IPL 2021: Bowlers with most dot balls in IPL history

In a tournament like IPL, it is important to have bowlers on your side who can control the run flow of the opposition. Batting teams generally accelerate their innings in the death overs and have a high scoring rate in the powerplay as well. Whereas in the middle overs it is seen that teams are often cautious in approach, and focus on stabilizing the innings. This is the reason why most dot balls occur in the middle overs, while it is a rarity in the last few overs. In this article, we will be discussing the performance of 5 bowlers who have bowled most dot balls in the history of the tournament.

The first name on this list is Harbhajan Singh, who has delivered 1268 dot balls in IPL in 160 innings. He has taken 150 wickets at an economy of 7.07 in the cash-rich league. This includes one 4-wicket haul and one 5-wicket haul as well. Bhajji played for Mumbai Indians for the most part of his career and featured for Chennai Super Kings in the last few seasons. This year he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in the mini-auction at his base price.

Ravichandran Ashwin is at the second spot in this list with 1215 dot balls in 156 innings. He has an impressive economy of 6.91 in the league and has picked up one 4-wicket haul as well. Ashwin captained the Punjab franchise for two seasons and has been playing for Delhi Capitals since last season. He has taken 139 wickets in 151 innings with an economy of 6.897. Ashwin would want to continue his stellar performance in IPL this year as well.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to face some injury issues in recent years which impacted his availability for the Sunrisers Hyderabad team, and his performance as well. He has bowled 1204 dot balls in the tournament and stands at the third position in the record tally. The Indian pacer has picked up 139 wickets in 126 innings at an average of 24.64 and economy of 7.31.

Sunil Narine has been a vital cog of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team ever since making his IPL debut in 2012. He is joint fourth in the list in terms of dot balls (1155) bowled alongside Lasith Malinga. So far, Narine has taken 130 wickets in 123 IPL matches so far.

Lasith Malinga who is considered the greatest bowler of IPL history has 1155 dot balls to his name in the tournament. He holds the record for taking the most wickets (170) in the cash-rich league at an economy of 7.14 and an average of 19.80. Malinga was a crucial part of the Mumbai Indians team over the years and also inspired a lot of young pacers.

Most dot balls in IPL history

*Last updated on 18 Sep,2021.