Across 18 IPL seasons from 2008 to 2025, bowlers were hit for 14,337 sixes in regulation play. That is one six every 18.7 legal deliveries, spread across 267,829 balls and 550 different bowlers. Not one bowler who sent down 120 legal balls or more got through his career without being cleared at least once. Every IPL bowler has paid the price.
Leaderboards usually celebrate the hitters: Gayle, Rohit, Kohli, Pollard. This record book looks at the other end of the pitch. It lists the men who ended up in the second tier, on the scoreboard's replay screen and in the highlight reels. Read it carefully, though, because the list of bowlers who conceded the most sixes is not a list of failures. It is mostly a list of legends. You only get hit 250 times if captains keep handing you the ball for 13 years.
All figures below come from CricMind's ball-by-ball Cricsheet archive (2008–2025, 1,169 matches, Super Overs excluded). A "six" means the batter scored six off the delivery, including sixes hit off no-balls.
The Men Who Paid the Price: The All-Time Sixes-Conceded Leaders
Yuzvendra Chahal and the cost of attacking spin
Yuzvendra Chahal sits alone at the top with 250 sixes conceded, one every 15.2 legal balls. He is also the IPL's leading wicket-taker, with 221 wickets in this dataset between 2013 and 2025. Those two numbers belong together. Chahal flights the ball, bowls wide of off stump and dares batters to hit against the spin into the longest part of the ground. Between 2014 and 2021 he did much of that at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for Royal Challengers Bangalore, a ground with some of the shortest square boundaries in the competition. He kept an economy rate of 7.96 anyway.
The trade-off is the whole story of wrist spin in T20 cricket. A leg-spinner who never gets hit for six is probably not taking wickets. Chahal's career says that the six is a fair price for the dismissal that tends to follow it.
The finger-spin wall: Jadeja, Ashwin and Narine
Three of the top five are spinners who came at the job from the opposite direction. Ravindra Jadeja (224 sixes, 4,056 balls), R Ashwin (221 sixes, 4,710 balls) and Sunil Narine (188 sixes, 4,345 balls) are flat, fast and relentless. Ashwin bowled more legal deliveries than anyone in IPL history and still went 21.3 balls between sixes. Narine went 23.1 balls between sixes while keeping an economy of 6.80, the best among the top 20.
Their totals are mostly about volume. Jadeja has bowled in IPL cricket since 2008. Ashwin's career ran from 2009 to 2025 and Narine's from 2012 to 2025. Bowl that long, often in the middle overs where set batters target the fifth bowler, and the sixes pile up.
Chawla and Mishra: the leg-spinners who built the league
Piyush Chawla (222) and Amit Mishra (184) were the IPL's original wrist-spin workhorses, and both played from 2008 to 2024. Mishra took three IPL hat-tricks while conceding a six every 18.3 balls. Chawla's 192 wickets came with an economy of 7.96, exactly matching Chahal's.
Both have their names attached to the IPL's most lopsided individual rivalries. Kieron Pollard hit Mishra for 14 sixes, the most by any batter off a single bowler in the archive. Chris Gayle took 11 off Chawla, and Suresh Raina took 10.
The seamers who joined the list
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the first fast bowler on the list, seventh with 170 sixes. He went 24.8 balls between sixes over 4,222 deliveries and took 198 wickets, mostly with the new ball and at the death. Dwayne Bravo (155), Umesh Yadav (149), Mohammed Siraj (149) and Mohammad Shami (143) follow. They are the men who bowled the death overs, where every batter is swinging.
