IPL Stats: Most dot balls bowled in IPL history

Just before every season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), it’s always a good time to reflect on certain stats of the previous seasons and overall, as well. It certainly gives us an idea about how certain players have performed and where they stand and what they’ve achieved.

There is a lot of focus on the batsmen and the numbers they generate. Bowlers are also in the limelight but not as much as the batsmen. Hence, here let’s look back at one peculiar stat which hasn’t been looked upon a lot for bowlers. Let’s focus on the most dot balls bowled by bowlers throughout the 11 seasons of the IPL.

There are five bowlers who have registered over 1000 dot balls in their IPL careers and most of these bowlers have played for a large part of all the IPLs so far. Hence, here are five bowlers with most dot balls in the history of the IPL.

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#5 Piyush Chawla – 1020

Piyush Chawla has played just for two teams across the 11 season – Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He was a part of the Punjab side for six years before he was bought by KKR. In 144 IPL games, Chawla has bowled 476.1 overs and has bowled 1020 dot balls which is almost 36% of his total deliveries.

The Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner is also the third highest wicket-taker in the history of the IPL. He has taken 140 wickets at an average of 26.23, a strike-rate of 20.4 and an economy of 7.71. Barring 2017 where he played just six games in the entire season, Chawla has picked up 11 wickets every season. In the last couple of seasons, he might have faded away a touch but he is still a very integral part of the KKR side.

#4 Amit Mishra – 1027

Amit Mishra is the only bowler in the history of the IPL who has taken three hat-tricks. He is certainly one of the spinners who has done consistently well in T20 cricket and IPL, in particular, but yet hasn’t got a lot of opportunities with the national side. He did have his moments but has played just 68 international games in over a decade. However, across 11 IPL seasons, he has been very effective.

He is not only the second highest wicket-taker (with 146 wickets) but also has bowled the fourth most number of dot balls in the history of the league. In 476.5 overs, he has bowled 1027 balls as dots. He’s played for three teams but has mainly been with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals).

#3 Lasith Malinga – 1060

Lasith Malinga is arguably one of the best bowlers to have taken part in the IPL. He has had a huge impact and has been very successful in the 9 seasons he played. He started off in 2009 and has been with Mumbai Indians ever since the start of his IPL career.

Season after season, he kept churning out wickets and was a very vital part of the Mumbai Indians team. In fact, the Sri Lankan pacer is the leading wicket-taker in the history of the IPL and despite having played lesser games, he has more wickets than any bowler in the league. He has taken 154 wickets at an average of 19.01 and a strike-rate of 16.6.

He fizzled out in 2017 and didn’t have a great season which meant that MI decided to let him go before roping him in as a bowling mentor. However, Malinga is back with MI as a player this year after he was bought at his base price in the 2019 auctions.

#2 Praveen Kumar – 1075

Praveen Kumar was one of the best exponents of the moving ball. He was a master when the ball swung and could move the ball both ways. He was a part of the IPL for 10 years and he represented five teams in the process. He played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Lions.

Praveen Kumar has bowled 1075 dot balls in his IPL career which is the second most in the history of the tournament. In fact, in this list, he is the bowler who has bowled the least number of overs (420.4 overs). He also holds the record for the most maiden overs (14) in the IPL.

#1 Harbhajan Singh – 1128

Harbhajan Singh has bowled the most number of overs (518.2) in the history of the IPL and also has registered the most number of dot balls (1128). The Punjab off-spinner has been one of the most successful bowlers in this league.

He is the fifth leading wicket-taker (134 wickets) and has consistently delivered for his team. He played for Mumbai Indians in the first 10 seasons before he was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the 2018 auctions. However, he hasn’t been at his best in the last few years and hasn’t picked a lot of wickets but still has managed to keep things tight.