KXIP.
Rohit Sharma’s talent has rarely been doubted, especially over the last few years. Now captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit has invariably come in to bat at tough situations and made the most of it. He played a whirlwind innings of 42 off 15 balls against RCB in IPL 2015. One of the shots he played had to be seen to be believed. Abu Nechim Ahmed was the bowler who suffered. The ball was full and on off stump. Rohit cleared his front leg, but then realised the shot he had in mind would not come off, so he made a last-second adjustment. He simply used his wrists to flick a ball on off stump over midwicket for six. It was the type of shot that makes Rohit stand out as a batsman.
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(Shiamak Unwalla is a proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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