Data Deep-Dive: Every Number That Matters
Table 1 — Most sixes conceded in IPL history (2008–2025)
| Rank | Bowler | Sixes | Legal balls | Balls per six | Wickets | Economy | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuzvendra Chahal | 250 | 3,791 | 15.2 | 221 | 7.96 | 2013–2025 |
| 2 | Ravindra Jadeja | 224 | 4,056 | 18.1 | 170 | 7.67 | 2008–2025 |
| 3 | Piyush Chawla | 222 | 3,850 | 17.3 | 192 | 7.96 | 2008–2024 |
| 4 | R Ashwin | 221 | 4,710 | 21.3 | 187 | 7.20 | 2009–2025 |
| 5 | Sunil Narine | 188 | 4,345 | 23.1 | 192 | 6.80 | 2012–2025 |
| 6 | Amit Mishra | 184 | 3,371 | 18.3 | 174 | 7.38 | 2008–2024 |
| 7 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 170 | 4,222 | 24.8 | 198 | 7.69 | 2011–2025 |
| 8 | Axar Patel | 170 | 3,315 | 19.5 | 128 | 7.37 | 2014–2025 |
| 9 | Rashid Khan | 160 | 3,189 | 19.9 | 158 | 7.09 | 2017–2025 |
| 10 | Dwayne Bravo | 155 | 3,120 | 20.1 | 183 | 8.38 | 2008–2022 |
The pattern is clear. Seven of the top ten are spinners, and every one of the ten has taken at least 128 IPL wickets. Conceding sixes at this scale requires a captain's trust, and captains only trust bowlers who take wickets.
Table 2 — The hardest bowlers to hit for six (minimum 1,500 legal balls)
| Rank | Bowler | Sixes | Legal balls | Balls per six | Wickets | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dale Steyn | 54 | 2,176 | 40.3 | 97 | 2008–2020 |
| 2 | Zaheer Khan | 64 | 2,200 | 34.4 | 102 | 2008–2017 |
| 3 | Lasith Malinga | 86 | 2,828 | 32.9 | 170 | 2009–2019 |
| 4 | Albie Morkel | 56 | 1,723 | 30.8 | 85 | 2008–2016 |
| 5 | Jacques Kallis | 58 | 1,742 | 30.0 | 65 | 2008–2014 |
| 6 | Siddharth Trivedi | 51 | 1,506 | 29.5 | 65 | 2008–2013 |
| 7 | Shane Watson | 74 | 2,029 | 27.4 | 92 | 2008–2018 |
| 8 | Jasprit Bumrah | 123 | 3,337 | 27.1 | 183 | 2013–2025 |
| 9 | Morne Morkel | 61 | 1,629 | 26.7 | 77 | 2009–2016 |
| 10 | Ashoka Dinda | 58 | 1,516 | 26.1 | 69 | 2008–2017 |
Dale Steyn is the outlier of outliers. He went 40.3 legal balls between sixes, nearly seven overs, and over his career he was more than twice as hard to clear as the league average of 18.7. Nobody else got close to 35.
Look at the spans, though. Nine of the ten finished before 2021. The only active name is Jasprit Bumrah, still at 27.1 balls per six after 3,337 deliveries through the most explosive era the format has seen. In relative terms, Bumrah's number may be the most remarkable on this page.
Table 3 — The most sixes conceded in one IPL spell
| Bowler | Sixes | Figures | Bowling for | Opponent | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yash Dayal | 8 | 4-0-69-0 | Gujarat Titans | Kolkata Knight Riders | 9 Apr 2023 | Ahmedabad |
| Mohammad Shami | 7 | 4-0-75-0 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Punjab Kings | 12 Apr 2025 | Hyderabad |
| Mohit Sharma | 7 | 4-0-73-0 | Gujarat Titans | Delhi Capitals | 24 Apr 2024 | Delhi |
| Khaleel Ahmed | 7 | 3-0-65-0 | Chennai Super Kings | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 3 May 2025 | Bengaluru |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 7 | 4-0-55-4 | Delhi Capitals | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 20 Apr 2024 | Delhi |
| Mitchell Starc | 7 | 3-0-55-1 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 21 Apr 2024 | Kolkata |
| Mitchell Marsh | 7 | 3-0-56-1 | Pune Warriors | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 23 Apr 2013 | Bengaluru |
| Karn Sharma | 7 | 4-0-51-0 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Chennai Super Kings | 11 Apr 2015 | Chennai |
Fourteen spells in the archive went for seven or more sixes, and eight of them came between 2023 and 2025. The 2013 entry is the day of Gayle's 175*. Kuldeep's line is the strangest: four wickets and seven sixes in the same four overs, in a 2024 game at Delhi that Sunrisers Hyderabad won.
