Most 5-Wicket Hauls in IPL

A five-wicket haul in limited-overs cricket, especially in T20 cricket, is very rare. With bowlers getting only four overs to bowl, they hardly get the time to pick as many as five wickets in a T20 match.

Apart from getting only four overs, the bowlers usually get very little to almost no assistance from the surface and conditions. The rules are also slightly tilted in the batsmen's favour. One needs to have an exceptional outing to take five wickets in a T20 match.

Taking five wickets in an IPL match is even more difficult. The bowlers face the best batsmen in the world and pitches in India make their task only tougher. So, it is not at all surprising that while batsmen score centuries now and then in the IPL, the five-wicket haul is still very rare.

Only a handful of bowlers have managed to achieve the milestone of taking five wickets in an IPL innings. A five-wicket haul is a display of exceptional skill, control and discipline in any format of the game, let alone in T20s.

While bowlers have struggled to take a five-wicket haul regularly in the IPL, several bowlers have managed to achieve the impressive milestone over the years. Unsurprisingly, such spells have become a part of the IPL folklore.

The first-ever bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the tournament is Sohail Tanvir. The former Pakistan pacer achieved the incredible feat while playing for Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural season of the IPL. He had picked up six wickets for just 14 runs against Chennai Super Kings.

Tanvir had gone on to finish the season as the highest wicket-taker, helping Rajasthan Royals become the champions as well. Apart from Tanvir, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Amit Mishra also picked up a five-wicket haul in IPL 2008.

Balaji did it against Punjab Kings while playing for Chennai Super Kings while Mishra picked up five wickets against Deccan Chargers while plying his trade for Delhi Capitals.

The most five-wicket hauls taken in an IPL season is four. It was first achieved in 2011 when Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel claimed five-wicket hauls. Four five-wicket hauls were witnessed in IPL 2022 and 2023 as well.

Former Australia allrounder James Faulkner is the only bowler to take more than one five-wicket haul in a season so far. He picked up two five-wicket hauls in IPL 2013.

On the other hand, only four players have managed to take a five-wicket haul twice so far -  James Faulkner (2013), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2017 and 2023), Jaydev Unadkat (2013 and 2017) and Jasprit Bumrah ( 2022 and 2024).

In IPL 2024, two bowlers managed to take five-wicket hauls. Bumrah was the first before Sandeep Sharma also picked up five wickets against Mumbai Indians.

Meanwhile, the best bowling figures in the IPL belong to West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph. He picked up six wickets for just 12 runs on his IPL debut in 2019 while playing for Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad.