5 bowlers to have conceded most sixes in a single ODI World Cup ft. Haris Rauf

The 2023 World Cup is racing towards the business end, with several teams still jostling for a top-four finish to qualify for the semi-final.

While the tournament has been filled with upsets from lower-ranked teams like Afghanistan and the Netherlands, there has also been an air of predictability in numerous games, thanks to the skewed battle between bat and ball. With several games witnessing scores over 350 and 400 by the side batting first, the bowlers have been at the receiving end of dubious records.

The bulkier bats and smaller boundaries to entice more fans, who prefer high-scoring games with plenty of sixes, have only added to the misery of bowlers. With the 50-over game attempting to keep pace with franchise T20 cricket, rule changes have been implemented to see more high-flying sixes over the past decade.

Considering that, It is only fair to expect bowlers to have been spanked for more sixes in the latest few editions.

With that in mind, let us look at the five bowlers who have conceded the most number of sixes in a single World Cup.

# 5 Jason Holder - 13 sixes in the 2015 World Cup

Holder was at the receiving end of a severe pounding against South Africa in 2015.

West Indian all-rounder Jason Holder gave away 13 sixes in seven games of the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Despite picking up nine wickets in the tournament, the tall 31-year-old was at the receiving end of a massacre in a few matches.

Brimming with confidence off a three-wicket performance against Zimbabwe, Holder was carted to all parts of the Sydney Cricket Ground in the following game against South Africa.

After starting with figures of 1/9 in five overs, the right-arm pacer finished with a dismal 1/104 in ten overs. His chief destroyer, AB de Villiers, smashed six maximums off his bowling in his knock of 162* off 66 deliveries.

Holder was also at the receiving end of a brutal hammering in the quarter-final against New Zealand, giving away another six maximums. Five of the six came from the bat of Martin Guptill, who scored a magnificent 237* off 153 balls.

Conceding 12 sixes in two games, with the majority of them coming off the bat of two batters, it is no surprise that Jason Holder finds himself in this unwanted list.

# 4 Rashid Khan - 14 sixes in the 2019 World Cup

Rashid was stunned by England's batting explosion in 2019.

Perhaps the most surprising name on the list, Rashid Khan was not at his best in the 2019 World Cup.

Despite not picking up wickets, the Afghanistan star was not taken to the cleaners in all but one game against England. The 25-year-old was targetted by the hosts on a benign Manchester wicket and conceded a shocking 110 in his nine overs.

Especially brutal on Rashid was the English skipper Eoin Morgan, who scored a powerful 148 off 71 deliveries with an incredible 17 sixes. The Afghan star was blasted for an abysmal ten maximums, with six of them from the willow of the England captain.

The shocking performance seemed to have adversely impacted Rashid as he picked up only three wickets in the following four matches to end a disappointing 2019 World Cup campaign.

# 3 Yuzvendra Chahal - 14 sixes in the 2019 World Cup

Chahal was in for harsh treatment against England.

Another wrist spinner making the list courtesy of an English onslaught in the 2019 World Cup is India's Yuzvendra Chahal.

Much like Rashid Khan, Chahal conceded 14 maximums in the tournament, with the game against England being the primary reason. However, unlike the Afghanistan spinner, Chahal was in red-hot form with ten wickets in his first five matches before the England clash.

Opener Jonny Bairstow was particularly severe on the 33-year-old, smashing him for four sixes before all-rounder Ben Stokes took over with two maximums. It meant the currently out-of-favor Chahal finished with torrid figures of 0/88 in his ten overs.

The unflappable spinner suddenly appeared shaken in the next two outings, picking up only a wicket each, including a dismal 1/63 in India's semi-final defeat to New Zealand.

# 2 Tinashe Panyangara - 15 sixes in the 2015 World Cup

The Zimbabwe pacer was expensive throughout the 2015 World Cup.

Zimbabwe pacer Tinashe Panyangara had a 2015 World Cup to forget, gifting way 15 sixes in six games.

While several came during Chris Gayle's double century, the 38-year-old was taken down for plenty in most matches. Barring the game against Pakistan, Panyangara traveled at an economy of over seven runs in all his other outings, picking only five wickets.

Panyangara's overall ODI World Cup numbers make for a dismal reading, with an average of 97 and an economy of 7.22, and hence unsurprising that he is second on this dubious list.

# 1 Haris Rauf - 16 sixes in the 2023 World Cup

Rauf kept looking at balls being launched into the stands against New Zealand.

Entering the 2023 World Cup, Pakistan had high hopes of their fastest bowler, Haris Rauf, leading the attack with Shaheen Afridi. However, it has been anything but, as the 29-year-old has been swatted to pieces in almost all the games thus far of the tournament.

Although he has bagged 13 wickets in eight innings, the express pacer has conceded runs at an alarmingly high rate of almost seven runs per over. The disappointing aspect about Rauf has been his consistently expensive bowling performances, with sixes taken off him in nearly all the games.

He was abysmal against Australia, conceding 83 in only eight overs as opener David Warner and Mitchell Marsh smashed him at will in the double-century stand.

The ongoing clash against New Zealand saw him give away 85 in 10 overs, including two maximums to climb to the top of the uncherished list.