5 Bowlers With The Most Maiden Overs In The IPL History

Bowling a maiden is one of the toughest things in T20 cricket and to do it on a consistent basis in a big tournament like IPL is a massive achievement for any bowler. Cricket has always been a batsman’s game and it is very rare to see the fast bowlers enjoying success. One of the positive signs of a fast bowler is to start with a maiden.

The game has evolved so much and even edges fly for maximums and it is very hard to keep the batsman quiet at one end. However, it is important to bowl at the right lines and lengths which might be eventually hold up the batsman for a fair time. With the 2021 IPL suspended at the midway of the tournament, it is time to look at the five bowlers with the most maiden overs in IPL history.

5 Bowlers With The Most Maiden Overs In IPL History:

5. Dhawal Kulkarni:

Dhawal Kulkarni is one of those pacers who does the job time and again and is very quiet about going his business. He takes the new ball most of the time and swings it both ways hitting the good lengths. Most of his wickets have come in the powerplay and he is the only fast bowler to have played a minimum of one game in all the seasons so far.

Kulkarni has played 92 IPL games and has taken 86 wickets at an economy of 8.30. He has bowled eight maidens so far which equals the fifth most maiden overs in IPL history. He played one game this season for the Mumbai Indians and did bowl very well at the back end by executing the yorkers. He is a very experienced bowler and has played for India in limited-overs matches.

4. Sandeep Sharma:

Having come through the U-19 setup, Sandeep Sharma was first picked by the Kings XI Punjab in 2013 and he was very impressive in his debut season. He received a maiden call up the Indian T20 side in 2015 and played two matches in Indian colours. However, he has fallen out of the radar and his pace has dropped considerably.

Sandeep Sharma had the better of big names like Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli which made him a tough bowler to play with the new ball. He has a big inswinger which has got him a lot of wickets and is currently playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2021. He has played 95 IPL games taking 110 wickets at a decent economy rate of 7.79. He has bowled 8 maidens in his IPL career and stands fourth on the list of bowlers with most maidens.

3. Lasith Malinga:

Lasith Malinga was one of the best fast bowlers in the IPL over the years and he holds the record for taking the most number of wickets in IPL history. The Sri Lankan quick played 122 IPL games picking up 170 wickets for the Mumbai Indians at an economy rate of just 7.14. He always had the yorkers in his armoury and executed it perfectly.

Malinga bowls the toughest overs in the bowling department and is a wicket-taking bowler for the captain. His slinging action was very hard to face for the batsman and he was very quick in his early days too. He retired from the IPL after missing out on the last edition and his last ball in the tournament won the IPL 2019 for Mumbai Indians. He has bowled 8 maidens in his IPL career and is third on the list.

2. Irfan Pathan:

Irfan Pathan was part of the Indian side that won the inaugural T20 world cup in 2007 and he was always an economical bowler in any format. Pathan who has represented various franchises had bowled most of his overs in the powerplay as he bowls those inswingers beautifully. He dipped a lot of pace at the end of his career and became ineffective.

Pathan’s final assignment in IPL came in the 2017 edition for Rising Pune Supergiants and he has now retired from all formats. He played 103 IPL games picking up 80 wickets at an economy of 7.77. He bowls at the right lengths consistently and is a handy batsman down the order. He has bowled 10 maidens in his IPL career and is second on the list of bowlers with most maidens.

1.Praveen Kumar:

Praveen Kumar was one of the best swing bowlers India has had over the years and he can move the ball both ways. The 34-year-old played the tournament until 2017 for various franchises and he was very economical on most of the occasions given that he bowls the tough overs.

He had to struggle a lot later in his career after getting dropped from the Indian team and then moved from the game in 2018. He played 119 IPL games picking up 90 wickets at an economy rate of 7.72 and he was a hard hitter down the order. He bowled 14 maidens in his IPL career and still holds the record for the bowler with most maidens in IPL history.