A remorseless slap of the ball to the on-side, a mighty loft over the cover on the off-side, or a straight- as-a-line drive over head the bowler. If the ball was greeted with the sweetest part of the willow, these days with the wider blades being used, a thick edge can serve the purpose, sails over the ropes and land a couple of rows back in the stand, there explode the deafening music and the enthralled fans’ peppy screams. This is IPL and sixes have always been its USP. This season, in that front, is also no different.
With reputed ‘hitters’ like Yusuf Pathan, Adam Gilchrist, Virendar Sehwag, and Yuvraj Singh failing to explode, it was Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma and others who provided much needed fire works to keep the crowd entertained.
One shouldn’t mince words while calling Chris Gayle the most destructive player in the IPL. Though the RCB have some prolific match-winners like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their ranks, Gayle stands out. He is unmatchable and the Windies former skipper has successfully kept alive his habit of finding the stands and that too without compromising on his recently acquired propensity of playing long innings.
Gayle, who has scored the most number of runs is also the topper when it comes to dispatching bowlers to the gallery. The Jamaican struck a mind bowling 40 sixes in 12 matches. And the monicker ‘Marauder’ that was attributed to him does make sense. He pulled, he slashed and at times like a boy who wants to convince his puritan mentors that he do hold respect for the ‘scriptures’, he muscled it down the ground with a straighter bat.
Trailing to him is Mumbai Indians gifted rightie Rohit Sharma with 25 out-of -the-park strokes. If Gayle unsettled his rivals with his tormenting power, the eye-catching player from Mumbai , who flaunts immense talent, technical prowess but bearing the tag of ‘one who hasn’t finally arrived’’ made merry with languid strokes that had the serene beauty of the Gazal and the sparkle of Goth. He seems to be the only player who is in the reckoning to give Gayle a run for his money, though distantly, for maximum number of sixes.
David Miller, the South African playing for Kings XI Punjab, comes close to Rohit with 20 over-the-rope hit, while Michael Hussey, the 37-year-old enforcer of Chennai Super Kings, cleared the ropes 15 times in his pursuit to prove that he is a connoisseur when it comes to adapting to the formats. The Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson who is a vital cog in Rajasthan Royal’s line-up has also been succesful when it comes to big-hitting.Compensating for getting shrinked us a batting all-rounder in this season contrary to what was expected of him, the Aussie was in the thick of things as he cleared ropes 14 times.