The Overs That Broke Bowlers
Five sixes in one over: the full list
Only seven overs in IPL history have gone for five sixes. None has gone for six. That is the cleanest single statistic in this record book.
| Bowler | Batter(s) | Runs in over | Over | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harshal Patel | Ravindra Jadeja (5) | 37 | 20th | 25 Apr 2021 | Wankhede, Mumbai |
| Moeen Ali | Riyan Parag (5) | 32 | 13th | 4 May 2025 | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| Rahul Sharma | Chris Gayle (5) | 31 | 13th | 17 Apr 2012 | Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru |
| Yash Dayal | Rinku Singh (5) | 31 | 20th | 9 Apr 2023 | Ahmedabad |
| Abhishek Sharma | Stoinis (2), Pooran (3) | 31 | 16th | 13 May 2023 | Hyderabad |
| Sheldon Cottrell | Rahul Tewatia (5) | 30 | 18th | 27 Sep 2020 | Sharjah |
| Shivam Mavi | Stoinis (3), Holder (2) | 30 | 19th | 7 May 2022 | Pune |
Harshal Patel, 2021: the 37-run final over
On 25 April 2021 at the Wankhede, Jadeja took 37 off Harshal Patel's final over for Chennai Super Kings. It included a six off a no-ball and equalled the most runs ever scored in an IPL over. What makes the story remarkable is what came next. Harshal finished that 2021 season with 32 wickets and the Purple Cap. The worst over of his career fell in the middle of the best season any Indian seamer had had.
Rinku Singh, 2023: 29 off five balls
On 9 April 2023, KKR needed 29 off the last over against the defending champions. After Umesh Yadav's single, Rinku Singh hit Yash Dayal for five consecutive sixes to win the game. Dayal's spell ended with 69 runs and eight sixes, still the most sixes in a single IPL spell. The over is reconstructed in full in our legendary match file on Rinku's five sixes. Two years later Dayal was a title winner with RCB in 2025, which is another sign that this record book is not a list of careers that ended.
Tewatia and Parag: the overs that turned matches
Rahul Tewatia's five sixes off Cottrell in Sharjah on 27 September 2020 turned a run chase that had looked lost into one of the great Rajasthan Royals wins. On 4 May 2025, Riyan Parag went further: five sixes off Moeen Ali at Eden Gardens, then another off the first ball of the next over, six consecutive sixes across two overs. For a full ranking of the IPL's most expensive overs, see every 30-run over in IPL history.
The Six Inflation: How the League Changed the Price
Season by season
| Season | Matches | Sixes | Sixes per match | Balls per six |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 58 | 623 | 10.7 | 20.8 |
| 2009 | 57 | 506 | 8.9 | 25.9 |
| 2013 | 76 | 675 | 8.9 | 26.1 |
| 2018 | 60 | 872 | 14.5 | 15.8 |
| 2021 | 60 | 687 | 11.4 | 20.2 |
| 2022 | 74 | 1,062 | 14.4 | 16.1 |
| 2023 | 74 | 1,124 | 15.2 | 15.3 |
| 2024 | 71 | 1,261 | 17.8 | 12.9 |
| 2025 | 74 | 1,301 | 17.6 | 12.7 |
In 2009 in South Africa and again in 2013, a bowler conceded a six about every 26 balls. By 2025 it was every 12.7 balls, roughly twice as often. The 2025 season produced 1,301 sixes, more than 2009 and 2010 combined. The Impact Player rule, introduced in 2023, gave every batting side an extra specialist, and the six count jumped straight away.
This is why the career tables need context. Steyn, Zaheer and Malinga did most of their bowling when a six came every 20 to 26 balls. Bumrah's 27.1 has been sustained while the league average fell below 13.
Franchise view: who has bowled through the storm
Royal Challengers Bangalore have conceded more sixes than any franchise: 1,773, or one every 17.3 balls. That is the Chinnaswamy effect. Delhi Capitals (1,644), Mumbai Indians (1,625) and Punjab Kings (1,601) follow. Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals share the best rate among the long-standing franchises at 19.7 balls per six. Gujarat Titans (13.9) and Lucknow Super Giants (14.8) have the worst rates, but only because they were founded in 2022 and have played only in the high-scoring era.
Highest rate conceded (minimum 1,000 legal balls)
Karn Sharma has the steepest rate among bowlers with 1,000+ balls: a six every 12.0. Glenn Maxwell (12.8), Andre Russell (13.9) and Kuldeep Yadav (14.0) come next. All of them are wicket-hunting part-timers or wrist-spinners, bowling exactly the overs where the risk is highest.
Legacy Impact — What This Means for Today's IPL
The sixes-conceded table is the clearest evidence of how the IPL's tactical economics have changed. In 2009 a bowler could reasonably plan never to be cleared. By 2025 a typical four-over spell went for two sixes on average. Modern bowling plans are written around that fact: wide yorkers, hard lengths into the pitch, and fields set to make sixes cost a wicket risk rather than to prevent them entirely.
It also explains why the active names on the first table still get picked. Chahal, Jadeja, Narine, Axar, Rashid and Kuldeep are all still in IPL squads. Their franchises are not paying for six-proof bowling, because it no longer exists. They are paying for bowlers who take wickets while getting hit, and who keep their nerve after being sent into the stands.
That is the context CricMind's Oracle works in. The model treats bowling quality as a run-and-wicket balance rather than raw economy, because in a league that produces 17-plus sixes a game, a spinner going for 8.5 an over with two wickets is usually doing his job. You can see how that thinking shapes each pre-match call on the predictions hub, or compare any two careers side by side on the CricMind compare tool.
For the batting side of the same ledger, see the all-time IPL six-hitting leaderboard. For the bowlers who dominated individual batters rather than being dominated by them, read the IPL's greatest bunnies.
Three Takeaways
- The top of the list is a hall of fame, not a hall of shame. Chahal (250 sixes, 221 wickets), Jadeja, Chawla, Ashwin and Narine are on it because captains trusted them for more than a decade.
- Dale Steyn is the hardest bowler the IPL has ever tried to hit. He went 40.3 legal balls between sixes, and only Jasprit Bumrah (27.1) has kept anything close to that kind of rate in the modern era.
- The cost of a six has roughly halved. League-wide, balls per six fell from 26.1 in 2013 to 12.7 in 2025, and no bowler on this list can be judged fairly without accounting for when he bowled.
FAQ
Which bowler has conceded the most sixes in IPL history?
Yuzvendra Chahal, with 250 sixes conceded in 3,791 legal balls between 2013 and 2025, according to CricMind's Cricsheet ball-by-ball archive. He is also the IPL's leading wicket-taker over that period, with 221 wickets.
Which bowler is the hardest to hit for six in the IPL?
Dale Steyn, at one six every 40.3 legal balls (54 sixes in 2,176 balls) among bowlers with at least 1,500 deliveries. Zaheer Khan (34.4) and Lasith Malinga (32.9) are second and third, and Jasprit Bumrah (27.1) is the best active bowler.
Has anyone hit six sixes in an IPL over?
No. Seven overs in IPL history have gone for five sixes, including Ravindra Jadeja off Harshal Patel in 2021, Rinku Singh off Yash Dayal in 2023 and Riyan Parag off Moeen Ali in 2025. Parag did hit six consecutive sixes in 2025, but they were spread over two overs.
What is the most sixes conceded by a bowler in one IPL match?
Eight, by Yash Dayal for Gujarat Titans against Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad on 9 April 2023, in figures of 4-0-69-0. Five of those sixes came from Rinku Singh in the final over.
Which IPL franchise has conceded the most sixes?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, with 1,773 sixes conceded from 2008 to 2025, one every 17.3 legal balls. The short boundaries at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium are a large part of the reason.
How often are sixes hit in the IPL now compared with the early seasons?
In 2009 and 2013 a six came roughly every 26 legal balls. In 2025 it was every 12.7 balls, an average of 17.6 sixes per match, roughly twice the early-era rate.